We have just lodged our first tax return in Switzerland, we are in Vaud. As we are on Permit B we have pre-paid monthly tax installments all last year and our tax accountant worked our that we should get a refund. How long are we going to wait to get it?
OMG!!! Why? It took about 6 weeks in Australia! I have been so far very impressed with the speed of response from authorities here, our exchange of driving licenses took half an hour! Why does tax assessment take so long?
Because they have your money and are in no rush...
They spend a lot of time and effort getting the money in, not so much time left to pay it out though
Don't know, but 5 years is not uncommon.
(got my 2013 tax bill last August, for example)
Tom
A very long time. Still waiting over a year from submission.
So if you owe tax, will you be charged interest from the date you submitted the tax return or from the date of assessment way into the future?
Normally from the date tax is due. For example for the 2019 tax year, the tax is due in canton Zurich on September 30 2019. In Vaud it seem to be March 31. Not sure if 2019 or 2020, but I think it is 2019.
Interest in case you paid too much or not enough in Vaud is 0.125% Once you get the final bill interest raises to 3.5%
https://www.vd.ch/themes/etat-droit-...er-mes-impots/
Thanks for the link. I am still assuming we have over-paid as per the accountant's assessment but 0.125% is incredibly measly. We are getting 2.8% from our term deposits in Australia! I am surprised that nobody complains about these very lengthy delays.
0.125% are still much better than if you invest it in to bonds from the Swiss Confederation.
https://www.snb.ch/en/iabout/stat/st...hange_rates#t2 Yes, you see right you would owe interest if you give them money
Complain....and see where you get (back of the queue usually)
This sounds like in France! That's exactly what bureaucrats do there, the Brits asking for Cartes de Sejour (due to Brexit) have told many horror stories of the vendettas by the local prefectures, skewing or ignoring the correct interpretation of law. I was hoping this does not happen in Switzerland and there is a clear explanation why generating a tax bill or a refund takes so long
Because it's done by humans and not by machines.
Any, why care?
Tom
But you are not in Australia nor France, you’re in Switzerland, were most people pay taxes in installments a couple of times a year and we’re not about to change just because you turned up!
It’s not as if tax refunds are a huge amount in any case.
Hi,
It can take a couple years as they work at a different pace. This was my situation when I was living in Nyon and need to push my tax filings for mortage requriments etc etc. blah blah, they owed me 2 years of filing processing.
Luckily I had a tax accountant who was able to push a bit. I ultimately got connected to the tax office and spoke a very nice gentleman (english speaking) who was able to push things through for me.
Not sure if I'm allowed to post names but moderators can delete, he was. Willy Brunner, email address was similar [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) working for Canton Vaud tax office. He sounded quite elderly so he may have retired by now. You can all call the tax office and ask to speak to someone in English (if you can't speak French), I found them very help ful. But I do recommned you call - you'll get to someone at somepoint. Be prepared for some passing around, so get a coffee, sit back and enjoy the time on hold and transfers.
Best,
just a note to the edit: once i got a hold of mr. brunner, he was able to push the processing of 2 years of tax filings in like 3 weeks, he may have been the one responsible for our filings (was really fast).
I hope you asked Mr. Brunner that you have permission to publish his mane and email adress....
Refunds are not the norm, additional bills are!
Tom
oh man, the GDPR cops are coming....from Canton Vaud! ..speaking French!! Help
I just received word from the ZH Tax people that my 2019 submission hasn't even been assigned to an assessor yet. Over 2k in returns are expected and God knows I could use that money right now! #HarleyParts