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

Tax

Income and wealth tax in Solothurn

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

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 Solothurn

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 Solothurn

Inheritance tax for children

Descendants and adopted 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 allows taxation by expenditure (lump-sum taxation).
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Lump-sum minimum tax base

The cantonal minimum expenditure base for lump-sum taxation is CHF 400,000.
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Family allowance per child

The cantonal child allowance is CHF 215 per child per month (2026).
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Bilingual public schooling

Kantonsschule Olten offers a bilingual Matura with English: from the second year four subjects are taught in English, for the mathematics and natural sciences and the economics and law profiles.
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Naturalisation

Becoming Swiss in Solothurn

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

Solothurn requires 4 years of residence in the canton, alongside 10 years in Switzerland.
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Residence in the commune

Solothurn requires at least 2 years of settlement in the commune.
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Spoken language

Solothurn requires German at oral level B2, above the federal B1 oral.
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Written language

Solothurn requires written German at level A2, equal to the federal minimum.
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Knowledge test

Solothurn requires a 20-lesson Neubürgerkurs, compulsory from age 18, completed with a passed exam; a dispensation can be requested from the Amt für Gemeinden.
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Interview

The Oberamt invites applicants to a personal interview and prepares the survey report, sent to the commune within 3 months.
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Who decides

In Solothurn the Bürger- or Einheitsgemeinde assembly or council assures communal citizenship, the Fachkommission Bürgerrecht gives a provisional cantonal assurance, the SEM grants the federal permit and the Regierungsrat takes the final decision.
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Social assistance

A 2018 cantonal leaflet states that applicants who received social assistance in the 3 years before filing or during the procedure cannot be naturalised unless the aid was repaid in full.
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All 26 cantonal requirements compared

Back to all 26 cantons · Methodology and sources

Questions

Living in Solothurn: common questions