Withholding tax in Neuchâtel: 2026 scale, TOU and cross-border workers

Permit B or L in Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds or Le Locle? Your employer withholds tax every month according to a scale that ignores your real deductions. Here is how to read that scale, who is concerned in the canton, and when a request for subsequent ordinary taxation (TOU, i.e. filing a full tax return) gets you money back. In English, 100% digital.

31 March 2027

Deadline to request the TOU on 2026 income, no extension

CHF 120,000

Gross income from which the TOU is compulsory

1983

Franco-Swiss agreement: the canton’s cross-border workers are taxed in France

Who is taxed at source in the canton of Neuchâtel?

Withholding tax applies to foreign employees living in the canton without a C settlement permit: permit B, permit L, asylum seekers allowed to work. It also applies to people living abroad who work in the canton without falling under the cross-border agreement: weekly commuters who stay in Switzerland during the week, residents of a country other than France, or cross-border workers who have not given their employer the tax residence certificate.

It ends with the C permit, or on marriage to a Swiss citizen or C permit holder: the couple then moves to ordinary taxation and files a return every year.

The deduction covers federal, cantonal and municipal tax in a single line of your payslip. Neuchâtel applies a flat cantonal rate on income, but the withholding scale remains progressive: it includes direct federal tax and an average municipal coefficient, not the one of your municipality.

Reading your 2026 scale

The scale code

A letter and a digit on your payslip: A for a single person, B for a married couple with one income, C for a married couple with two incomes, H for a single-parent family. The digit is the number of dependent children (A0, B2, C1). A wrong code is fixed by a correction, not by a TOU.

What the rate already includes

The scale is computed for an average taxpayer: a flat rate for professional expenses, average insurance premiums, child deductions according to the code, the canton’s average municipal coefficient. Claiming these in a TOU changes almost nothing. Pillar 3a, pension fund buy-backs, childcare, actual commuting costs, alimony and interest on debts, on the other hand, are not in it: that is where the refund is.

Where to find the official scale

The cantonal tax service publishes the withholding tax scales every year (annual and monthly, by code) on ne.ch. The total withheld over the year is on your salary certificate (box 12): that is the amount credited if you move to ordinary taxation.

Cross-border workers: the 1983 agreement and its exceptions

Neuchâtel is one of the cantons party to the Franco-Swiss agreement of 11 April 1983, with Vaud, Valais, Bern, Jura, Solothurn, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. A cross-border worker living in France who goes home every day is taxed in France on their Neuchâtel salary. The employer withholds nothing, provided it has received the French tax residence certificate, and France pays the canton a compensation of 4.5% of the payroll.

Three situations switch you to Swiss withholding tax: not going home to France every day (the weekly commuter is taxed in Switzerland), not having handed in the certificate, or exceeding the share of remote work allowed by the cross-border teleworking agreement. In those cases the scale applies, and the TOU as a quasi-resident becomes possible if at least 90% of the household’s gross worldwide income is taxable in Switzerland. It has to be requested every year.

In every case the salary is also declared in France. Our cross-border taxation page covers the certificate, remote work and the French return.

Scale correction or TOU?

Correction: fixing an error

Wrong scale code, child or marriage not taken into account, spouse’s income wrongly entered, too much withheld by the employer. The request goes to the withholding tax office before 31 March of the following year. Since 2021 it gives no additional deduction.

TOU: claiming your deductions

A full tax return, the real tax computed on your income, wealth and deductions, the withholding tax already deducted credited back. Compulsory from CHF 120,000 of gross income, on request below. For residents the request is irrevocable: the TOU applies every year until you obtain a C permit or leave Switzerland. The TOU guide details the conditions.

Not sure the TOU pays off for you? Compare your deductions with the scale in two minutes.

Run the check

Requesting the TOU in Neuchâtel, in four steps

Check that the TOU pays off

Compare your real deductions with what the scale already includes. Our free check gives an order of magnitude; the free call does the exact computation, municipality by municipality. The request is irrevocable: nobody should file it blind.
Fill in the "Demande de TOU" form

PDF form from the cantonal tax service, to print and sign, by both spouses for a couple. The office accepts neither e-mail nor phone requests.
Post it before 31 March 2027

To the Office de l’impôt à la source, Service des contributions, La Chaux-de-Fonds. Keep proof of posting: it is what counts if the deadline is disputed.
File the full tax return

The administration then sends you an ordinary tax return: income, wealth, deductions. The withholding tax already deducted is credited, and the balance is refunded or claimed.

The Neuchâtel tax return has the shortest deadline in French-speaking Switzerland (20 February for the 2025 return, free extension until 30 April). For a first TOU, the administration sets the deadline on the form it sends you.

Frequently asked questions

Permit B in La Chaux-de-Fonds: do I have to file a tax return?

Not necessarily. Your employer withholds the tax and, below CHF 120,000 of gross income, that is the end of it. You can however request subsequent ordinary taxation (TOU) before 31 March 2027 to claim your real deductions: pillar 3a, pension fund buy-backs, childcare, actual commuting costs. From CHF 120,000 the TOU is compulsory and you will receive a tax return to fill in. Our 2-minute check tells you whether a request is likely to pay off.

My scale ignores my child or my marriage: what can I do?

That is a correction of the scale, not a TOU: you ask the withholding tax office to fix the code applied (for instance A0 instead of B1) and the excess is refunded. Start by telling your employer, who applies the scale. Since 2021 a correction can no longer add deductions: for those, only the TOU exists.

Cross-border worker living in France and employed in Neuchâtel: does the TOU concern me?

As a rule, no. Under the Franco-Swiss agreement of 1983 you are taxed in France on your salary, your employer withholds nothing and the TOU question does not arise. It does arise if you do not go home to France every day (weekly commuter), if you have not given your employer the French tax residence certificate, or if you do not meet the conditions of the status: you are then taxed at source in Switzerland and can, as a quasi-resident, request the TOU if 90% of your household income is taxable in Switzerland. See our cross-border taxation page.

What if I miss 31 March 2027?

The TOU request for 2026 income is inadmissible: you stay on the scale for the year, with no appeal. It is a forfeiture deadline, no extension is possible; the posting date counts. For 2027 income the deadline will be 31 March 2028. If your TOU is compulsory (income of at least CHF 120,000) the administration will assess you anyway, but failing to report it counts as tax evasion.

Taxed at source in Neuchâtel? Let’s talk about your needs.

Fifteen free minutes with a tax law specialist, in English: we check your scale, put a figure on the TOU, and tell you whether it is worth it. No commitment.

Book my free 15-minute call

Free 15-minute call. You pick the time. No commitment.