§ Audience 01 · Diplomatic practice · Cards B · C · KB · KC
For Heads of Mission, diplomats and career consular officers, immunity and tax exemption call for highly specific financial structures. Swiss nationals and permanent residents fall under a narrower regime, which is established before any recommendation. Mandat Genève then aligns your cover and your capital with your status.
Diplomatic mission member. Salary exempt from Swiss income tax and worldwide movable wealth beyond cantonal reach under article 34 of the Vienna Convention of 1961, which nonetheless carves out immovable property located in Switzerland. LAMal exemption granted by the canton on proof of equivalent cover. The audit checks how the bank recorded the status and prepares the structures that survive the rotation.
Senior diplomatic staff. Salary exempt under the headquarters agreement, but cantonal administrations tend to default to ordinary rules. Priority of the bureau is the exemption file, the correct withholding tax reclaim on Form 25, and savings that respect the temporary nature of the assignment.
Consular post, a separate regime. The K card follows the Vienna Convention of 1963, not the diplomatic convention of 1961, and it splits into five subcategories. KB and KC, heads of post and career consular officers, are handled here. KD, KE and KH, consular employees and service personnel, carry neither diplomatic status nor the immunities of a Head of Mission, and are handled under the mission staff practice.
Holding a KD, KE or KH card? The relevant practice is Staff & Mission Personnel.
Since March 2026, the Confederation has standardised the format of the Legitimation Card. The new polycarbonate document looks close to a Swiss residence permit, yet the legal status of the bearer remains governed by the headquarters agreement and the Vienna Conventions.
Swiss banks and local insurers are still adjusting to the new format. Many counterparts now read the cards as ordinary permits, which produces unwarranted LAMal enrolments, withholding tax left on the table and account files recorded against the wrong exemption code. The bureau acts as the institutional interpreter of the mission, so that every counter recognises the card for what it is.
§ 01 · The 2026 paradigm shift
The polycarbonate Legitimation Card resembles a Swiss residence permit more than ever, yet nothing in the underlying treaty framework has changed. The role of the bureau is to keep that distinction visible to every bank, insurer and cantonal office that interacts with the mission, and to remediate the files where the distinction has already been blurred.
Briefing of the relationship manager so the account is opened under the regulatory classification that matches the status, and so the exemptions attached to the headquarters agreement are recorded on the file rather than discovered later.
Where the canton is preparing a LAMal enrolment, the bureau assembles the evidence of equivalent cover the Service de l'assurance-maladie (cantonal health insurance office) requires, and follows the file until the written decision is issued.
Where a misreading has already produced a deduction or an enrolment, the bureau files the reclaim on the form that matches the card, Form 25 for B and C holders, with the Federal Tax Administration in Bern and not with the cantonal authority, which has no competence here.
§ 02 · The exemption, and what it leaves open
The LAMal exemption is not negotiated, and no broker grants it. The Canton of Geneva issues it as of right under the headquarters agreement and article 2 OAMal, once the holder shows equivalent cover, usually the scheme of the sending state or of the organisation. The bureau organises that transition and directs the household towards first-tier international private medical insurance (IPMI), which sits on top of the mission scheme, never in place of it.
§ 03 · Capital under diplomatic status
A holder of a B or C card is exempt from Swiss tax on salary and on worldwide movable wealth. The exemption stops there. Property held in Geneva remains subject to cantonal impôt sur la fortune (wealth tax) and to the impôt immobilier complémentaire (complementary real estate tax), and the restricted Pillar 3A adds nothing, for want of AVS-liable income to open it and taxable income to absorb the deduction. The useful questions are different. Where does the capital sit, what does it cost to hold, and does it move when the mission moves?
§ 04 · Vehicles and customs
Duty-free import and vehicle registration fall under two separate administrations, the Customs Directorate and the cantonal vehicle office, each with its own forms and lead times. The bureau prepares the file and handles the liaison, from the arrival of the vehicle to the plate.
§ 05 · The diplomatic mortgage
Acquiring property in Geneva is the most effective way to anchor capital in Switzerland, and for an arriving Head of Mission it is often the first substantial file. The standard mortgage market is largely closed to card holders. Retail banks remain reluctant to lend, since immunity from execution prevents them from foreclosing under their usual practice.
LFAIE and the Protocol attestation. Before a B or C card holder acquires property in Geneva, the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Immovable Property by Persons Abroad requires an official attestation from the FDFA Protocol stating the function of the holder and the validity of the status. It is issued in Bern, not by the bank and not by the notary, and the calendar of the purchase depends on it. The bureau opens that request in parallel with the financing file rather than after the offer is signed.
Lex Koller framework and taxation of the property. The exemption a card holder enjoys is strictly personal, non-commercial and temporary. It permits the acquisition of a primary residence without prior authorisation, but closes off any second home or buy-to-let property until ten years of uninterrupted main residence in Switzerland have been completed (RS 211.412.41). Acquisition also opens cantonal taxation on the value of the property, impôt sur la fortune and impôt immobilier complémentaire, which the salary exemption does not cover. The bureau builds both constraints into the structuring from the outset.
§ Lead magnet · 2026
A confidential checklist covering the 2026 card transition, the LAMal exemption file, the withholding tax reclaim and the mortgage pre-approval. Designed for Heads of Mission and senior diplomats arriving or rotating in Geneva this year.
Provide your official institutional or professional email to receive the file through a secure Swiss channel. Strict confidentiality. Processed within the Confederation.
§ 06 · Regulatory comparison of statuses
The diplomatic regime of the 1961 Vienna Convention and the consular regime of the 1963 Convention do not confer the same rights. A consolidated view of the four privileges that most often diverge in the files the bureau handles.
| Privilege | Cards B & C (Diplomats) | Cards KB & KC (Consuls) |
|---|---|---|
| Exemption from direct taxation | Full, on official income | Limited to functional allowances |
| Duty-free vehicle import | Yes (form 15.25) | Subject to strict quotas |
| VAT refund | Yes, from CHF 450 per invoice | Restricted by headquarters agreement |
| LAMal exemption | As of right, once the file is filed | Subject to an equivalence review |
§ 07 · Sovereignty audit
An indicative measurement of the fiscal and insurance leak that the Swiss system imposes on a mission portfolio when the legitimation card is not properly recognised. Enter the savings held in Swiss banks, tick the items that apply to the file, read the order of magnitude on the right. The complete audit, conducted under privilege, goes considerably deeper.
Indicative figures calibrated on the average Geneva exposure for a B or C card holder. The actual recovery is computed on real statements during the audit.
§ Simulator
Contracts signed without a transfer clause bind the household to Switzerland after the mission has closed. Early surrender is where the accumulated capital is eroded, typically by 20 to 30%.
§ 08 · Frequently asked
§ Begin
A confidential review, included in our onboarding protocol, of every active policy, account and structure carried by the mission. The treatment depends on the card, the nationality and the employer, and only a review of the individual file can settle it.
Mandat Genève