In Switzerland you count as part-time self-employed the moment you start working on your own account alongside your main job. Up to CHF 2'300 in net profit per year, you don't have to register with the compensation office. Above that it becomes mandatory, and from CHF 100'000 in annual turnover, VAT enters the picture too.

Picture Sarah, a fictional UX designer from Zurich with an 80% job. On her days off, she still builds websites for two former clients. In her first year, she earns CHF 1'800 from it. Sarah doesn't have to register anywhere — she just needs to file her receipts cleanly and declare the income on her tax return. In her second year she invoices CHF 9'000, and that's when registering with the SVA (cantonal compensation office) becomes mandatory. These exact thresholds, and what happens at each one, are what we'll clear up here.

We built Magic Heidi because we're Swiss freelancers ourselves and lived through this phase. You're not getting a legal essay here — you're getting a concrete walkthrough: what to do on day one, when a fiduciary actually becomes worth the money, and the traps nobody puts on their website.

At a glance

• Up to CHF 2'300 net profit per year from your side income: no obligation to register with the SVA, but still declare the income on your tax return.
• Above CHF 2'300 net profit per year: registration with the SVA (cantonal compensation office) is mandatory, roughly 10% AHV/IV/EO on net profit.
• Above CHF 100'000 annual turnover: VAT registration required, plus entry in the commercial register as a sole proprietorship.
• Check your duty of loyalty (Art. 321a CO) to your main employer: competing activities or missing consent can get serious fast.
• Three indicators decide your self-employed status: your own market presence, your own economic risk, and multiple clients.

What does "part-time self-employed" mean in Switzerland?

You're part-time self-employed when you work on your own account alongside a paid job or another main source of income. You issue invoices, you carry the economic risk yourself, and you present yourself externally as your own provider. The time you spend on it typically tops out at around 50 percent of your total work — the rest stays your main occupation.

The SVA doesn't look at the label, it looks at the facts. It asks three concrete questions to decide whether you're really self-employed (you'll find the summary as cards further down). Anyone with only a single client tends to get classified as a "sham self-employed" person, which has consequences for AHV contributions and social insurance.

The line between side income and main income matters. The moment your side-business self-employment suddenly earns you more than your main job, that's a signal for the compensation office to reassess your status. If you're drifting toward that threshold, plan the transition actively, not reactively.

Side income vs. main income: where's the line?

There's no hard number. In practice the SVA uses several markers: share of total income, share of working time, whether you still have an employment contract, and how predictable your self-employed earnings are. If you earn 30 percent of your income as self-employed and 70 percent as an employee, you're clearly side-income. At 60 to 40 it becomes a borderline case the compensation office reviews individually.

Can I be self-employed on the side while employed?

Yes, almost always. Swiss employees are generally allowed to take on side work. But there are two legal limits you need to know first: the duty of loyalty (Art. 321a CO) and any non-compete clause in your employment contract.

The duty of loyalty roughly means: your side activity must not harm your employer. If you're an employed web designer and you take on private web-design projects that could otherwise become clients of your company, you're potentially breaching the duty of loyalty. If you're a sales manager and you teach yoga classes on the side, that's almost never a problem.

Check your employment contract and your staff handbook. Many Swiss companies require side activities above a certain workload (often 10 or 20 percent) to be reported in writing. Stick to it. An informal email to HR saying "I'm doing X on the side, no overlap with the company's business" usually does the job and protects you from arguments later.

Do I need to tell my employer?

If the contract or staff handbook requires it: yes. Otherwise not legally mandatory, but in practice often smarter. If your boss finds out about your side income by accident through LinkedIn or a shared client, it instantly looks like you were hiding it. A short, professional heads-up in advance solves 95 percent of these problems.

Want to get started right away and just need a quick, correct first invoice? Check out the invoicing tool for Swiss freelancers and start in 2 minutes.

SVA registration: the CHF 2'300 threshold explained

The single most important number in all of side-income self-employment is CHF 2'300 net profit per year. Up to this amount, you are not required to register as self-employed with the SVA (cantonal compensation office). Cross the threshold and registration becomes mandatory — and you pay AHV/IV/EO contributions (the Swiss old-age, disability, and income-replacement contributions) retroactively for the whole year.

Important: this is about net profit, not turnover. If you invoice CHF 5'000 but offset CHF 3'000 in expenses for hardware, software, and training, you're left with CHF 2'000 in net profit and you're under the threshold. But your receipts need to be cleanly collected for that to hold up.

AHV contributions for part-time self-employed people come to around 10 percent of net profit (AHV 8.1%, IV 1.4%, EO 0.5%, plus a small administrative fee). On CHF 8'000 of net profit, that's about CHF 800 per year.

How to register with the SVA in 5 steps

1. Get the application form. On your cantonal compensation office's website (for example sva.zh.ch, sva-ag.ch, ahvluzern.ch) you'll find the form "Registration as self-employed".
2. Prepare your documents. You typically need: copies of your first three invoices or client contracts, a short description of your activity, and possibly your terms of business or a business card.
3. Fill in and submit the form. Use realistic turnover estimates for the first year — your provisional contribution will be calculated on that basis.
4. Wait for the decision. The SVA takes 4 to 8 weeks to check whether the three self-employment indicators are met, and issues you a self-employed status certificate (Erwerbsausweis) if you're approved.
5. Pay your advance contributions. The SVA sends a provisional quarterly bill, which is corrected after the final tax decision.

Practical tip: collect every receipt, invoice, and bank statement from the first invoice onwards. Even if you're still under the CHF 2'300 limit, you'll need them at the latest for your tax return — and retroactively if you have to register.

Taxes on side income: how much is "tax-free"?

When it comes to taxes, there's no "allowance" for side income. Every franc you earn on the side is in principle taxable income and gets declared on your private tax return on top of your salary.

What you can deduct, though, is substantial: all expenses with a business reason. That includes a share of your computer and software costs, technical books, coworking or home-office share, training, business travel, a share of your phone and internet bill, advertising, and consumables. You subtract these expenses from gross income and pay tax only on the net profit.

Pierre, a fictional IT consultant working full-time in Lausanne, invoices CHF 12'000 a year on the side. He deducts CHF 4'200 in expenses (a share of his new laptop, cloud tools, one coworking day per week). What's taxed is the net profit of CHF 7'800, which gets added to his salary and taxed progressively. At a marginal tax rate of 30 percent, that's about CHF 2'340 in extra tax and CHF 780 in AHV.

If you're taxed at source: what changes

If you're taxed at source (withholding tax, or Quellensteuer — for example as a foreign national without a C permit), your side income changes your procedure. The moment your total gross annual income exceeds CHF 120'000 or you have self-employed earnings, you have to file an ordinary tax return. Exact thresholds vary by canton — when in doubt, ask your cantonal tax office.

When VAT comes into play

Swiss VAT becomes mandatory above an annual turnover of CHF 100'000. As long as your side income stays below that, you can skip VAT and not show any tax on your invoices. The moment you can foresee crossing the threshold, you have to register with the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV), add VAT to your invoices, and file quarterly. Magic Heidi calculates Swiss VAT automatically and supports both the effective method and the net tax rate method.

Sole proprietorship or no legal form: what fits side income?

For 99 percent of people who are part-time self-employed, the answer is: start with no formalities, register later if needed. Switzerland lets you operate as a sole proprietorship (Einzelfirma) without any founding act and without a notary. You don't have to "set up" anything — you just issue invoices in your own name and document your business cleanly.

Entry in the commercial register only becomes mandatory once your annual turnover crosses CHF 100'000. Before that it's voluntary and costs around CHF 200 to 400 depending on canton, but it gives you a bit more credibility with larger clients.

A GmbH (limited liability company) rarely makes sense for side income. You need CHF 20'000 in share capital, double-entry bookkeeping, an annual balance sheet, and higher social-insurance obligations. As long as you're not working with liability risks that could hit you personally (for example large consulting fees with damage exposure), stick with the sole proprietorship. Our guide to becoming a freelancer in Switzerland walks through all the options in detail.

Summary: your start as part-time self-employed

Being part-time self-employed in Switzerland is administratively much simpler than most fiduciary websites would have you believe. The three thresholds to keep in your head:

• CHF 2'300 net profit per year for the SVA registration obligation
• CHF 100'000 annual turnover for VAT registration and entry in the commercial register
• Duty of loyalty toward your main employer, clarified in writing or verbally

Everything else can be solved with clean receipt-keeping, a slim invoicing tool, and a clear plan for the first 90 days. The cards and FAQ below answer the typical questions that might still be open. If a judgment call feels hard, ask your cantonal compensation office or a fiduciary. Swiss authorities are surprisingly cooperative on these questions.

Your next step: Create your first Swiss invoice in 2 minutes with Magic Heidi. Free, no credit card, ready to go. If you grow into it, you get the same software we use ourselves for our own sole proprietorship.