The True Cost of Ownership.
This calculator shows you exactly what your assets cost to own each year — and what a Liechtenstein foundation would cost instead. The numbers are yours. Set them and see.
Set your numbers. Everything below updates instantly.
Paid every year. On wealth you already built. At a rate that increases as your assets grow.
What a Liechtenstein foundation changes.
Two structures. One asset base. CHF 3M today — watch what the difference compounds to.
| Without Foundation | With Foundation | |
|---|---|---|
| Costs | ||
| Canton wealth tax | — | — |
| PAS flat tax | — | − CHF 1,800 |
| Advisory / Governance | − CHF 3,000 | — |
| Total annual cost | — | − CHF 12,800 |
| Returns | ||
| Asset growth (4%¹) | — | — |
| Annual tax saving | — | — |
| Total annual return | — | — |
| Net position | — | — |
¹ 4% annual growth is used as a conservative illustrative assumption based on a balanced portfolio. Your actual returns will vary significantly based on asset allocation, market conditions, and timing.
These figures are indicative only. Actual wealth tax depends on your full asset profile, cantonal deductions, and municipality. Governance costs vary by complexity and provider. This calculator is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. Cantonal rates accurate as of 2025/2026.
How the numbers move over time.
Canton wealth tax is progressive — the rate increases as your assets grow. Your foundation cost is almost entirely fixed from day one. As your wealth compounds, the canton charges more. The foundation charges the same.
The question most people ask first is straightforward: do the numbers stack up? These two charts answer that for your specific situation — your canton, your asset level, your marital status. Adjust the inputs above and the charts update instantly.
The annual cost
Imagine you start with the asset value you set above. In the early years your wealth tax bill is relatively modest — but it rises every year, automatically, as your assets grow. The red line shows that rising cost. The green line shows what a foundation costs instead — governance, trustee, and compliance fees that stay almost flat regardless of how much your wealth grows. At some point the lines cross. After that crossing, the foundation is the cheaper structure every single year going forward. For some cantons that crossing happens early. For others — particularly low-tax cantons — it may not happen within 20 years at all. That does not mean a foundation is the wrong choice. It means the financial case is not the primary one.
The compounding effect
The bottom chart tells the same story from a different angle. Each year your assets grow — and each year a cost is deducted. Red bars show your asset base paying canton wealth tax. Green bars show your asset base paying foundation costs instead. In the early years the bars look almost identical. But small differences compound. By Year 20 the gap between red and green reflects two decades of costs growing alongside your wealth. The taller bar is the better outcome.
These charts assume a fixed starting asset value growing at a constant 4% per year with no additional contributions, withdrawals, or market volatility. They are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute financial or tax advice. Individual outcomes will vary.
Annual wealth tax by canton.
All 26 cantons. Figures are canton and municipal tax combined for the cantonal capital, no church tax. Toggle marital status and children above to update.
| Canton | Exemption | CHF 1M | CHF 2M | CHF 3M | CHF 5M |
|---|
Illustrative figures based on cantonal capital rates, 2026 where published (2025 otherwise). Excludes church tax. Exemption shown is the effective threshold for the selected marital status and number of children — wealth tax applies to full gross assets once this threshold is exceeded. Child deductions not available in all cantons (FR, NE, VD, VS, BL show base exemption only).
Swiss cantonal wealth tax is calculated as follows:
- Freigrenze (exemption threshold). Each canton sets a threshold — CHF 161,000 for Zürich married, CHF 175,264 for Geneva married, CHF 408,000 for Zug married, for example. If your gross assets are at or below this threshold, no wealth tax is due. Once exceeded, tax applies to your full gross asset value — not just the amount above the threshold.
- Progressive bracket rates. The cantonal tax authority publishes a bracket table (Steuertarif) setting out the basic tax payable at each wealth level. Rates are marginal — each bracket applies only to the slice of wealth within that range.
- Combined Steuerfuss multiplier. The basic tax is multiplied by the combined cantonal and municipal Steuerfuss (tax multiplier) for the relevant municipality. This calculator uses the cantonal capital for each canton. For example, Zürich city: canton 95% + municipality 119% = combined factor 2.14×.
- Marital status. Married couples and single taxpayers use separate bracket tables in some cantons (e.g. Zürich, Basel-Stadt, Vaud). In most cantons a single bracket table applies to all taxpayers, with the differentiation made through the Freigrenze — married couples typically receive a higher exemption threshold.
- Annual compounding. The projection assumes 4% annual growth on a balanced portfolio. Each year, wealth tax is calculated on the grown asset value and deducted before the next year's growth is applied. Foundation governance costs (CHF 12,800/yr flat) are deducted in the same way for the foundation track.
Source: Federal Tax Administration (FTA) of Switzerland, cantonal bracket tables and Steuerfuss multipliers as at April 2026. Municipal multipliers: ESTV cantonal capitals dataset 2025, with confirmed 2026 overrides for Zürich (95%), Lucerne (145%), and Schwyz (110%).
The numbers are a starting point.
Tax efficiency is one reason families establish a Liechtenstein foundation. For most it is not the primary one. If these numbers have raised questions, the next step is a focused 30-minute conversation with no obligation and no preparation required.
"I ran these exact numbers for my own family in 2021. The tax saving was secondary. What I was buying was certainty — the knowledge that what we had built could not be taken from us."
— STEPHAN GRAF, FOUNDER
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