Im located in Zurich (from Dublin) and I would recommend zurich, switzerland.
In general direct tax is very low here but they do have indirect taxes. Health care is mandatory indirect tax. It is more expensive home. I was spending about 60 euro a month on VHI before and now I spend about 200chf (approx 130 euro) on health care. The healthcare system though is excellent and works, I have had cause to use it and small things (like never waiting) make a big difference. My health insurance also subsidizes my gym membership, pays for my acupuncture and also provides other non - medical preventative treatments like medical pedicures. So while Im paying more (than double) than home I do actively get more value.
Direct + indirect taxes here work out lower for me than taxes at home.
Excellent. Skiing in winter, sun in summer. The lake side culture in summer in lovely here. People are always surprised that the swiss do well in water sports (beach volley ball in olympics, sailing etc) but there is a big water culture here with all the lakes. Outdoor cinema in summer, barbeques by the lakeside, hikes. In winter its possible to ski every weekend. Zurich is small and public transport is excellent so my commute into work is very straightforward. I currently live 12 mins from my office, none of my peers have difficult commutes.
Safety within the Community
The swiss are not very "social" in outlook. It is said that rather than address "the drug problem" they just give addicts drugs so they dont break into their mercs. I dont know how true that is, what I do know is that its safe to walk around at night. My mum and dad were visiting recently and dad couldnt believe when a jogger hung his (expensive looking) jacket on a tree as he went to jog around the park, dad couldnt believe someone wouldnt nick it. My husband (swiss) leaves his bike unlocked outside our house. Children walk to school on their own.
can you give me specific examples that you are looking for here. I would say the swiss are more commercial rather than social in their outlook. Something that bothers a lot of expats is the "silence " on sunday. If you live in an appartment block you technically should not hoover/diy/recycle/run appliances or do anything generates a lot of noise. All shops are closed here on sundays. Im very used to this now and it makes you go and do something with your sunday (like hike or ski) as you cant do all your washing or your shopping.
Very environmentally friendly, though all the different bins can drive you loo-lah after a while. You dont really need a car here (certainly if you live in Zurich or the major cities). Its hard not to be environmentally friendly here, they are kind of ott in this area.
If you work in IT or finance you'd get a job/visa here in the morning. Other opportunities are good too, however you must bear in mind that language issue, so for example a friend of mine came over with his girlfriend, she is ahving problems getting work as she's a beautician and you need the local language (swiss german here) to do this.
Again, if you can be more specific here. Are you talking about kids? Or for yourself? Children start school here at 6. At intercert level the school breaks out into 2 sections one which is "trade school" in nature where kids go to become teachers, electricians, carpenters, nurses etc. the other which is university driven where you do a leaving cert type exam. For adults (evening courses) The major supermarket here migros runs a subsidized school here for adults where you do all sorts of courses (from german to DIY to yoga). Ive go to this school in the evenings to brush up my italian and ramp up my German. Friends of mine are doing Phds here in the ETH (zurich university) and love it.
So thats a brief insight into my experience of CH. I highly recommend it. Ask more specific questions if you wish. I do love Ireland too, I miss my family but I love it here as well. I consider myself very lucky to call both countries my home.
