Danilo · Updated 2026-09-29 · Sources: ESTV tax data 2026 (via Zügle's tax cache); Steuersatz und Steuerfuss, ESTV, https://www.estv2.admin.ch/stp/ds/e-steuersatz-steuerfuss-de.pdf; Canton Zurich, Aktuelle Gemeindesteuerfüsse, https://www.zh.ch/de/steuern-finanzen/steuern/steuerstatistiken/aktuelle-gemeinde-steuerfuesse.html

What is the Steuerfuss – and why does the town next door pay so much less?

Freienbach and Schübelbach both sit in the canton of Schwyz, less than ten minutes' drive apart. Yet a single person earning CHF 130'000 pays roughly CHF 3'800 more tax per year in Schübelbach than in Freienbach – same income, same canton, nothing different about the underlying tax law. Both municipalities answer to the same cantonal legislation. One mechanism explains the gap: the Steuerfuss.

Three layers, three calculations

Personal income tax in Switzerland is built from three parts, computed one after another:

1. Federal tax – a fixed, statutory tariff, identical for everyone with the same

taxable income, regardless of where they live.

1. Cantonal tax – computed from the "simple tax" (a base tariff on taxable income

set by the canton), multiplied by the cantonal tax multiplier (Steuerfuss).

1. Municipal tax – the same simple tax, multiplied by the **multiplier your home

municipality sets** (plus, for church members, a separate church-tax multiplier).

The Steuerfuss is therefore a multiplier, not a tariff of its own. Canton and municipality each decide, politically, once a year, which factor to apply to the simple tax to arrive at the tax actually owed. Many cantons express it as a percentage (e.g. "115% of the simple tax"); others as an absolute figure (e.g. "2.14 units") – the principle is the same either way: simple tax × multiplier = tax owed (ESTV, "Steuersatz und Steuerfuss").

Federal tax is completely unaffected. Whether someone lives in Freienbach or Schübelbach changes nothing about the federal tax calculation – the entire difference between two municipalities in the same canton happens purely at the cantonal and municipal level, because the simple tax is identical for both, but the municipal multiplier is not.

Why neighbouring municipalities still differ

Each municipality sets its own multiplier afresh every year, usually through the communal assembly or parliament, as part of the municipal budget. A municipality with strong tax revenue from another source (many resident companies, high land values, or low infrastructure needs) can keep its multiplier low and still cover its expenses. One with heavier investment needs – a new school, water mains, elder care – needs a higher multiplier at the same population to fund the same spending. That holds even for immediate neighbours inside one canton and one piece of cantonal legislation: the cantonal part of the bill is identical for everyone, the municipal part is not.

The figures: five municipalities in the March/Höfe area, canton Schwyz

The tax amounts below come from Zügle's tax cache for tax year 2026 and are exact figures for the given profile – not an estimate.

For the single person on CHF 130'000, the gap between the cheapest (Freienbach/Wollerau, CHF 9'216) and the most expensive (Schübelbach, CHF 13'043) is CHF 3'827 per year – for the same income, the same canton, the same federal tax. Freienbach and Wollerau land exactly level in both profiles. For the married profile with children, the spread between Freienbach/Wollerau and Schübelbach shrinks to CHF 5'196 − CHF 3'477 = CHF 1'719 per year: the multiplier applies to the simple tax, which is smaller after deductions (here: child deductions). So the effect is not the same size for every household type.

For comparison, outside the Höfe/March area: Küsnacht (ZH) sits at CHF 15'391, Uster (ZH) at CHF 18'151 and the city of Zürich at CHF 18'647 – all for the same single person on CHF 130'000. Differences BETWEEN cantons (Schwyz vs Zürich) can be larger than differences between municipalities in one canton, but even within a single canton like Zürich, municipality-to-municipality differences are substantial (Küsnacht well below Uster and Zürich). The Steuerfuss effect is not specific to Schwyz; it applies in any canton that leaves its municipalities their own tax authority. A fuller two-canton comparison is in the guide Schwyz vs Zürich.

A postcode does not tell you the municipality

A practical trap here: several Schwyz postcodes cover more than one municipality, each with its own Steuerfuss. Postcode 8863, for example, covers both Schübelbach (SZ) and Benken (SG) – two different cantons with entirely different tax bills. Typing only a postcode risks landing in the wrong municipality, and therefore seeing a completely wrong tax figure. Zügle resolves this via the municipality name or a specific address wherever possible, never via the postcode alone.

What these figures don't show

• The Steuerfuss itself – the exact percentage or unit figure canton and

municipality set for 2026 – is deliberately not quoted here. Zügle's tax cache stores only the resulting total per profile, not the multiplier as its own, independently retrievable number. For the current, exact multiplier of a specific municipality, check the cantonal tax administration's own website (for canton Zürich, its "Aktuelle Gemeindesteuerfüsse" page).

• Wealth tax, property tax and other tax types are not included – this guide

covers income tax on a given gross income only.

• The Steuerfuss changes every year. A comparison valid for 2026 need not hold for

the year before or after – municipalities raise or lower their multiplier as their budget shifts.

• Church tax is not included above (profile "no confession"); church membership

adds a further multiplier set by the parish. See the guide Church tax.

• This is not tax advice – it is an evaluation of public tax data for one income and

profile.

Try it with your own numbers

The multiplier's effect differs by income, because deductions and progression bands don't scale linearly. The most reliable way to check your own situation is with your own income and household:

Try it with your own numbers

← All guides