Self-employed in Zurich, from your permit to your first invoice.

With a Swiss passport or a C settlement permit you can work as self-employed with no further procedure.

For EU and EFTA citizens, the free movement agreement applies:

• B permit, switching from employed to self-employed: no authorisation and no notification needed.
• Arriving to set up on your own: you get a B permit for five years once you show the activity. If the proof is still thin, Zurich may first grant six months.
• L permit: you have to report the switch, and you need a new B permit.
• Cross-border G permit: self-employment is possible, with proof of residence abroad and a return home at least once a week.

From outside the EU and EFTA, with a B or L permit, you need authorisation before you start. In the canton of Zurich, the cantonal Office for the Economy (Amt für Wirtschaft, AWI) decides. Family members under Art. 46 of the Foreign Nationals Act need no extra procedure.

All the cases are in the guide Work permits and self-employment.

Neither you nor your contract decides this. SVA Zürich looks at how you really work, separately for each activity. It looks at four things:

• You act in your own name and on your own account.
• You organise your work freely.
• You carry the economic risk, such as investments, rent or clients who don't pay.
• You have several clients.

If you work for one client only, that usually counts as employment. SVA still decides case by case.

SVA Zürich is the canton's compensation office. Once you're self-employed, you pay AHV, IV and EO there: old-age pension, disability insurance and income compensation.

You can only register once you've started. SVA needs evidence, and before you start there isn't any. Register in the first few months; it applies retroactively.

You fill in the form online at self-employed.ch, which sends it on to SVA. Your business has to be based in the canton of Zurich. Attach what you have:

• quotes and invoices to clients
• signed contracts with clients
• advertising or your website
• an office lease, purchase or leasing contracts
• proof that clients have paid you

SVA doesn't say how long the decision takes. It arrives in writing.

UID? That's your business number, something like CHE-123.456.789. You don't apply for it. Once an authority such as SVA reports your business, the Federal Statistical Office assigns it, for free, by letter.

Your business name, address and status then show up publicly on uid.admin.ch, where you can also check whether your UID has arrived.

The name of your sole proprietorship has to include your surname, for example «Lea Meier Design». You can't add «GmbH», «Ltd» or «& Co».

If you're not registered for VAT, your invoice must not mention VAT at all, not even «0 %». Otherwise you owe it to the state. With a QR-bill your client can pay straight from e-banking. What goes on it is in the guide The QR-bill.

Under CHF 100'000 turnover a year, counted worldwide, you're exempt from VAT. If you reached it last year, the exemption ends and you register with the Federal Tax Administration within 30 days of becoming liable. The same applies if you can already see at the start that you'll reach it within twelve months. You may register voluntarily at any time.

From CHF 100'000 turnover in the last business year you also have to join the commercial register. Below that it's optional, and SVA doesn't care either way. Liberal professions, such as consulting or design, are exempt as long as they aren't run like a trade.

As a self-employed person you're no longer covered automatically, the way you were in a job:

• Accidents: no obligation. Without accident insurance, your health insurer covers accidents.
• Pension fund: optional.
• Daily sickness allowance: optional, through your health insurer or privately.
• Unemployment insurance: doesn't exist for the self-employed.
• Pillar 3a: without a pension fund you can pay in up to 20 % of your earned income in 2026, at most CHF 36'288.–. From 2027 it's CHF 36'864.–.

Some professions also need a professional licence, in health care for example. It never replaces your residence permit.