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

Tax

Income and wealth tax in Neuchâtel

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

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 Neuchâtel

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 Neuchâtel

Inheritance tax for children

Neuchâtel taxes children at 3 percent on inheritance and gifts, with a CHF 50,000 deduction per inherited share for children and parents.
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Inheritance tax for spouses

Neuchâtel exempts the spouse, and a registered partner after two years of partnership, from inheritance and gift tax.
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Gift tax

Neuchâtel levies gift tax on children at 3 percent after a CHF 10,000 annual exemption per donee.
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Lump-sum taxation

Neuchâtel applies expenditure-based taxation in place of income tax.
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Lump-sum minimum tax base

The Neuchâtel minimum expenditure base is the highest of CHF 400,000, seven times annual rent or rental value, or three times annual board price.
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Wealth tax

Neuchâtel's wealth tax scale reaches 5.00 per mille in the CHF 350,001 to CHF 500,000 category and taxes wealth above CHF 500,000 at 3.6 per mille.
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Bilingual public schooling

Neuchâtel's lycees offer a bilingual gymnasial maturity in French-German or French-English.
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Family allowance per child

Neuchâtel child allowance is CHF 240 per month for the first two children and CHF 270 from the third, with training allowance CHF 320 and CHF 350.
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Naturalisation

Becoming Swiss in Neuchâtel

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 canton

The applicant must be domiciled in Neuchâtel for two years when filing.
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Spoken language

Oral French equivalent to at least CEFR B1 is required.
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Written language

Written French at CEFR A2 at minimum is required.
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Who decides

The communal council rules within three months, then once federal authorisation is granted the Conseil d'Etat decides, on the advice of the cantonal naturalisation commission.
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Cantonal and communal fees

Neuchâtel charges a cantonal fee of CHF 1,500 per adult, CHF 650 per minor and CHF 1,900 per couple, plus communal fees of CHF 150 or CHF 200 for a couple.
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Social assistance

The cantonal texts read set no stricter social assistance period; tax payments must in principle be up to date and no open debt enforcement in favour of the public authorities.
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All 26 cantonal requirements compared

Back to all 26 cantons · Methodology and sources

Questions

Living in Neuchâtel: common questions