Wernli Steuerberatung

A Tax Practice Built for Arrivals

Wernli Steuerberatung is a Swiss tax consulting and accounting firm based in Steinhausen, Zug, with a specific focus on the people who move to Switzerland from elsewhere. The practice serves Swiss residents, seconded employees (called Entsandte in German employment law), and border workers from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Liechtenstein. The founder, Fabian Wernli, is licensed as a tax advisor in both Switzerland and Germany, and maintains a parallel office in Frankfurt, giving the firm cross-border credentials that matter if your move to Switzerland involves ongoing ties to a neighboring country.

What sets Wernli apart from a general Swiss tax practice is the explicit emphasis on international taxation. For someone arriving in Switzerland, the tax situation is often the first bureaucratic hurdle: you cannot simply bring your home-country tax status with you, and the Swiss authorities will want a local tax return filed for your first year. Wernli targets exactly this scenario and the years that follow.

Opening Your Account and Filing Your First Return

When you first arrive in Switzerland, your canton will register you as a resident within weeks of your move. That registration triggers a tax obligation: you will file an income tax return to your cantonal tax office. If you are seconded to Switzerland by an employer, or if you are relocating with income from abroad, the situation becomes more complex quickly. Wernli lists "international taxation for seconded employees (Expats, Inbounds, business trips)" as a core specialization, and the site distinguishes between advising employees and advising employers on the legal obligations that apply.

For an arriving employee, the firm handles your tax declarations, works through "source tax verification" (Quellensteuerprüfung, a peculiarity of Swiss taxation when you come from abroad), and offers general tax advice to help you understand your obligations. The site notes that preparation can happen "fully online via email, cloud-sharing, or alternatively by postal mail," which means you do not need to visit the Steinhausen office to get started. This is material for someone still organizing their move or living temporarily outside the canton while house-hunting.

The social-insurance side is equally critical for arrivals. Switzerland's social insurance system does not track people who are already insured abroad: if you arrive on assignment from Germany or Austria, you do not automatically stay in your home country's system. Wernli states they "counsel employers and seconded employees on the applicable legal provisions," including the question of "whether you remain in your home-state social insurance or must make statutory contributions to your host country's social system." This is exactly what an arriving employee needs answered before signing a relocation contract.

The Breadth of Their Services

The firm lists a long menu of specializations, grouped by the type of client and the type of tax problem. For companies, they handle income and profit tax returns for sole proprietorships and capital entities (listed as GmbHs and AGs, the German and Swiss business structures). For individuals, they offer income tax returns, value-added tax (Mehrwertsteuer), inheritance-tax returns, and ground-gain-tax returns (Grundstückgewinnsteuer). They handle multiple revenue streams, so if you arrive to take a Swiss job but also have consulting income or rental property back home, they explicitly claim to manage that layering.

Three specializations deserve note. The first is holding companies: the site highlights this as a focus area, which matters if your relocation is tied to managing company structures. The second is cryptocurrency, where they claim to have expertise. The third is their explicit service for self-employed people and small business owners who need both accounting and tax returns, including VAT handling. For border workers, they offer dedicated counsel: these are people who live in one country and work in another, a common pattern in the Zürich and Basel regions where German and French residents cross the border daily.

The site does not break down these services by canton or by specific expat status, so you cannot know from browsing whether they accept employees seconded from your specific country or whether they have handled a situation identical to yours. However, the breadth suggests they have seen most variations.

What the Site Does Not Settle

Wernli publishes no pricing. They offer a contact form to "receive your price quote," but the site contains no fee schedule, no hourly rate, no package price for a first-time tax return, and no indication of whether complexity changes the cost. This is standard for Swiss tax practices, where fees are often negotiated per client, but it means you cannot budget or compare until you ask. The same applies to timelines: they commit to getting back to inquiries "shortly" (in Kürze), but do not specify how shortly or when you might expect your return completed.

They do not describe how to start formally. The site mentions that initial documents can travel by email or post, but does not explain whether you book a consultation first, whether you can request Fabian Wernli specifically, or whether your case would be handled by another advisor in the firm. The page does not state how many people work there, so you cannot gauge capacity from the outside.

The site also does not cover the tax implications of specific residence categories (a provisional residence permit for newcomers works differently for tax purposes than permanent residency, for instance) or whether they advise non-residents who have not yet moved but are preparing. They mention "general tax advice" but do not detail the scope or depth of that service.

Who Wernli Suits, and Who It Might Not

This practice is built for the international arrival. If you are relocating to Switzerland from Germany, Austria, France, or Italy, and your employer is handling the legal side while you handle your personal tax setup, Wernli offers the specific expertise you need. If you are self-employed and moved to Switzerland, they have handled that shape of client. If you are a border worker and juggling two countries' tax obligations, they have named this explicitly. If you are seconded for a defined term and need to understand whether you stay in your home country's social insurance, this is the conversation Wernli is designed for.

You might look elsewhere if you are a pure Swiss resident with no international income or ties, since Wernli's value proposition is international complexity; a local general practice might be more affordable. You will also need to confirm they serve your specific country pairing and your employment category before you commit, since the site does not break out which nationalities or expat statuses they actually take on.

The cross-border setup (with Fabian Wernli licensed in Germany and the Frankfurt office) is a concrete plus if you are managing German income or property alongside a Swiss move. For other international situations, the generalist positioning and the long list of services suggest capability, but you would need to verify the firm has handled your specific scenario before signing.