Leaving Switzerland: the complete checklist

Around six months before departure

Start with your lease. Swiss rental contracts typically run to fixed termination dates set in the contract, with a notice period that is usually several months, so check your contract rather than assuming a generic timeline. If you need to leave before the next available termination date, you will normally need to propose a solvent, acceptable replacement tenant to the landlord or management company.

Tell your employer about your departure and confirm your contractual notice period, final pay elements and the timing of your last working day. This is also the point to start thinking about your occupational pension (2nd pillar) and any private pension 3a savings, since how these can be withdrawn or transferred depends on your destination country.

• •Re-read your lease for termination dates and notice period
• •Start looking for a replacement tenant if you need to leave early
• •Confirm your notice period and last working day with your employer
• •Note your 2nd and 3rd pillar options for your destination country
• •Request quotes from two or three international moving companies
• •Look into schooling options in your destination country

Around three months before departure

Send your lease termination in writing, by registered letter, signed by every person named on the lease. Most insurance policies tied to your residence, such as household contents, personal liability and legal protection cover, can be cancelled with a few months' notice on proof of departure, so check each policy's own conditions.

This is also the stage to confirm your moving company, notify your children's school and request their records, and arrange a date for the exit inventory of your accommodation with the landlord or management company.

• •Send the lease termination letter by registered mail
• •Cancel household, liability and legal protection insurance
• •Confirm your moving company and moving date
• •Notify the school and request your children's records
• •Schedule the exit inventory appointment
• •Begin sorting and selling or donating what you will not take with you

In the final month

Cancel your telecom, internet and public transport subscriptions, checking each provider's own notice period since these vary. Notify your municipality's resident registration office (contrôle des habitants) of your departure date and destination address, and terminate your compulsory health insurance (LAMal) with proof of departure such as an employment contract abroad or a new residence permit.

Decide what to do with your Swiss bank accounts. Keep at least one open until your final settlements, such as a rent deposit refund or a tax refund, have been paid out, then close the rest once you no longer need them.

Arrange mail redirection through Swiss Post so that anything still addressed to your old home reaches you, and organise the end-of-lease cleaning your landlord will expect at the exit inventory.

The final week: exit inventory and handover

If you and the landlord disagree about the condition of the accommodation or about deductions from your deposit, tenant associations such as ASLOCA can advise tenants on how to respond. Complete your official deregistration at the municipality once your address abroad is confirmed, and give your destination address to anyone who still needs to send you final statements, including your landlord for the deposit and the tax administration for your final assessment.

Pension assets: 1st, 2nd and 3rd pillar

What happens to your Swiss pension savings depends heavily on where you are moving. If you relocate to another EU or EFTA country, contributions to the state pension (AVS/AHV, 1st pillar) are generally taken into account under bilateral social security coordination rules rather than refunded, and the compulsory portion of your occupational pension (LPP/BVG, 2nd pillar) usually has to stay in Switzerland in a vested benefits account or foundation until you reach retirement age or another qualifying event occurs.

If you move outside the EU/EFTA area, more options for cashing out become available, including possible reimbursement of AVS/AHV contributions and cash withdrawal of the 2nd pillar, subject to withholding tax and to the specific rules of your pension fund. Pillar 3a savings can typically be withdrawn on definitive departure from Switzerland, again subject to withholding tax that varies by canton and by the paying fund.

These rules interact with the social security agreement, if any, between Switzerland and your destination country, and with your marital and family situation. Because a wrong decision here is difficult to reverse, this is an area to work through with a specialist before you submit any withdrawal request.

Your final Swiss tax return

When you leave Switzerland partway through a calendar year, you are generally required to file a tax return covering the period from the start of the year to your departure date, sent to your new address by the cantonal tax administration that assessed you. If you were taxed at source (impôt à la source), your employer's final payroll deduction is normally part of settling this period, though a subsequent corrective return can still be required depending on your canton and circumstances.

Keep every relevant document, salary statements, insurance certificates, and receipts for any deductible expenses, before you leave, since requesting duplicates from abroad is slower and sometimes not possible. Because rules on proportional taxation and on reconciling source tax with an ordinary assessment differ by canton, confirm the exact procedure with your commune's tax office or a tax specialist rather than assuming your previous canton's rules apply elsewhere in Switzerland.