Working in Switzerland, living in France: what changes from canton to canton.
Thresholds and agreements verified on 21 September 2026.
The permit is the same everywhere. The tax is not. Depending on whether your employer is in Geneva or in Vaud, your salary is withheld at source in Switzerland or declared in France. And since 2026, teleworking can move both.
Two regimes coexist, and it is the employer’s canton that decides.
The employer withholds the tax at source. You then declare that income in France, which removes double taxation through a tax credit. Geneva pays back 3.5% of the relevant gross payroll to Ain and Haute-Savoie, under the agreement of 29 January 1973.
1983 agreement: the salary is taxed in France. The employer withholds nothing, provided you hand over the certificate of tax residence, form 2041-AS, every year before 1 January of the year concerned.
An amendment to the France-Switzerland tax treaty allows up to 40% of annual working time to be teleworked from France without moving where the salary is taxed. It comes with an automatic exchange of salary data between the two administrations.
The European framework agreement allows up to 49.9% teleworking while staying insured in Switzerland, on the employer’s application for an A1 certificate through the ALPS platform, valid for three years at most. Without that agreement the limit drops to 24.9%. Tax and social insurance therefore do not switch at the same moment.
Nothing complicated, but these are exactly the papers that are missing when an audit comes.
- The 2041-AS certificate of residence, handed to the employer every year, for the eight cantons under the 1983 agreement.
- The count of teleworked days, per calendar year and per employer, measured against annual working time.
- The A1 certificate, applied for by the employer with its compensation fund, and renewed before it expires.
- The correction or subsequent ordinary assessment request in Geneva, filed before 31 March.
- The French return, which must show the Swiss salary even when it has already been taxed at source.
Two teleworking days a week is exactly 40%: a single extra day in the year tips the teleworked share into the French regime. That is the point that demands the most discipline.
Quasi-resident status opens Swiss deductions to anyone earning at least 90% of their income in Switzerland.
It is requested year by year, before 31 March, and for a married couple both spouses’ incomes are added together before the calculation. It gives access to pension buy-backs, actual expenses, interest on debt and maintenance paid. It is not always to your advantage, and it binds you for the following years: the calculation is done before filing.
I telework two days a week. Am I over the 40%?
Two days out of five is exactly 40%, so you are on the line and a single extra day in the year tips you over. The threshold is calculated on annual working time. In practice, a company granting two days a week has to keep a record per employee.
My employer is in Vaud but I sometimes work in Geneva.
What counts is where the work is actually carried out, not the address of the head office. An activity split between two cantons can fall under two regimes and must then be apportioned. It is one of those situations where the mistake only shows up years later, in an audit.
Do I have to declare my Swiss salary in France?
Yes, in every case, including when it has already been taxed at source in Geneva. France removes the double taxation through a tax credit. Declaring nothing is not neutral: it is an omission, and the automatic exchange of data makes it visible.
Can I claim quasi-resident status retroactively?
Only within the deadline, that is until 31 March of the following year. After that date the year is closed. Nothing stops you from claiming it for the current year and organising yourself to meet the 90% condition.
Unsure where you stand?
We handle corrections and quasi-resident claims for cross-border workers, and withholding tax returns for their employers. Two sides of the same subject.