International organisations: tax status review in Geneva

Non-Swiss officials: four regimes

For someone living in Geneva, the Geneva tax authority distinguishes in particular:

• Full exemption — the UN and its agencies, WHO, ILO, WTO, WIPO, ITU, WMO, CERN, IOM, EFTA…: your salary, lump-sum benefits, and investment income and assets are exempt.
• Salary exempt but used to set the rate — GAVI, the Global Fund, the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, the South Centre, IFFEd, ICDO: your salary is not taxed, but it sets the rate applied to your other income; your investment income and assets are exempt.
• Same rule, investment income taxable — ISO, IATA, IEC, IFRC, ATT, GCERF: salary exempt but used to set the rate; your investment income and assets are taxed.
• No tax privileges — ICRC, WEF, DNDi, FIND, HD, Interpeace…: you are taxed like any other taxpayer.

Your organisation is not listed here? I check the agreement between that organisation and Switzerland.

Swiss officials

A Swiss official is exempt on their salary only if the organisation levies an internal tax, as the UN, WHO or CERN do. Their investment income and assets remain taxable. In some organisations (ISO, IATA, IEC), they are not exempt at all.

If you become a Swiss citizen, the exemption linked to your foreign nationality ends on that day.

What remains taxable and what to declare

• Property in Geneva generally remains taxable, whatever your nationality.
• In the year you join or leave the organisation, your movable assets are taxed for the period outside the organisation.
• If you receive a tax return, you must file it, even if you owe no tax. Fully exempt items are left out; a salary used to set the rate must be included.

Your spouse

• To work, the spouse of an international civil servant exchanges the legitimation card for a Ci permit. Their salary is then usually taxed at source.
• The tax scale depends on the official’s organisation: scale B (as if the couple had a single income) for the UN, WHO, CERN and similar organisations; scale C for others (ISO, IATA, GAVI…), with a possible correction the following year, by 31 March.
• If your spouse is Swiss or holds a C permit, the couple files a joint tax return: a fully exempt salary is left out, a salary used to set the rate is included.

Legitimation card and social insurance

• The FDFA legitimation card (types B, C, D, E, G…) serves as your residence permit and shows any privileges you may have. It does not on its own determine your tax position: what matters is your organisation.
• A Swiss official covered by their organisation’s pension fund is not automatically insured under Swiss AHV/AVS; they can join voluntarily within three months. A non-working spouse living in Switzerland has the same option.

In retirement

Once retired, you are taxed in the ordinary way, including on your pension, for example from the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. Lump-sum benefits remain exempt for most organisations, but the capital then becomes part of your taxable wealth.

Situations I review case by case

Some situations cannot be settled by a general rule: you live in France, your organisation has no known tax agreement, you hold a type R legitimation card, you have retired abroad, or your spouse does not work. In those cases I review your documents and, if needed, put the question to the tax authority.

What I give you

• A written analysis of your position: what is exempt, what is taxable, what must be declared.
• The list of documents to gather, including your organisation’s salary statement if your salary is used to set the rate.
• The next steps and the deadlines to meet.