Not everyone is allowed to register residence in Zug municipalities

Due to its low taxes, the canton of Zug is attractive for wealthy newcomers. But wealth also attracts tax evaders. Although the residents' registration offices do not keep precise statistics, the municipalities reject several dozen registrations every year.
 

At the beginning of the year, an article entitled ‘How Zug landlords brazenly advertise to tax evaders’ appeared in the Blick newspaper. It described how a multimillionaire tried to rent a room in a shared flat in Zug. But the authorities became aware of the case: they were sceptical about a multimillionaire living in a shared flat, and demanded to see credit card statements from the man, who owned properties in other Swiss cities. He no longer has his address in Zug.

According to Zug's finance director Heinz Tännler (SVP: Swiss People’s party), the Resident Registration Authorities (Einwohnerkontrollen) are often decisive in these checks. ‘The Zug resident registration authorities carry out the relevant clarifications in the case of registrations from other cantons, and reject a number of registration attempts every year,’ he told the Blick newspaper.

The police can be called in
What are the current figures for registration rejections, and how do the municipalities check for possible fictitious residences and tax evaders?

A survey of the Zug municipalities shows that the resident registration authorities tend to proceed in an almost identical fashion: all persons wishing to register are required to provide documents such as a rental agreement. If the authorities encounter any inconsistencies, they can conduct in-depth investigations. For example, they may contact the owner, the property management company or co-tenants.

In cases of subletting (Untervermietungen), the Einwohnerkontrolle also asks the landlord whether this has been approved. As a last resort, they can also ask the police to investigate the place of residence.

Canton Zug is not only attractive for its lakes and landscapes, but also for its tax policy       Archive photo: Stefan Kaiser
Zug Cantonal Councillor Heinz Tännler (SVP)             Photo: Zuger Zeitung

How things stand in the municipalities of Zug

• Baar: In a few cases, checks are carried out on site to see whether the letterbox or doorbell has been labelled, says municipal president (Gemeindepräsident)
  Walter Lipp. As soon as letters – such as tax returns or voting documents – cannot be delivered, however, the municipal office (Gemeindebüro ) initiates in-depth investigations. On average, there are one or two rejections per month in Baar.
   
• City of Zug: according to the city administration, the residents' registration office does not keep precise statistics. But registrations are rejected every month.
   
• Steinhausen: ‘In recent years, we have recorded an average of around 25 cases a year in which registrations were rejected,’ writes Mona Burri, communications project manager for the municipality of Steinhausen.
  But the checks are not limited to new registrations. ‘People who have been living in the municipality for a long time can also be checked if there are concrete indications for doing so,’ she adds. These indications could come from the local population, for example, and relate to people who have returned to their home country or who have been abroad for a long time. The municipality also checks people who are registered as weekly residents in another municipality.
  Mona Burri: ‘If there is concrete suspicion, we invite the person concerned to a meeting. We ask them to provide evidence that their actual place of residence is in our municipality.’ This includes public transport season tickets, credit card statements and water and electricity bills.
   
• Unterägeri: the Resident Registration Authorities sends out questionnaires if necessary, as they informed the Zuger Zeitung newspaper in writing. On average, rejections occur about three to five times a year.
   
• Oberägeri: the relevant municipal authorities had not responded to the enquiry by the time of going to press.
   
• Cham: the Einwohnergemeinde in the municipality of Cham also does not keep statistics on this. But according to estimates by the Cham Residents' Services (Einwohnerdienste), there are around ten to 20 rejections a year. ‘It’s important that the tax authorities are also active alongside the residents' services. Federal regulations on residence and increased cantonal cooperation would make the work easier,’ says Arno Grüter, municipal councillor (Gemeinderat) and Head of Finance and Administration in Cham.
   
• Walchwil: according to the municipal administration, registrations are rejected about one to three times a year.
   
• Menzingen: registrations are generally accepted at face value. Discrepancies are only suspected in rare cases.
   
• Risch: ‘Rejections of registrations are the exception in the municipality. At the most, an average of only one to two registrations are rejected a year,’ writes Beat Enderlin, Head of Communications for the municipality.
   
• Neuheim: this municipality also does not keep statistics, so it’s therefore not possible to make a blanket statement. But changes in the area of resident registration are generally manageable in this small municipality.
   
• Hünenberg: there are only a few rejections each year, according to the municipality. The staff of the residents' services are very experienced, and are well aware of the issue.

By way of comparison, according to the Zug Office for Statistics, a total of 6,793 people moved to the canton of Zug in 2024.

The cantonal tax administration (kantonaleSteuerverwaltung) also takes action: ‘If the tax administration determines that the information on residence differs from the information provided to the residents' registration office during the assessment or collection process, it will initiate further investigations,’ was the response of the Zug Cantonal Council response to a 2023 enquiry on the subject of residence investigations (Wohnsitzabklärungen).

‘No specific need for action apparent’
The cantons from which people move to Zug can also take action if they have suspicions: if the canton has doubts about the transfer of the centre of a person’s life to the canton of Zug, it can send the person concerned a questionnaire and carry out further investigations, as can also be seen from the response of the cantonal council (Regierungsrat). If the person is unable to provide clear evidence, the canton of departure can issue a declaratory ruling stating that tax liability continues to apply at the place of departure. In response to a recent enquiry about these control procedures, Heinz Tännler said: ‘I believe that the current procedures and responsibilities are fundamentally sound, and that there is no apparent need for action.’

The Finance Director also admitted that it is difficult, and in many cases virtually impossible, for the tax authorities to check and assess whether someone actually spends every night in their rented or owned apartment in Zug, and has their centre of life here. ‘Many Zug residents travel frequently for work or leisure, often internationally. They also have accommodation elsewhere, or can share such accommodation,’ he continued. Just because their neighbours have the impression that there are often no lights on in an apartment in the evening does not mean that their residence in Zug is fictitious (Scheinwohnsitz).