Does it pass the test?
BLOG SERIES PART 3
How Swiss Authorities Evaluate Self-Employment in Co-Working Spaces (And Why a Proper Co-Working Model Passes Every Test)**
Co-working has become one of the most common ways for self-employed professionals to work in Zürich. Programmers, therapists, designers, architects, accountants, photographers, coaches — and yes, hairdressers, tattoo artists, beauty specialists and wellness providers — all share space while running completely independent businesses.
But independence in Switzerland comes with a clear set of expectations, especially from SVA, Steueramt, and sometimes MWST.
The good news:
A correctly structured co-working space fits these expectations naturally.
The problems only start when a space looks like something else — usually a disguised rental, a shared business, or a pseudo-employment setup.
This blog explains exactly how authorities look at self-employment inside co-working spaces, what they evaluate, and why a proper co-working structure (like the kind we promote) passes an audit with complete confidence.
Authorities Don’t Care What You Do — Only HOW the Structure Works
This is the part many people get wrong.
SVA doesn’t care whether you cut hair, build websites, do nails, draw tattoos, offer massages, coach executives, or design logos.
They care about:
independence
responsibility
financial separation
whether the person is running their own business
and whether the space provider acts like a landlord, a business partner, or an employer
A tech freelancer at Impact Hub and a hairdresser in a co-working salon are assessed with the same criteria.
The industry is irrelevant.
The structure is everything.
The Core SVA Self-Employment Indicators (Explained Simply)
These indicators appear in nearly every SVA decision and audit process.
A self-employed professional should:
Work under their own business name
Set their own prices
Issue their own invoices directly to clients
Take economic risk (profit or loss)
Be free from employer-style instructions
Provide their own tools where appropriate
Maintain their own insurance and tax obligations
Build their own client base
A proper co-working space naturally supports all of these.
A chair rental or pseudo-employment model usually violates several of them.
How a Proper Co-Working Space Fits All of These Criteria
Let’s break it down.
Members invoice their own clients.
This alone differentiates co-working from rental structures or employment.
The space owner never issues receipts for services.
Members choose their own prices and services.
No authority will classify a professional as self-employed if the space owner dictates pricing.
Members operate under their own brand.
In co-working, the space is the environment — not the business identity.
Members bear economic responsibility for their success.
They win their own clients, manage their own marketing, and control their own schedules.
Members use shared infrastructure, not a rented exclusive station.
This is a major point:
Non-exclusive access clearly indicates co-working, not subletting or tenancy.
The space owner does not participate in service revenue.
No percentages. No commissions. No turnover-based fees.
The membership fee remains fixed, predictable, and independent.
Together, these elements satisfy every SVA requirement for legitimate self-employment.
What Authorities Look For When They Suspect Chair Rental or Hidden Employment
Most problems arise when a space is almost co-working but has hints of a salon or studio rental.
Authorities typically flag:
revenue visibility or control by the space owner
joint marketing and unified branding
exclusive workstations
rent tied to turnover
commissions on product sales
the space owner assigning clients
unclear boundaries of responsibility
one payment flowing through the space before being “split” internally
These factors can create the appearance of:
a joint business
a subleased mini-salon inside a salon
employment (even unintended)
economic dependence
This is where most rental-style setups collapse under scrutiny.
Why A Professionally Designed Co-Working Model Avoids All Audit Issues
A compliant co-working structure has:
membership instead of rental
block-based access instead of fixed chairs
split payments with separate receipts
no turnover sharing
no employer-style influence
no shared client lists
no shared revenue or statistics
no authority over Member pricing
independent business identities
transparent roles and responsibilities
This is why co-working passes audits — not because of loopholes, but because it is structurally correct.
Authorities recognise these models because they already exist across Zürich in hundreds of locations.
The beauty industry is simply applying the same logic.
Co-Working Is Not the Exception — It Is the Standard
The important message for independent professionals, space owners, and anyone in an audit role:
There is nothing unusual about self-employed individuals earning their own income inside a shared workspace without contributing MWST or turnover percentages to the space owner.
This happens every day at:
Impact Hub
Westhive
Citizen Space
Trust Square
dozens of medical / therapy co-working environments
creative studios
photographer collectives
wellness co-working spaces
These locations operate legally and successfully with the same structure we apply in service-based co-working spaces.
The profession changes.
The compliance rules do not.
Conclusion: Co-Working, Done Properly, Meets Swiss Self-Employment Criteria Perfectly
Authorities have clear criteria.
Co-working meets them when correctly structured.
Chair rental often doesn’t.
A well-designed co-working model:
protects independence
protects compliance
protects the space owner
protects the Members
and removes every ambiguity around employment, VAT, and revenue separation
In our next article, we will look at VAT (MWST), the 100,000 CHF threshold, and why co-working avoids the common pitfalls that push traditional rental models into risky territory.
