Employed and self-employed in Switzerland: how to combine both

Do you need your employer’s permission?

Start with your employment contract, staff rules and any collective employment agreement. They may require disclosure or prior approval. Public-sector employment can be subject to additional rules.

Even without an express clause, you remain subject to a duty of loyalty. A side business must not compete improperly with your employer, damage its interests or prevent you from doing your job properly. Working-time and rest requirements must be examined in the context of the activities and employment relationships concerned.

Explain the proposed services, customers, hours, equipment and separation of data. A written agreement helps define the boundaries. Do not use your employer’s customer lists, software, confidential information or equipment without permission.

Example: a Geneva office employee teaching photography on Saturdays is in a different position from a salesperson approaching the employer’s customers to offer competing services. The number of hours is only one part of the assessment.

Getting the side activity recognised as self-employment

The compensation office assesses the activity and the specific working relationship. It considers your independence, financial risk, business organisation and dealings with customers. An invoice or a contract labelled “independent contractor” does not settle the issue.

Prepare evidence of real activity: quotations, contracts, invoices, investments, a business website, the way assignments are organised and, where relevant, premises or insurance. Explain that the activity is secondary and that you will remain employed.

Be particularly careful if you intend to invoice your current employer for part of the same work. Commercial registration alone does not turn an employment relationship into self-employment.

A sole proprietorship is one possible structure. If you form an LLC or corporation and work for it, your remuneration normally falls under that company’s employee system. You may then have two salaried roles rather than employee and self-employed status.

A practical checklist before your first invoices

Commercial registration and VAT are separate questions. For a sole proprietorship operated commercially, CHF 100,000 of annual turnover is the reference commercial-registration threshold, subject to the applicable framework. VAT has its own turnover rules, including the treatment of exempt supplies and overseas transactions.

Your employment salary is not turnover of your sole proprietorship. Monitor the business’s own figures and read the VAT registration requirements as it develops.

AVS contributions on your second income

Your employer deducts payroll contributions from salary. For recognised self-employment, you are responsible for contributions on that activity’s assessable income. In 2026, the maximum combined AVS/AI/APG rate is 10%, with lower rates below CHF 60,500. These schemes are called OASI, disability insurance and income compensation in English.

• If the independent activity is secondary and its annual income does not exceed CHF 2,500, contributions are collected only at your request.
• If self-employed income is below CHF 10,100 and salary contributions have already covered the annual minimum, you can request the 5.371% rate instead of the CHF 530 self-employed minimum.

These are not income-tax exemptions. Have the compensation office confirm the treatment and keep your salary certificate. Family allowance and other applicable contributions need separate consideration. Our complete 2026 AVS contribution scale explains the calculation and provisional payments.

How to report salary and self-employed income

Your salary and the result of the sole proprietorship are reported in your personal tax return using the relevant cantonal sections. Side-business receipts do not become tax-free merely because you also have a job.

Example: a business receives CHF 18,000 and incurs CHF 4,000 of documented business expenses. The starting result is CHF 14,000, before the necessary social insurance and tax adjustments. The amount you withdraw from the bank account does not determine the profit.

Keep supporting documents. For a phone or computer used privately and professionally, document a reasonable allocation. Distinguish an immediately deductible expense from equipment that must be capitalised and depreciated. Good self-employed bookkeeping makes these distinctions traceable.

Update expected tax payments when your total income rises. If your salary is taxed at source, clarify the reporting consequences of the independent activity with the canton: payroll withholding does not necessarily settle your full tax position. Living or working abroad also raises cross-border tax and social insurance questions.

Does your employer’s insurance cover the side business?

Not automatically for every risk or every source of income. Occupational pension cover relates to the salary insured under the employer’s plan. Independent profit does not become insured simply because you already have a pension certificate.

Ask the accident insurer how the secondary activity is covered and which income would be used to calculate benefits. Check daily sickness benefits too: a policy replacing employment salary may not replace business profit or ongoing overheads.

While you remain subject to compulsory occupational pension insurance, a secondary self-employed activity alone does not justify cashing out your second pillar. Discuss a gradual move into self-employment with the pension institution before building a funding plan around a withdrawal.

If the business becomes too substantial to remain secondary, review working hours, customer availability, household spending and cash reserves. Reduce employment on the basis of actual orders and margins, rather than hoped-for turnover.

Frequently asked questions