Military Service or 3% Tax?

Military Service or 3% Tax?

  • Military Service

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • 3% Tax

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

johncayley

New member
Hello all,

I am going to touch on the topic of the mandatory military service for male Swiss citizens which I don't believe has been talked about previously on this forum.

It is mandatory for Swiss men to do the military service between the age of 18-25. If you were in employment before you start your military service you are paid 80% of your salary which is pretty good considering you will not need to pay for health insurance and rent/food on the weekdays you are in the army so you could save a lot. If you do not do the military service you can pay a 3% tax on your taxable income every year for 11 years or until you reach the age of 37. Now, I don't believe you can simply say no to doing the military service but people will come up with excuses why they are unfit to serve and you can defer till the age of 25 when you will be considered too old to serve. This 3% seems quite a lot especially if you take into account the returns you could make if this was invested over an 11 year period. Although, I have heard the army can be a waste of time and will mostly likely get less than 6 hours of sleep a night, you can make friends for life and learn hard skills such as acquiring a truck driving license. Also, if you choose the option of not doing the full military service in one go you come back every year for 3 weeks, which is also paid at 80% of your salary and is a sort of "holiday" where you get to see your old friends. What would you choose: military service or 3% tax?

Furthermore, I have read some articles that state if you legally change your gender to female, you avoid the military service and tax completely, as of January 2022 it is easier to change your gender with the civil registry, costs about CHF 75 and there is no need for a medical certificate. Theoretically, people could use this loop hole, however I doubt in reality very many people would be willing to change their gender, even if it is just on paper, to avoid doing military service or paying tax but it is an interesting question.

Thanks!
 
Hi john

Financially, the military service is better because the 3% tax can quickly add up.
However, this may hurt your career, which is very difficult to quantify.

I did not have a particularly good experience in the military service, and it was mostly a waste of time. During the first 3 months, you are actually happy when you get 6 hours of sleep. And once you start the repetition courses, this is much easier. But you can indeed make friends and have a lot of fun occasionally.

Overall, I would still recommend the military service unless you are physically unable to do it, but inventing excuses is not so great. But, my advice would be to either choose something where you can learn something useful (driving for instance), do something fun (if you are a weapon enthusiast) or do something you are good at (like music already). But it's going to be painful, so choose something easy.

As for the loophole, I'd rather not discuss it.
 
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