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

Tax

Income and wealth tax in Schaffhausen

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

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 Schaffhausen

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 Schaffhausen

Inheritance tax for children

Spouses, registered partners, descendants, adopted and step-children are exempt from the inheritance and gift tax.
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Inheritance tax for spouses

Spouses and registered partners are exempt.
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Gift tax

Gift tax follows the same exemptions: spouse and descendants exempt.
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Lump-sum taxation

The canton has no taxation by expenditure (lump-sum taxation).
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Family allowance per child

The cantonal child allowance is CHF 230 per child per month (2026).
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Bilingual public schooling

Kantonsschule Schaffhausen offers a bilingual German-French Matura under Art. 18 MAR, and a separate immersion class leads to a bilingual German-English Matura.
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International schools

The International School of Schaffhausen, Mühlentalstrasse 280, offers IB education from early years to the Diploma Programme.
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Naturalisation

Becoming Swiss in Schaffhausen

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

An applicant must show at least two years of uninterrupted residence in the municipality concerned when applying.
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Spoken language

The law requires sufficient language skills to communicate with authorities and fellow citizens but names no cantonal CEFR level above the federal one.
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Who decides

In the ordinary procedure the commune decides on communal citizenship through the body its constitution names, and the cantonal government grants cantonal citizenship.
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Cantonal and communal fees

Ordinary procedure fee is CHF 850 for the canton and CHF 1,150 for the commune; the simplified procedure for foreign nationals is CHF 400 canton and CHF 600 commune. Couples and included children pay one fee, and fees can be waived in social hardship.
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All 26 cantonal requirements compared

Back to all 26 cantons · Methodology and sources

Questions

Living in Schaffhausen: common questions