Monaco vs Switzerland

Monaco

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2025-2026 rules (Caisses Sociales de Monaco — CAMTI and CARTI; Sovereign Ordinance 3.152) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Oct 1, 2025

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Method

Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.

Notes

Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.

Switzerland

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (ESTV federal tariff, § 35 StG Zurich, AHV/IV/EO, BAG-approved KVG premiums) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Method

Scheme ch-einzelfirma-zurich at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB rate (1 EUR = 0.9373 CHF) to CHF 56,238 revenue and CHF 50,614 profit. Levies: family-allowance contribution CHF 519 + AHV/IV/EO CHF 3,927 (7.840%, the degressive band that applies below CHF 60,500) + direct federal tax CHF 300 + compulsory KVG health insurance CHF 7,678 + Zurich cantonal and communal tax CHF 3,184 = CHF 15,608 of CHF 56,238 = 27.75%.

Notes

TWO NUMBERS HIDE INSIDE THIS ONE. Swiss income tax at this level is very light — federal tax is CHF 300 on a CHF 50,600 profit — and social contributions are only 7.8% here, because the AHV scale is degressive below CHF 60,500 and the self-employed pay no unemployment or occupational-pension contribution. Nearly half the burden is the compulsory health premium, a flat CHF 7,678 that does not scale with income at all. That makes the Swiss figure unusually sensitive to the profile: at CHF 150,000 of revenue the same scheme comes out at 27.5%, LOWER than at CHF 80,000 (30.6%). It is also a Zurich number: the cantonal and communal share is set by the commune, and other Swiss communes would move this by several points.

Monaco

MonEntreprise.mc — How to set up a business as a sole trader (business permit for foreign nationals) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Dec 5, 2025

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Notes

Monaco has no digital-nomad visa. A foreign national may apply for a sole-trader business permit for any activity, an advisory one included, and register it at home; the Business Development Agency's admissibility receipt then opens a residence permit. The permit is discretionary and comes with the residence conditions — housing in Monaco, a Monaco bank's reference of sufficient means, and for non-EEA nationals a French type D long-stay visa — which are what most applicants cannot meet. Classified 'freelance-permit'.

Switzerland

SEM — Weisungen und Erläuterungen AIG, Kapitel 4: Aufenthalt mit Erwerbstätigkeit (Stand 30.06.2026) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jun 30, 2026

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Method

Classified from this country's legalization paths for the criterion's persona — a location-independent earner holding a median non-EU, non-US passport. Switzerland has no digital-nomad visa and no remote-work permit. The one self-employment route open to third-country nationals, Art. 19 AIG, is an entrepreneur admission: it must serve the overall Swiss economic interest and have a lasting positive effect on the Swiss LABOUR MARKET, it must clear the Art. 21 priority of resident and EU/EFTA workers, and it competes for a national quota of 8,500 permits for all qualified third-country workers in 2026. A freelancer invoicing foreign clients meets none of that, so the realistic ceiling is the Schengen 90-in-180 visa-free stay.

Notes

This is the one indicator where Switzerland's score depends entirely on the passport. An EU or EFTA citizen simply registers as self-employed under the Free Movement Agreement and gets a five-year permit with no quota — for them the honest classification would be freelance-permit. The criterion deliberately asks about the median non-EU passport, and for that holder Switzerland is close to shut.

Switzerland

BFS — Haushaltsbudgeterhebung 2023: Haushaltseinkommen und -ausgaben sämtlicher Haushalte, und detaillierte Haushaltsausgaben ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Method

Basket built from the 2023 Swiss household budget survey, per household per month in CHF: food and non-alcoholic drinks 637.76 + restaurants and cafés 427.20 (COICOP 531, excluding the 131.28 spent on accommodation) + service charges and energy of the main residence 271.46 (5712 + 5713, so the utilities without the 1,081.64 of net rent) + household goods and running the home 201.16 + clothing and footwear 160.60 + transport 743.53 + communications 161.81 + recreation, entertainment and culture 488.23 + other goods and services 319.26 = 3,411.01. Divided by the survey's own mean household size of 2.07 persons = CHF 1,647.83 per person per month, converted at 1 CHF = 1.2306 USD (ECB rates of 2026-08-13) = $2,028. Excluded: rent, alcohol and tobacco, out-of-pocket health spending, insurance premiums, taxes and social contributions.

Notes

Two things to hold against this figure. It is a PER-CAPITA share of average household spending, not a measured single-person budget, and a person living alone carries utilities, communications and household costs that a two-person household splits — so a real single in Zurich or Geneva will spend more than this. And it is 2023 data, the latest the survey publishes, with no inflation uplift applied. Health insurance is deliberately outside the basket even though it is compulsory, because it is carried separately by healthcare-private-cost and by the tax burden; add roughly $650/month for it if you want the all-in figure.

Switzerland

Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB) ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Notes

0.50 per 100,000 in 2024, at the very bottom of the European range and stable: the series has moved between 0.48 and 0.71 every year since 2008 with no trend.

Switzerland

BAG/priminfo — approved 2026 premiums of compulsory health insurance, full report (gesamtbericht_ch.xlsx) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Method

Median of the 1,032 approved 2026 premiums across 34 insurers for an adult (age class 26+) on the standard model with free choice of doctor, the lowest CHF 300 franchise and accident cover included: CHF 571.35/month = CHF 6,856/year = $8,437 at 1 CHF = 1.2306 USD (ECB rates of 2026-08-13). Not a sample of three quotes — Switzerland approves and publishes every premium, so this is the whole population of them.

Notes

Switzerland is the one country in this dataset where the 'private insurance' figure is not optional: KVG/LAMal basic cover is a legal duty for every resident, so this number is a bill, not a choice, and it is already counted inside the freelancer tax burden. It buys more than the criterion asks for — there is no benefit ceiling at all, where the criterion assumes ~$100k. It is also the maximum-price configuration: the official enrolment-weighted average premium actually paid by adults in 2026 is CHF 465.30/month ($6,873/year) because most people take a restricted-choice model and a higher franchise, and the cheapest standard-model quote in the country is CHF 70/month lower than the median. City medians on the same basis: Zurich CHF 639.80/month, Bern CHF 681.50, Geneva CHF 752.20 — Geneva costs 18% more than Zurich for the same legal cover.

Monaco

Loi n° 1.528 du 7 juillet 2022 — réglementation des activités des prestataires de services sur actifs numériques ou sur crypto-actifs (Legimonaco) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 22, 2022

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Notes

Legal and licensed. Act 1.528 (Journal de Monaco, 22 July 2022) lists the services on digital assets and crypto-assets — exchange, trading platforms, issuance, custody, order execution, advice — and makes their provision in Monaco subject to prior approval by the Minister of State after a consultative commission, or to authorisation by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières for services on financial tokens. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets. There is no tax on an individual's gains because residents pay no personal income tax, French nationals excepted.

Switzerland

ESTV — Kryptowährungen: Besteuerung (Arbeitspapier zu Kryptowährungen und Initial Coin/Token Offerings) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Notes

Holding and trading are legal and the tax treatment is published rather than improvised: the Federal Tax Administration's working paper sets out that gains realised by a private individual managing private assets are TAX-FREE capital gains (Art. 16 Abs. 3 DBG), while the holding itself is subject to the annual wealth tax at its 31 December market value, and losses are correspondingly non-deductible. The exemption is not unconditional — where the scale, financing and frequency of trading go beyond private wealth management the activity is reclassified as self-employment and the gains become taxable income, which is the line to watch if you trade actively. Mining and staking rewards are income, not exempt gains.

Monaco

European Commission — EU list of high-risk third countries (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 as amended; Monaco listed from 5 August 2025) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Aug 5, 2025

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Method

Composite of three inputs, each read at its source on 2026-10-02. (1) The European Commission's page (last updated 9 January 2026) lists Monaco among the high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering regimes, in force from 5 August 2025 and still listed after the December 2025 amendments (Delegated Regulations 2026/46 and 2026/83); EU banks and other gatekeepers must apply enhanced checks to business relationships and transactions involving such countries (Article 18a of Directive 2015/849 as amended by Directive 2018/843). (2) Monaco's own cash rule is loose: professionals may not make or receive cash payments of €30,000 or more for goods or services, with customer due diligence from €10,000 (Act 1.362, art. 35, as replaced by Act 1.503 of 23 December 2020). (3) A residence permit for anyone not living on a salary or business income needs a reference from a Monaco bank attesting sufficient funds. The euro is Monaco's currency. The listing is what lifts the level: every relationship between a Monaco resident or company and an EU bank now carries enhanced due diligence → 'moderate'.

Notes

The listing is a consequence of the FATF's increased-monitoring process and should lift when that ends; re-check after each FATF plenary and EU amendment. It does not restrict a resident's own transfers, but it slows account opening and payments with EU institutions.

Switzerland

Bundesgesetz über die Bekämpfung der Geldwäscherei und der Terrorismusfinanzierung (GwG, SR 955.0) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Method

Inputs weighed: no exchange or capital controls on the movement of personal funds in or out of the country; no general legal ceiling on cash payments, only anti-money-laundering due-diligence duties on dealers and financial intermediaries under the GwG; residents declare worldwide income and worldwide net wealth in the annual cantonal return, and Switzerland exchanges account information automatically under the OECD standard.

Notes

Low control over the movement of money, but not low visibility. Two things surprise newcomers: the annual return asks for your WORLDWIDE assets, because the cantons levy a wealth tax on net assets, so there is a reporting duty here that most countries do not have; and opening an account is easy for a resident but often refused or heavily priced for non-residents, so 'Swiss bank account' is not something you arrange before you move.

Monaco

La Poste Monaco — post offices and parcel services ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Oct 2, 2026

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Method

Classified from La Poste Monaco's own pages, read on 2026-10-02: seven post offices (Monte-Carlo, Condamine, Fontvieille, Moulins, Monaco-Ville, Herculis, Grimaldi Forum) and a multi-parcel platform in Jardin Exotique, all within the 2 km² of the Principality; Colissimo home delivery with or without signature at D+2 across France, and Chronopost express. Monaco's postal service is provided by France, and the Franco-Monegasque convention of 18 May 1963 governs postal relations (La Poste Monaco's own history page). No source for parcel lockers in Monaco was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.

Switzerland

Die Schweizerische Post — Finanzbericht 2024 (Zugangspunkte) und My Post 24 ↗

Official source

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Sep 9, 2026

Method

Inputs: A-Post priority mail must arrive on the working day after posting, everywhere in the country; Swiss Post reports over 5,000 access points in its 2024 financial report, of which about 2,000 are staffed, plus 770 Postomaten, 563 drop-off and collection points in retailers such as Migros, and 14,077 letter boxes; tracking is standard on parcels.

Notes

The one part of the definition Switzerland does not meet on its own terms is the parcel-locker network: 303 My Post 24 terminals for nine million people is thin next to the locker-first markets in this dataset, where the count runs into five figures. What Switzerland has instead is an unusually dense network of STAFFED counters and retail collection points, which does the same job with different opening hours. Rated excellent on speed, coverage and tracking, with that caveat visible rather than averaged away.

Monaco

MonEntreprise.mc — Tax in Monaco (customs union with France; Monaco inside the EU customs territory) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Notes

Monaco and France form a customs union under the Customs Convention of 18 May 1963, the French Customs Code applies in Monaco, and Monaco is part of the EU customs territory although it is not an EU member, so goods arrive on EU terms. Parcels from the EU single market arrive like domestic ones; for non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and since 1 July 2026 charges a temporary flat customs duty per item on consignments up to €150, collected through La Poste for postal items.

Switzerland

BAZG — Empfangen von Briefen und Paketen (Kleinsendungen, Wertfreigrenze) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 9, 2026

Verified

Sep 9, 2026

Method

Switzerland is outside the EU customs union, so every consignment is cleared. Import VAT is waived only where the tax due would be under CHF 5, which is a goods value of CHF 62 at the standard 8.1% rate and CHF 193 at the reduced 2.6% rate (books, food); customs duty under CHF 5 is likewise not levied, and unsolicited gifts between private individuals are free up to CHF 100. All the major carriers deliver door to door, and they set their own clearance fees, over which the customs administration states it has no influence.

Notes

Not friction from delay — clearance is quick and predictable — but from the threshold and the handling fee. A CHF 62 de-minimis is low, and the carrier's customs-clearance charge is often larger than the tax it collects, which is why a small parcel from an EU shop can arrive costing noticeably more than its price. Coming from an EU country this is the change people notice first: the same order that used to arrive with nothing to pay now clears customs.

Monaco

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Oct 2, 2026

Method

Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.

Notes

M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.

Switzerland

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Switzerland ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Notes

Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 343 days and 406,505 tests; monthly medians ran 77.8–102.1 Mbps. 2023 is still the latest full year M-Lab's public stats API carries for Switzerland — the 2024 file stops on 26 March. M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads far below Ookla-style figures, so compare it only with other countries in this criterion.

Switzerland

EF EPI 2025 — Switzerland (rank 30/123, score 564, High band) ↗

Research

Data as of

Nov 1, 2025

Verified

Sep 8, 2026

Notes

Our band, matching EF's own: 564 points, 30th of 123 countries and up 14 points on the previous edition. Do not read Switzerland as a Nordic-style English country — administration, healthcare and housing run in the local official language, which is German in Zurich and French in Geneva, and the two cities differ sharply in EF's own city scores (Zurich 621, Geneva 555). English gets a professional a long way inside international employers and almost nowhere inside a cantonal office.