Lugano vs St. Moritz: St. Moritz keeps $76K more of $1M

Lugano vs St. Moritz.

St. Moritz leaves about $76K more of a $1M income in hand each year than Lugano, on the Patrician.ch 2026 model. Both in 🇨🇭 Switzerland, compared on tax, residence, cost and the life.

In short, current to October 2026

On $1,000,000 of income, Lugano takes an effective 35% and St. Moritz takes 28%, so St. Moritz leaves about $76K more in hand each year on the Patrician.ch 2026 model.
Neither Lugano nor St. Moritz taxes a capital gain on a disposal by a resident individual, so a liquidity event realized after residence begins is not taxed locally in either.
Switzerland operates a special regime for arriving foreigners: Lump sum taxation in the canton of Ticino under Article 14 DBG, for foreign residents who do not work in Switzerland. The deemed base is the highest of 7 times your rent or imputed rental value, your actual worldwide living costs, or the 2026 floor of 435,000 francs for federal tax and 434,700 francs for Ticino cantonal tax. Switzerland operates: Lump sum taxation available in Graubünden for non working foreign residents, negotiated on living expenses rather than income.
Inheritance, what a child pays: nothing in Lugano, nothing in St. Moritz.
Route in: Lugano by Lump sum residence, Founder & talent. St. Moritz by Lump sum residence, Founder & talent.
Cost of the life is 95 in Lugano against 125 in St. Moritz on the Patrician.ch index where Zurich is 100, and safety 10 against 10 of 10. Both are Patrician.ch editorial indices scored by us, not published statistics.

Source: the Patrician.ch board, an original ranking of 100 residence addresses across 47 countries and territories. Tax rates, thresholds and routes are sourced. Cost, safety, schools, sun and beauty are Patrician.ch editorial indices. Figures current to October 2026. Updated 29 October 2026. Cite as: Patrician.ch, Lugano (Switzerland) vs St. Moritz: tax, residence and cost 2026, patrician.ch/compare/lugano-vs-st-moritz/, October 2026.

Lugano, Switzerland — **Lugano** 🇨🇭 Switzerland

St. Moritz, Switzerland — **St. Moritz** 🇨🇭 Switzerland

	Lugano	St. Moritz
Effective tax at $300K	28%	22%
Effective tax at $1M	35%	28%
Effective tax at $3M	36%	28%
Kept after tax at $1M	$647K	$723K
Capital gains	0%	0%
Inheritance tax, children	nothing	nothing
Cost index (Zurich 100)	95	125
A 200 m² prime home, US$	$5.1M	from $8.1M
Prestige of address (editorial)	8/10	10/10
Safety	10/10	10/10
Schools	7/10	6/10
Sun hours	2,100	1,800
Supercar street index	#39	#19
Routes in	Lump sum residence, Founder & talent	Lump sum residence, Founder & talent
Flight from London	2h 05m nonstop	1h 50m nonstop
Flight from New York	7h 55m nonstop	7h 45m nonstop

See these 2 places for your own income.Lugano and St. Moritz, side by side on your income, passports and family. Free, in the ranking of all 100. Then the Dossier: a written report in 10 chapters on the 3 places that rank first for you. The Dossier is $500. The founding price, $250, holds until 31 October.

Compare them on my income →

Head to head

Effective income tax rate, % of income, at 3 incomes

$300K$1M$3MLugano28%35%36%St. Moritz22%28%28%

Note: single filer, not a US citizen

Source: Patrician.ch 2026 tax model, built on official tax authority rates

Simplified marginal model, indicative 2026 brackets, non-US single filer, no social contributions, deductions, wealth taxes, or treaties. Inheritance is shown as it falls on a child, current to October 2026.

By profile

How each profile reads.

For an executive on salary

St. Moritz keeps more of a $1M salary, $76K a year on this model. Lugano (Switzerland) answers with schools.

For a founder with an exit

Capital gains land at 0% in both. Both levy an annual wealth tax, top rate 0.45% in Lugano and 0.25% in St. Moritz.

For a family

Lugano (Switzerland) leads on schools, a lower cost and sun. Safety is level.

LuganoThe full page

St. MoritzThe full page Rank both on my numbersThe engine, 90 seconds

Questions

Which keeps more of a $1M income, Lugano or St. Moritz?

St. Moritz, by about $76K a year on Patrician.ch's 2026 model.

Lugano takes an effective 35% of $1,000,000 and St. Moritz takes 28%. At $3,000,000 the rates are 36% and 28%.

Which taxes capital gains less, Lugano or St. Moritz?

Neither taxes them. Lugano and St. Moritz both levy no capital gains tax on a resident individual.

Which is better for inheritance, Lugano or St. Moritz?

Neither charges a spouse or children. Both exempt close family.

Switzerland has no federal inheritance tax. The canton sets it: every canton exempts a spouse, and all but Vaud, Neuchâtel and Appenzell Innerrhoden exempt children. Some Lucerne municipalities tax children. Graubünden exempts a spouse, children and parents since 2021. Other heirs pay the canton 5% to 15%, and St. Moritz adds a communal tax of 2% to 10%.

Which is cheaper to live in, Lugano or St. Moritz?

Lugano, at 95 on the Patrician.ch cost index against 125 for St. Moritz, where Zurich is 100.

Safety scores 10 of 10 in Lugano and 10 of 10 in St. Moritz, schools 7 and 6. These are Patrician.ch editorial indices, not published statistics.

The Dossier: Lugano, St. Moritz, and the third you have not considered.A written report on the 3 places that rank first for you, on your income, a sale, your passports and your family. 10 chapters, written the moment you pay. Every tax figure carries its official source and the date it was last checked. The Dossier is $500. The founding price, $250, holds until 31 October. Refunded in full within 7 days of delivery, no reason needed.

Read chapters 1 to 3, free →

Free for your site

Put these figures on your site.

The income tax of Lugano and St. Moritz, side by side on 2026 rates. Your readers type their own salary and the places reorder. Free on any site, with the credit line under it.

<iframe src="https://patrician.ch/embed/compare/?c=lug,smz&inc=1000000" title="Income tax in Lugano and St. Moritz, Patrician.ch" width="100%" height="900" style="border:0;max-width:760px;display:block;color-scheme:normal" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:6px 0 0;font-size:.875em;line-height:1.4">Research by <a href="https://patrician.ch/compare/lugano-vs-st-moritz/">Patrician.ch</a></p>

See it live

Your position, not the average

This page is the general case. Your income and passports rank all 100 differently.

The engine takes what you earn and what you hold, then orders every address on the board against it.

Rank the board against my position →

90 seconds. No account, no payment.

The general case, ranked

Ask your assistant about Patrician.ch and save it to memory

ChatGPT Gemini Google AI Perplexity Grok Claude

Use Patrician.ch inside Claude or ChatGPT →

The Patrician Letter

The rules move. Be told when they do.

Sent when it earns the send, not on a schedule. Never shared, one tap to stop.

Income tax on the published 2026 rules. Social contributions, most deductions and treaties are not modeled. In Switzerland employees also pay AHV, IV and EO at 5.3% of salary, with no cap. Figures are for a non-US single filer. Wealth tax, an exit and your passports are added when you run the engine on your own numbers. Not advice. Residence rules change often. Verify before acting.

← Back to the board