Switzerland: templates and forms

For debtors in Switzerland served with a payment order (precetto esecutivo), in Italian: you can object free of charge at once to the person delivering it, who notes it on the order, or within ten days at the debt collection office (Ufficio d’esecuzione), orally at the counter or in writing; no reasons are needed (Art. 74 and 75 DEBA). This letter is the written route with proof, in the office's official language: it objects to the whole claim or an exact part and asks for the free certificate. Send it by registered post, handed to the post office by the tenth day.

For taxpayers in Switzerland who disagree with their assessment, in Italian for a tax authority that works in Italian: an objection (reclamo) to the assessment of cantonal and communal taxes, of the federal direct tax or of both, with the request, reasons and evidence, also against an assessment made by the authority itself (Art. 132 DFTA, Art. 48 of the Tax Harmonisation Act). The period is 30 days from notification and cannot be extended; the authority is the one named in the notice of appeal. The procedure is usually free. Send it by registered post, handed to the post office by the 30th day.

For employees in Switzerland, in Ticino for instance, who have been given notice and consider it abusive, in Italian: the written objection under Art. 336b CO, which must reach the employer before the notice period ends, or the compensation of up to six months' wages (Art. 336a CO) is lost. With your reasons if you wish to give them, an offer to continue the employment and, if you do not have them yet, a request for the written reasons (Art. 335 para. 2 CO). Print, sign and send by registered post.

For people in Switzerland who authorise someone for one precisely described matter: collecting a parcel or documents, deregistering a vehicle, voting at a meeting, attending a flat handover (Art. 32 ff. of the Code of Obligations, CO). With an end date, without land or acts needing a public deed; settlements and gifts only if expressly described (Art. 396 para. 3 CO). Sign it and give it to the person you appoint. Swiss authorities and courts work in their official language — German, French or Italian — so this English version is for dealings between private parties.

For a passenger whose flight arrived three hours or more late, was cancelled with less than 14 days' notice, or who was denied boarding, on a flight covered by Regulation (EC) No 261/2004: every flight from an airport in Switzerland, the EU, Iceland or Norway, and flights into them on an airline from one of those countries. The letter claims the fixed compensation — €250, €400 or €600 per passenger, by distance — from the airline that operated the flight. The airline's own claim form and the EU complaint form are free and do the same job. Send it by registered post (Einschreiben); Swiss authorities work in their official language, not English.

For passengers whose flight from Switzerland — or into it on an airline from Switzerland, the EU, Iceland or Norway — arrived three hours or more late, was cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or who were denied boarding. The letter, in Italian, claims the fixed compensation of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, which applies in Switzerland through the air transport agreement with the EU: €250, €400 or €600 per passenger, by distance, from the airline that operated the flight. The airline's own form is free; the BAZL takes complaints online. Send it by registered post.

For people in Switzerland who want to know what data a company, association or federal office holds on them, in French: requests access under Art. 25 FADP (the revised Data Protection Act, in force since 1 September 2023) — Swiss law, not the GDPR. The answer is free as a rule and due within 30 days (Art. 18 DPO). Cantonal and municipal authorities fall under cantonal data protection law. Send it by registered post or e-mail.

For tenants in Switzerland whose landlord or régie bills repairs or replacements after the move-out inspection: the registered reply that contests the claim in full or point by point. It states that normal wear and tear is not owed (Art. 267 of the Code of Obligations, CO), at most the remaining value of a fitting, that the tenant is released from defects not reported at once (Art. 267a CO) and that the rent deposit may not be used without consent, and it asks for evidence. Print, have every tenant sign, and send by registered post. In French.

For taxpayers in Switzerland who cannot pay a tax invoice on time, in French for a tax office that works in French: asks the office that issued the invoice for payment in instalments, explains the hardship that paying at once would cause and proposes a down payment, monthly instalments and their start; the authority may waive interest for that time (Art. 166 DFTA and the cantonal tax act). Some tax administrations offer an online form. Send it before the due date, with proof of income, outgoings and assets.

For parents in Switzerland whose child travels without them or with only one parent: the declaration by which the parents holding parental authority consent to the trip and authorise a companion, giving the child, the identity document, destination, dates, purpose and the parents' phone numbers, as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) recommends. With joint parental authority both sign (Art. 296, 301 of the Civil Code, CC). With room for certification if the destination requires it. Print, sign and hand it to the child with copies of the parents' ID. In French.

For employees in French-speaking Switzerland whose employer owes them wages, overtime or pay during illness, in French: a written demand for payment listing the amounts, with the total, a deadline and the account. Overtime with the 25% supplement (Art. 321c para. 3 CO), pay during illness on your canton's scale (Art. 324a CO), 5% default interest and a written pay statement (Art. 323b CO). Items you leave blank are dropped. Send it by registered post; the conciliation that may follow is free of court costs up to CHF 30'000.00.

For creditors and debtors in Switzerland who agree to clear a debt in monthly instalments, in French: the debtor acknowledges the amount, and both parties set the instalments, the account, a grace period and that the balance falls due if payment is late. Important for the debtor: a signed acknowledgement of debt is a title for provisional removal of an objection (mainlevée provisoire, Art. 82 DEBA) — if the debtor later objects to a payment order, the creditor can have the objection lifted without an ordinary lawsuit. Print two copies and sign both by hand.

For employees in French-speaking Switzerland who have been dismissed, with notice or with immediate effect, in French: the written request that the employer state the reasons in writing (Art. 335 para. 2 CO; for an immediate termination, Art. 337 para. 1 CO), with a deadline for the answer. The request does not accept the dismissal and reserves the objection for abuse, which must reach the employer before the notice period ends. Print, sign and send by registered post.

For private persons in Switzerland who received a letter from a collection agency (société de recouvrement), in French: contests the claim in whole or in part, reports it paid or pleads limitation, refuses collection fees and a flat “damage for delay” that were never agreed, and asks for a breakdown with supporting documents. If a payment order from the debt collection office follows, object (opposition) within ten days. Send it by registered post and keep a copy.

For private people in Switzerland selling or buying a used car, in French: records the car, its master number, mileage, price and payment, handover only against payment, the seller's statements on accidents and mileage, and the exclusion of warranty within its legal limits (Art. 199 and 100 CO). The plates stay with the seller; the buyer registers the car with the cantonal vehicle office. Print two copies, both sign, with a receipt for the price.

For main tenants in Switzerland who sublet a room in their shared flat (colocation): the agreement with the room and shared areas, the rent and the service charges listed one by one (Art. 257a of the Code of Obligations, CO), the rent deposit in the subtenant's name (Art. 257e CO), the landlord's consent (Art. 262 CO) and notice of two weeks for a furnished room or three months otherwise. It states that the sublease depends on the main lease (Art. 273b CO) and that the main tenant gives notice on the official form. Print and have both sides sign. In French.

For travellers who booked a package holiday in Switzerland and found services missing or defective, in French: claims from the organiser, under the Swiss Federal Act on Package Travel (SR 944.3) — not the EU directive — the difference between the price of the agreed and the services provided (Art. 13) and other costs (Art. 14), with a deadline. The period for complaints is in the travel contract (Art. 6). Send it by registered post.

For accused persons in Switzerland who received a penalty order (ordonnance pénale), for instance for a traffic offence, in French for an authority that works in French: objects (opposition) in writing to the authority that issued it (Art. 354 CrimPC), with or without reasons, and asks to see the file. The period is ten days from service; without a valid objection the order becomes a final judgment. Not for a fixed fine (amende d’ordre), which you pay or refuse. Send it by registered post, handed to the post office by the tenth day.

For hosts in Switzerland inviting family, friends or business contacts from a country that needs a visa, in French: confirms to the Swiss embassy or consulate the invitation, both sides' details, the stay, its purpose, accommodation and who pays — as the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) recommends; the SEM also offers a free leaflet with a model. The guarantee declaration (déclaration de prise en charge) is an official form the embassy hands out; this letter does not replace it. Swiss authorities work in their official language, so the letter is in French. Sign it and send it to your guest.

For clients and freelancers in French-speaking Switzerland, in French: a mandate under Art. 394 ff. CO with the services, duration, fee and VAT choice, expenses, payment terms, the contractor's independence, AHV as a self-employed person, rights in the results, confidentiality and data protection. It names false self-employment: the compensation office decides the status on the facts, not the contract. Either party may end it at any time (Art. 404 CO). Signed by both parties.

For employees in French-speaking Switzerland who have been dismissed and consider the dismissal abusive, in French: the written objection under Art. 336b CO, which must reach the employer before the notice period ends, or the compensation of up to six months' wages (Art. 336a CO) is lost. With your reasons if you wish to give them, an offer to continue the employment and, if you do not have them yet, a request for the written reasons (Art. 335 para. 2 CO). Print, sign and send by registered post.

For couples living together in Switzerland without being married: the agreement on property and inventory, how household costs are shared, the home, loans and gifts, and the settlement on separation. It also states what such an agreement cannot do: it does not make the partner an heir (that needs a handwritten will, Art. 505 of the Civil Code, CC), pension fund benefits follow the fund's regulations (Art. 20a of the Occupational Pensions Act, LPP), and parental authority and child maintenance are settled elsewhere. With an inventory annex. Print two copies and both sign. In French.

For private persons in Switzerland lending each other money — family, friends or acquaintances — in French: sets the amount, the payment-out, interest (or an interest-free loan), repayment in one sum, by monthly instalments or within six weeks of the demand (Art. 318 CO) and what follows a default, with a separate receipt. The Consumer Credit Act does not apply as long as neither party grants credit as a business and no crowdlending platform arranges the loan (Art. 2 CCA). Print two copies, signed by both parties.

For tenants in Switzerland who want to sublet a room or the whole flat: the registered request for consent to the landlord or régie (Art. 262 of the Code of Obligations, CO). It discloses the terms — the part of the flat, the person, the duration, the sub-rent and service charges, furnished or not, and for the whole flat the reason and the return — names the three statutory grounds that alone allow a refusal and sets a date for the answer; in the canton of Vaud the landlord answers within thirty days (art. 21 RULV). Print, have every tenant sign, and send by registered post. In French.