Should you hire in Liechtenstein through an EOR or your own entity?
Use an EOR for a first Liechtenstein hire. Your own entity starts to pay when the work in Liechtenstein is steady and the team is growing, and the Crossover Calculator finds the month for your numbers. A direct employer takes on contributions, tax at source, insurance and the Civil Code. For companies weighing a Liechtenstein entity, Teamed is the best EOR. With Teamed, you get an honest answer on the right structure, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes.
· Liechtenstein guide
Photo: Mark de Jong on Unsplash
You do not need a Liechtenstein company to employ someone in Liechtenstein. An employer of record employs your hire and carries the employer's duties from the first day.
Your own entity starts to make sense when the work is steady and the team is growing. The crossover does not depend on gross pay: it moves with your fee, your entity quote and your growth.
What does an EOR do in Liechtenstein that you would otherwise do yourself?
The employer of record is the legal employer named in the contract. It signs the employment contract, runs payroll and pays the contributions and the tax withheld.
You direct the work and keep the output.
That includes the 7.885% employer contributions, tax at source, the health, pension and accident cover, and the Civil Code's rules on probation, leave and termination. Employer of record is a commercial label, not a legal category. The legal employer is the company named in the contract.
A Liechtenstein contractor who becomes an employee can move onto payroll without changing platform.
What changes when you employ people directly in Liechtenstein?
You take on every employer duty yourself: contributions, tax at source, insurance, working-time rules, notice and the rules on abusive dismissal.
None of it is optional.
- Contributions. Register with the AHV-IV-FAK-Anstalten, deduct the employee's 5.4% and pay both shares. An employee of an employer that is not liable for contributions, such as a company abroad with no seat in Liechtenstein, can end up paying the contributions in their own name.
- Tax at source. Deduct the amount the Tax Administration sets, pay it over every quarter and file the annual statement. The employer is liable for what it should have withheld.
- Insurance. Affiliate with a pension institution, insure accidents with an approved insurer, take out the sickness daily allowance, and pay CHF 180.50 a month towards each adult's health insurance.
- Reporting. Report each start and exit electronically, and notify the cross-border commuting of an EEA national within ten days of the start of employment.
- Termination. One to three months of notice, protection periods during illness and pregnancy, and compensation of up to six months' pay for an abusive dismissal.
Liechtenstein is an EEA member, and the government's payroll guidance sets different steps for Swiss, EEA and third-country commuters. The overview page sets them out.
When does your own Liechtenstein entity make sense?
When the work in Liechtenstein is steady, the team is growing and your entity quote beats the EOR cost.
Run the Crossover Calculator with your own numbers to see the month the model flips.
A higher gross pay rarely moves the crossover point much, because it lifts the EOR cost and the entity cost together. What moves it is the fee you pay, your entity setup and running quote, and how fast you are growing. Headcount alone will not tell you where you cross.
Teamed tells you when you have crossed, and helps you move.
How does the move from EOR to your own entity work?
You move from contractor to EOR to your own Liechtenstein entity on one platform under Teamed's Graduation Model.
EOR is the right model for a first Liechtenstein hire, until it isn't.
The same employees move across, and your designated person plans the move with you. Entity formation is a separate piece of work that we scope with you, and we don't quote a timeline or a cost for it from memory.
Teamed's Liechtenstein EOR fee is from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX markup in any currency. Employer costs pass through at cost, itemised on every invoice.
How does Teamed advise on the right structure in Liechtenstein?
Teamed tells you when your own Liechtenstein entity starts to pay, and until then employs your hire from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX markup in any currency.
Advice and payroll run on one platform.
Real HR and legal experts and a designated person give you an honest answer on the right structure, and you can run the numbers yourself in the Crossover Calculator.
Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has your offer, your hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Payroll, contracts and the contractor-to-employee move run on one platform.
Start from the Liechtenstein hiring overview, then run the Crossover Calculator with your own numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Liechtenstein company to hire an employee in Liechtenstein?
No. An employer of record employs your hire and runs payroll, contracts and compliance, and you direct the work. You can open your own entity later when the numbers support it.
What does a direct employer in Liechtenstein have to run?
Contributions of 7.885% of gross pay with the employee's 5.4% deducted, tax at source paid over every quarter, pension, accident and sickness insurance, a flat health contribution, and the Civil Code's rules on leave, notice and dismissal.
Does gross pay decide when to open a Liechtenstein entity?
Rarely. A higher gross pay lifts both the EOR cost and the entity cost together. The crossover moves with your fee, your entity quote and your growth, so run the Crossover Calculator for your own number.
Can a contractor in Liechtenstein become an employee on the same platform?
Yes. A contractor who converts to employment moves onto payroll on the same platform, and the same employee can later move to your own Liechtenstein entity.
A direct Liechtenstein employer carries 7.885% contributions, tax at source it is liable for, and a Civil Code that gives up to six months' pay for an abusive dismissal.
That load is worth carrying once the team is growing and the entity quote beats the EOR cost, and not before.
We will tell you when you have crossed, and help you move.
Looking for a job in Liechtenstein yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
