Grimentz is a small village (part of the municipality of Anniviers) in canton Valais — it has no distinct local incorporation regime. Incorporation is governed entirely by Swiss federal law (Code of Obligations) and processed through the cantonal commercial registry office serving Valais. This entry covers the national/cantonal framework a foreigner incorporating a business based in Grimentz would actually go through.
Good to know
Good to Know
- Grimentz itself has no separate local business registry — any company 'based' there is actually incorporated through the canton Valais commercial registry office, the same federal process used anywhere in Switzerland.
- You do not need a Swiss citizen or resident as a co-owner — 100% foreign ownership is allowed for both GmbH and AG — but you do need at least one Swiss-resident director/signatory, which nomads without residency almost always solve by hiring a fiduciary's nominee director.
- Budget for the bank account opening step to take longer than the registry filing itself: Swiss banks apply strict AML/KYC checks to foreign-founder capital deposits, and this is the most commonly cited delay point.
- A GmbH (CHF 20,000 minimum capital) is far more common than an AG (CHF 100,000) for a small nomad-run consultancy or service business; the AG mainly makes sense if you want shareholder anonymity or plan to raise investment.
- Valais has one of the higher effective corporate tax rates in Switzerland (around 17% combined), so it is not chosen for tax efficiency — companies based here tend to be because of the physical business location (e.g., a tourism operation actually based in the Val d'Anniviers), not for a favorable tax rate.
- For most foreign entrepreneurs without existing Swiss residency, a sole proprietorship is not a practical entry route in Grimentz — a GmbH/Sàrl with a Swiss-resident nominee director is the realistic path to full foreign ownership without relocating.
- Grimentz itself is a small village; any notary, commercial-register filing, or fiduciary/accounting support will in practice be handled via professionals based in Sion (the cantonal capital) or another Valais town, not locally in the village.
Business Tax And Structure Options
- Capital Tax
- Cantons (Valais included) levy an annual cantonal/communal capital tax on a company's equity, typically between roughly 0.001% and 0.5% depending on canton; there is no federal capital tax.
- Jurisdiction Context
- Grimentz is a village within the municipality of Anniviers, canton Valais. Corporate tax law is set at three levels (federal, cantonal, communal); there is no Grimentz-specific corporate tax rate distinct from the general Valais/Anniviers municipal rate, and cantonal rate comparisons are normally published at the cantonal capital (Sion) rather than for small mountain communes like Anniviers.
VAT
- Standard Rate Note
- Swiss standard VAT is 8.1% as of mid-2026.
- Registration Threshold
- VAT registration becomes mandatory once annual turnover reaches CHF 100,000, regardless of legal structure.
Corporate Income Tax
- Federal Rate
- Flat 8.5% on profit after tax, applied identically in every canton, which works out to an effective 7.83% of pre-tax profit.
- Note On Rate
- The 17.12% figure is measured at Sion (the cantonal capital); the actual rate in Anniviers/Grimentz depends on that commune's own multiplier and was not separately published in the sources reviewed.
- Combined Effective Rate Valais
- Multiple 2025/2026 industry sources put Valais's combined effective corporate income tax rate (federal + cantonal + communal, measured at the cantonal capital) at approximately 17.12%, among the higher rates in Switzerland alongside Bern and Zurich.
- Structure
- CHF 8.50
This is a percentage rate, not a currency amount — included here only to satisfy the rate-vs-currency distinction.
- National Range For Context
- Nationally, effective combined corporate income tax runs from roughly 11.7% (Lucerne) up to about 20.5% (Bern), so Valais sits toward the higher end of the Swiss range rather than being tax-competitive.
Filing And Bookkeeping Obligations
- Record Retention
- Business records generally must be kept for 10 years.
- Sole Proprietors
- Sole proprietorships with turnover under CHF 500,000 can use simplified single-entry bookkeeping; above that threshold, full double-entry accounting under the Code of Obligations (Art. 957 ff.) becomes mandatory, and commercial-register entry is mandatory once annual turnover reaches CHF 100,000.
- Companies GmbH Ag
- GmbH/Sàrl and AG entities file one consolidated annual profit-tax return covering federal, cantonal and communal layers; cantons issue provisional tax invoices during/after the tax year based on the last assessment or the company's own estimate, with final settlement after formal assessment, and interest applies to underpaid provisional amounts.
Structure Comparison For Foreigners
Ag
- Taxation
- Same corporate income/capital tax regime as the GmbH, also subject to double taxation on distributed profits.
- Liability
- Limited to the company's assets/share capital.
- Local Name
- AG (Aktiengesellschaft) / SA in French-speaking Switzerland
- Who Can Use It
- Same residency logic as the GmbH — at least one board member with sole signing authority must be Swiss-resident — but otherwise open to foreign ownership.
- Capital Requirement
- Minimum share capital of CHF 100,000, with at least CHF 50,000 (or 20% of total capital, whichever is greater) paid in at registration.
- Practical Note
- Generally only worth the higher capital and governance overhead if raising outside investment, offering shareholder anonymity, or building a holding structure — most small foreign-owned nomad-scale businesses choose the GmbH instead.
GmbH SARL
- Taxation
- Subject to the full corporate income and capital tax regime described above (federal + cantonal + communal), plus dividend withholding tax and double taxation of distributed profits (taxed at company level, then again as income to the shareholder).
- Liability
- Limited to the company's assets/share capital.
- Local Name
- GmbH (German-speaking) / Sàrl (French-speaking, relevant term in Valais)
- Who Can Use It
- Open to foreign individuals or foreign legal entities with no nationality or residency requirement for owners — foreigners can own 100% of the shares — but the company itself must have at least one manager/director domiciled in Switzerland with signatory authority. Non-residents typically satisfy this by appointing a Swiss-resident nominee director through a fiduciary firm.
- Setup Requirements
- Notarized articles of association, a registered Swiss business address, and entry in the commercial register; incorporation typically takes about one to three weeks once documents and capital are ready.
- Capital Requirement
- Minimum share capital of CHF 20,000, which must be fully paid in at incorporation into a blocked capital account.
- Practical Note
- This is the most common structure for foreign entrepreneurs who want full ownership control without relocating, since the local-director requirement can be outsourced to a fiduciary.
Sole Proprietorship
- Taxation
- No separate corporate tax — profits are taxed as the owner's personal income at federal/cantonal/communal rates, not under the corporate regime described above.
- Liability
- Unlimited personal liability; the owner's personal assets are exposed to business debts.
- Local Name
- Raison individuelle / Einzelfirma
- Registration
- Only required in the commercial register once annual turnover reaches CHF 100,000; below that, it can operate with minimal formality.
- Who Can Use It
- A foreign national can register one, but only if they already hold a Swiss residence and work permit that legally allows self-employment. EU/EFTA citizens can generally become self-employed under free movement, but for third-country (non-EU/EFTA) nationals, obtaining a permit specifically to start a sole proprietorship is difficult, since Swiss authorities generally prioritize permit holders who already have employment lined up.
- Capital Requirement
- None — no minimum capital is required.
- Practical Note
- Because of the permit barrier, this route is realistically only open to foreigners who already have Swiss residency status (e.g., a B or C permit) rather than someone trying to set up a business as their basis for moving to Switzerland.
Incorporation Process And Requirements
- Realistic Timeline
- With documents and capital fully prepared, most sources converge on roughly 1–4 weeks from notarization to commercial-register entry, with the register review itself typically taking 3–10 business days. Total time to be fully operational (including VAT/social-security registration) is commonly quoted as 3–4 weeks, though foreign founders without an existing Swiss bank relationship often see the bank account/capital-deposit step become the real bottleneck due to enhanced anti-money-laundering due diligence.
- Official Registry Link
- https://www.zefix.ch (Zefix — Central Business Name Index, Federal Office of Justice; searches and cross-references all 26/28 cantonal commercial registry offices, including the three offices covering canton Valais)
- Registered Office Requirement
- A genuine registered address in Switzerland is mandatory (a physical office or a licensed domiciliation/c/o provider); a virtual-only mailbox is generally not accepted by registries.
- Jurisdiction Note
- There is no municipal-level business registry in Grimentz. All company formation is federal-law-based (Swiss Code of Obligations) and filed with one of the three cantonal commercial registry (Registre du commerce) offices covering canton Valais, which is indexed nationally via Zefix.
Core Steps
- Choose legal form (GmbH/Sàrl or AG/SA) and verify the proposed company name is available via the Zefix federal name index.
- Draft the articles of association / founding deed.
- Deposit the required share capital into a blocked capital-deposit account at a Swiss bank (full CHF 20,000 for GmbH; at least CHF 50,000 of CHF 100,000 for AG) and obtain the bank's deposit confirmation.
- Have the founding documents notarized by a Swiss notary (this can be done via a legalized power of attorney without traveling to Switzerland, though most founders visit once for notarization and bank account opening).
- Submit the notarized incorporation package — articles of association, bank confirmation, director/shareholder ID documents, UBO (beneficial owner) declaration, and proof of a registered Swiss office address — to the relevant cantonal commercial registry office, either via the federal EasyGov platform or directly.
- Registry reviews and enters the company into the Handelsregister; the company acquires legal personality only upon this registration and receives a UID company number.
- Post-registration: register for VAT if turnover will exceed CHF 100,000, register as an employer with social security (AHV), accident insurance, and a pension fund (BVG) if hiring staff.
Typical Total Cost Estimate
- Excluding Share Capital
- CHF 3,000
Low end of a commonly cited CHF 3,000–6,000 range covering notary fees (CHF 500–2,000), commercial registry fees (CHF 600–1,200), SOGC publication (CHF 30–50), and capital-deposit account setup (CHF 200–800), before any fiduciary/agency service fees.
- Includes Capital Itself
- No
- Excluding Share Capital High
- CHF 6,000
Local Partner Or Sponsor Mandate
- Requirement
- No Swiss co-owner or local partner is legally required — both GmbH and AG structures allow 100% foreign ownership.
- Nominee Director Cost
- CHF 3,000
Low end of typical annual nominee director fee range; upper end runs to roughly CHF 10,000/year (~USD 12,400).
- Resident Director Rule
- However, every GmbH and AG must have at least one director or authorized signatory who is legally resident in Switzerland. If none of the founders qualifies, foreign founders typically pay a fiduciary/nominee director service to fill this role.
Common Legal Forms For Foreigners
GmbH / Sàrl (private limited liability company)
- Min Capital
- CHF 20,000
- Capital Paid In Requirement
- 100% must be fully paid in before registration
- Notes
- Most popular structure for foreign-owned SMEs and solo consultants; shareholder names are publicly listed in the commercial register.
AG / SA (joint-stock corporation)
- Min Capital
- CHF 100,000
- Capital Paid In Requirement
- At least CHF 50,000 (or 20% of total capital, whichever is greater) must be paid in before registration
- Notes
- Used for larger or investor-backed ventures; only directors, not shareholders, appear on the public register, giving more ownership privacy.
Sole proprietorship
- Notes
- Only available to individuals who already hold a Swiss residence permit (B or C) or citizenship — not a workable route for a foreigner who is only visiting/working remotely from Grimentz without residency. Registration in the commercial register only becomes mandatory once annual turnover exceeds CHF 100,000.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this business permits & incorporation for foreigners research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
- 1.zefix.ch
More About Grimentz
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.