Relocating to Lucerne: tax, health premiums, rent and naturalisation

Tax

Income and wealth tax in Lucerne

Total federal, cantonal and communal tax per year for each tracked commune in Lucerne, 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 Lucerne

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 Lucerne

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 Lucerne

Inheritance tax for children

Lucerne: children are exempt from inheritance tax at cantonal level.
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Inheritance tax for spouses

Lucerne: the spouse is exempt from inheritance tax.
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Gift tax

Lucerne: gift tax: no gift tax levied.
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Lump-sum taxation

Lucerne sets a minimum expenditure amount for expenditure-based taxation under para. 21(3a) of its Tax Act, so the regime exists.
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Lump-sum minimum tax base

Lucerne minimum expenditure for expenditure-based taxation was set at CHF 638,400 for tax period 2024.
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Wealth tax

Lucerne wealth tax tariff is 0.75 per mille per unit (0.875 per mille applied in tax years 2020 to 2023).
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Family allowance per child

Lucerne monthly child allowance per child: CHF 215 up to age 12, 260 over 12.
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Naturalisation

Becoming Swiss in Lucerne

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

Lucerne requires a total of three years in the naturalisation commune within the five years before filing, with at least one uninterrupted year immediately before naturalisation.
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Spoken language

Lucerne requires oral German at B1, which matches the federal level.
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Written language

Lucerne requires written German at A2, which matches the federal level.
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Who decides

In Lucerne the commune assembly decides on promising communal citizenship to foreigners unless voters delegate it, and the Justiz- und Sicherheitsdepartement then grants cantonal citizenship.
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Cantonal and communal fees

Lucerne communes and the canton charge fees that may at most cover costs, with the detail left to the government ordinance.
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Social assistance

Lucerne uses a three-year look-back for social assistance, the same as the federal period.
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All 26 cantonal requirements compared

Move comparisons

Moves to and from Lucerne

Back to all 26 cantons · Methodology and sources

Questions

Living in Lucerne: common questions