Social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK approved by Swiss government

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK approved by Swiss government

Sponsored by

Sponsored_Firms_deloitte.png
The new bilateral social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK is welcome news

David Wigersma and Tabea Nyfeler of Deloitte Switzerland explain why the new social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK is welcome news considering the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The Swiss Federal Council approved a new social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK on August 11 2021. This new agreement is important for ensuring and simplifying the coordination of social security systems of both states due to the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

The agreement will fully enter into force once accepted by the Swiss and UK Parliaments.

One important aspect of the new agreement is the avoidance of split contribution payments for employees working both in the UK and Switzerland. Nevertheless, multistate worker scenarios and set-ups involving an EU country in addition to Switzerland and the UK should be reviewed closely as a split of social security contributions might still be necessary in such cases.

The new agreement grants insured individuals largely equal treatment and easier access to social security benefits. It avoids over-insurance as well as insurance gaps for individuals having touchpoints with both countries’ social security systems. In addition to that, temporary deployments of individuals from one into the other state is facilitated.

This new bilateral agreement largely corresponds to the coordination of social security systems in the new trade and cooperation agreement the UK concluded with the EU and is based on the principles of EU social security affiliation coordination rules, which Switzerland applies under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (FMPA).

Despite establishment of the new bilateral agreement between the UK and Switzerland as well as the new trade and cooperation agreement between the UK and the EU, certain set-ups should be reviewed thoroughly from a social security perspective.

It is important to note that Switzerland does not apply EU social security affiliation coordination rules based on the Fundamental Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 to third country nationals in multistate worker set-ups respectively on assignments between EU countries and Switzerland.

Despite establishing the new bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the UK, for these cases the review of the bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the specific EU countries remains necessary. 

If the bilateral agreement of Switzerland and the EU countries in question does not cover third country nationals, the allocation and splitting of social security contributions might nevertheless be unavoidable irrespective of this new agreement.

Deloitte's view

The new bilateral social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK is welcome news. However, it is still recommended to review scenarios involving UK nationals moving between Switzerland and EU countries. In such cases a split of social security contributions might still be necessary.

 

David Wigersma

Partner, Deloitte Switzerland

E: dwigersma@deloitte.ch

 

Tabea Nyfeler

Senior manager, Deloitte Switzerland

E: tnyfeler@deloitte.ch

 

 

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The US president also unveiled a new 50% levy on copper imports; in other news, a UK wealth tax proposal has been criticised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Wim Wuyts, who had been head of the specialist tax network since 2017, is moving on to a new role with WTS’s Belgian member firm
MNEs are increasingly using algorithmic tools in TP. Sahasranshu Dash argues that data ethics should therefore plug directly into the TP design process
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales also queried whether HMRC resources could be better spent scrutinising larger entities
Grant Thornton’s Austria tax head likens his practice to an escape room, shares his football coaching ambitions, and explains why tax is cool
Awards
ITR is delighted to reveal all the shortlisted nominees for the 2025 EMEA Tax Awards
Awards
ITR is delighted to reveal all the shortlisted nominees for the 2025 Asia-Pacific Tax Awards
The fates of pillars one and two hang in the balance after the US successfully threw its weight around in G7 and Canadian negotiations
Rafael Tena tells ITR about the ‘crazy’ Mexican market, ditching the hourly rate, and refusing to grow his fledgling firm in an ‘unstructured way’
It should be easy for advisers to be transparent about costs, Brown Rudnick partner Matthew Sharp said in response to exclusive ITR in-house data
Gift this article