The rule in one sentence
In Switzerland, your tax domicile follows your real center of life. If you move within Switzerland, the canton and municipality where you actually live at the end of the tax period (31 December) generally tax you for the whole year. Bern's official TaxInfo guide states this explicitly, treating 31 December as the absolute reference date for moves within Switzerland or the canton.
What changes in practice
If you move before 31 December and your center of life genuinely shifts, your new home municipality taxes your entire income for that year. If you move after 31 December, your old municipality keeps the tax rights for the year that just ended. And be careful: simply registering at a new address is not enough. Tax authorities look at where your life actually happens.
Concrete examples from PLZHub
A move from 8001 Zürich to 6300 Zug shows exactly why this date matters so much. In PLZHub's tax scenarios, the estimated total tax for an income of CHF 80,000 is 8,043 in Zurich and just 6,319 in Zug. For a couple earning CHF 120,000, it is 18,278 versus 14,187. For a family making CHF 150,000, it jumps to 20,715 versus 16,104. If your domicile really changes before New Year's Eve, your entire tax bill for the year lands in the cheaper canton.
The exact same logic applies inside a single canton. Between 3011 Bern and 3047 Bremgarten b. Bern, the estimated tax for CHF 80,000 drops from 9,211 to 8,890. The gap is smaller than the Zurich-Zug jump, but the principle is identical: the municipality on the reference date is not just an administrative detail; it is a financial reality.
Look at 1000 Lausanne 25 versus 1008 Prilly. For CHF 80,000, PLZHub shows 9,182 in Lausanne 25 and 8,948 in Prilly. In dense urban areas, the exact municipality border matters far more than a coarse postcode label. Because 1008 Prilly is also a shared postcode, if the tax question becomes serious, you have to verify the exact street address.
What PLZHub is actually for
PLZHub helps you frame the tax question clearly: which municipality, which canton, which scenario. But the binding answer always comes from the municipality or the tax office. If you only want to compare options, PLZHub is perfect. If you need to officially establish a domicile or file a return, you must get official confirmation.
