I used a tax service to do my taxes for me (taxes to be paid to basel Stadt) and I needed an extension on this. When I asked the member of staff when the extension was until. She told me 31.12.21. So I paid my taxes in November. I then got my tax bill from Basel Stadt which had a 40 CHF late fee (anything submitted after 30.09.21 is late), the tax company did not inform me of this when they made the extension, they just told me that it was until 31.12.21. I am asking the company to pay the 40 CHF but they refuse and say that they are not obligated to tell me that the extension comes at a cost after 30.09.21. I completely disagree as I am paying not just for them to do my taxes but for advice too. My question is for the people more familiar with the Swiss system than me, do I have a case here? Or just a lesson learnt. I am more annoyed on a principal perspective as I felt I was only given partial information. I would have submitted before September if they were completely transparent with me.
Naturally I will, I was more trying to understand the expectations when you pay hundreds of francs for a company to do your taxes and also handle your extensions and the information they gave you was incorrect.
They told me the deadline extension was until the end of 2021. But in reality you can only get a deadline extension until September 2021. Following that date, you have to apply for another extension and pay 40 CHF or you miss the September deadline and pay 40 CHF. But you can't make an extension from March until the end of the year ( https://www.steuerverwaltung.bs.ch/s...21%20abzugeben .)
40 CHF isn't a lot of money. I was just thinking of the principle of this all and the fact that I believe I recieved a substandard service.
They were correct if they extended to the end of 2021 (which is the longest you can extend). So unless you asked how long you could make an extension for free, no wrong information was given.
You also need to apply for the free extension before 31 March.
This is set by the tax authorities. Yes, it would have been good customer service for the tax service to inform you, but the responsibility for timely returns and any fees associated with that is yours.
The company clearly assumed that you were aware that second extensions incurs a fee - now you know and so won't get caught again. I'm afraid in Switzerland assuming certain knowledge is quite common. Bear in mind before getting annoyed that even if the service had informed you, you'd still have had to pay it, so you're in no worse position now than you would have been.
They answered the question you asked and since it’s normal to pay for extensions they rightly assumed you knew. On top of this you went from needing an extension to it being optional in a single paragraph...
Normally in such circumstances you’d let the client go with the 40 CHF and just add a little extra to next year’s bill. If they are willing to argue it with you, they probably won’t be sad to see you go.
Fair enough, then it is indeed a lesson learned. I could have and would have submitted it in September if I was informed about the late fee by the tax service provider. I took my time because I thought it was OK until the end of December without consequences. They knew I was new to Switzerland and it was my first time doing taxes, I guess I was expecting a similar level of service that I get in England (where they would have for sure told me about the financial the consequences of extending). In any case it's not a massive deal. Thanks for the feedback all.
You have no idea how some other firm would have treated you. As you are new it would be an idea to do more research and ask more questions rather than assume.
I know how they would have treated me in England from personal experience doing my taxes there at different companies. I never once said how other firms in Switzerland would have treated me. Anyway all good. As I said, lesson learnt. Not a big deal.
If there were still 2 possible extensions, one free (September 30) and one with a cost (year end) I too would have expected to be informed of both and the cost of the second.
But the deadline for requesting the first has already passed, and it is understandable that they intended the second.
The interesting thing is that the deadline hadn't passed when I requested the extension. They made the extension in early March 2021 and told me I had until the end of the year. Which is technically correct but I would certainly have expected them to tell me that it was free until the end of September and then between October and December it is a [B]second[B] extension which costs 40 CHF. I had all of the information be early September and could have submitted, I just put it to the back of my priorities as I thought I had time without consequences.
No no, not extensions, but whenever I ask for information/advice, I get ALL of the information and then some (they go above and beyond what I am even asking for). What I have experienced here is certainly not going above and beyond. But maybe that's because not many people need to worry about submitting their taxes in the UK and thus, the companies care more about customer retention.
I've experienced the same with Swiss accounting firms: they do not work on the client's behalf in the same way that UK firms do. They usually have a close relationship with the tax office that can be helpful at times, but which does not always benefit the client.
As for helpfully volunteering information and going above and beyond, that is not a Swiss thing.
Whenever you enter into a service-based transaction here you need to understand that the person you are dealing with is unlikely to volunteer any information that could put you on an equal footing with them. Case in point, when I go skiing in Austria the girl at the ticket desk will always inform me if there is a deal or a cheaper half day ticket. In Switzerland they will always charge you for the most expensive ticket unless you go out of your way to ask for a specific ticket. It's the same with any service here which is why you need to ask for a quote on everything and get every request itemized. The reason this attitude persists is that there is generally a lack of competition here so businesses don't really feel any need to up their game. You're most likely to notice this when standing in a long line waiting to buy something. The customer at the counter seems to be asking hundreds of questions and the buenzli behind the counter seems to give short yes/no answers to avoid giving away any information.
I believe you that you feel this way, and also that it would have been nice if the tax people you're working with would have warned you of the fee. Oddly enough, for me, what you describe is exactly my experience in Switzerland (compared to other countries in which I've lived or had a lot of dealings), namely that I'm often given extra information I need, beyond what I had known to ask, and I'm grateful for it.
However, in Switzerland, for all matters that have to do with a contract, (whether in writing or verbal), for any situation where fees could possibly be incurred, the principle is very definitely that the customer or client has the duty (to themselves) to find out what their obligations and costs will be. Moreover, those costs are unlikely ever to be waived or diminished (and will almost never be borne by someone else) only because the customer hadn't done the reading necessary to understood how things worked.
I've been surprised how many threads on this forum describe how, in some other countries, providers of services or goods, have so much more responsibility in terms of teaching the customer how the whole procedure works. In Switzerland, it is the customer or client's responsibility to inform themselves fully, by asking, for example: Please let me read the contract, the terms and conditions, the rules, etc. (and then do so, and understand it, before signing) Please explain the fee schedule to me. If I choose to do something this way, or another way, will either option incurr any fees and, if so, how much? and so on.
That's totally fair enough, different ways of doing things, which is fine. Believe me, I'll be asking plenty more questions in the future in order to inform myself haha.
Take it as a fairly cheap lesson in the way the Swiss work. People on this forum have been caught out for far larger amounts in the past.
Also take it as a lesson that there are some grumpy buggers on this forum who have lived here for decades and seem to get some sort of perverse pleasure in demeaning new comers who aren't used to the way things work in Switzerland.