Relocating to Appenzell Ausserrhoden: tax, health premiums, rent and naturalisation

Tax

Income and wealth tax in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Total federal, cantonal and communal tax per year for each tracked commune in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, tax year 2026, computed with the official ESTV calculator. No church tax is included.

Standard profiles: gross employment income with the calculator's standard deductions. Single: one adult aged 35. Married: couple aged 40 and 38, one earner, two children aged 10 and 8. The asset profile adds net taxable wealth to the married profile.

Health insurance

Health insurance premiums in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Federal Office of Public Health, premium year 2027: adult aged 26 or over, accident cover included, standard model, CHF 300 deductible, CHF per month.

Housing and safety

Rent and safety in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Rent: Federal Statistical Office structural survey, 2024, net rent excluding service and heating charges. Safety: police crime statistics, 2025; rates in cantons with large city centres reflect visitors and commuters as well as residents.

Cantonal rules

Inheritance, lump-sum taxation, schools and family in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Inheritance tax for children

Gifts and inheritances to descendants, step-children and foster children are exempt.
Source

Inheritance tax for spouses

Transfers to spouses and registered partners are exempt.
Source

Gift tax

Gift tax follows the same exemptions: spouse and descendants exempt.
Source

Lump-sum taxation

The canton has no taxation by expenditure (lump-sum taxation).
Source

Family allowance per child

The cantonal child allowance is CHF 230 per child per month (2026).
Source

Bilingual public schooling

Kantonsschule Trogen offers a bilingual German-English Matura in which biology, economics and law, chemistry, history, mathematics, sport and an interdisciplinary final-year subject are taught in English.
Source

Naturalisation

Becoming Swiss in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Federal law sets the national minimum. The canton and the commune add their own residence periods, language levels and tests, and they decide on cantonal and communal citizenship.

Residence in the commune

Cantonal law requires three years of uninterrupted residence in the same municipality; the official page lists this alongside the federal ten years in Switzerland.
Source

Spoken language

Appenzell Ausserrhoden asks for a German certificate at B1, shown for oral and written skills, with exemptions for German native speakers and those with qualifying German-language schooling or training.
Source

Written language

The web page states B1 proof for written as well as oral German, which is above the federal written A2.
Source

Knowledge test

The applicant sits a civics test (Staatskundetest) at the cantonal Amt für Inneres in Trogen before filing the application.
Source

Interview

The cantonal office holds a first meeting to explain the procedure and hand out documents; a formal naturalisation interview is not described on the page.
Source

Who decides

The municipal council grants communal citizenship, the federal SEM issues its permit, and the cantonal government then grants the Landrecht.
Source

Cantonal and communal fees

Cantonal fee for foreign nationals is usually CHF 1,000 for an adult, CHF 500 for a minor, CHF 1,500 for a couple plus CHF 150 per included child; communes may charge up to CHF 2,000 per application.
Source

Social assistance

The official page lists that no social assistance may have been received in the last five years.
Source

All 26 cantonal requirements compared

Back to all 26 cantons · Methodology and sources

Questions

Living in Appenzell Ausserrhoden: common questions