Hi there.
I have a general question that puzzles me for quite a while. As a non EU b permit, i get deducted for my income tax from the source, however, i read this almost everywhere that as one benefit of C permit, it's benefit of not deduct tax from source, but can be done as normal Swiss citizenship that in a yearly basis.
I am just wondering, is it really a benefit? e.g. if in the end the amount that need to pay in tax is more or less the same, it should be not called as a "benefit", right? if I anyway need to pay 12,000 CHF per year, for me, i don't care that much whether I pay each month 1,000 or only in Dec. 12,000 CHF.
Any insights would be great appreciated.
Cheers
I've never heard it called, nor would I ever call it, a benefit.
If things were to work out exactly equal the only benefit is that you potentially have an interest free loan, unless you're required to pay on account in advance.
Depends on your individual circumstances as there are so many things that could be taken into account. Not sure if it’s the same in all cantons what you can and cannot claim either. For example here husband can claim driving to/from work because it would take him longer than an hour to do it by public transport. So that knocks quite a bit off the tax bill. Also he can claim for lunch since the company provides a canteen so that’s something else that comes off the bill. And also a percentage of his salary for work related things like clothes, etc, also get deducted. Health insurance premiums and contributions to 3a pillar pension can also be deducted.
We definitely benefitted from lower taxation when we switched to C permits, but other people find it’s not as good for them as they pay more tax.
It's a benefit because you pay later, so you get to keep your money longer. It can also be a financial benefit if
1. You don't fill in a tax return while on tax at source
2. Your circumstances mean the tax you pay is less than that used for tax at source - which does happen, but not often.
I agree with what has been written before. For us, the switch resulted in pretty much the same taxes, but we knew to file amendments to the tax at source from the beginning (for pillar 3 and daycare costs).
On a B permit I understand you pay the canton average tax rate. On a C permit you really pay the tax rate where you live. So in real terms I think mostly you end up paying slightly more taxes but probably not crazy. On C permit you will find it easier to write off certain things on taxes but whether in your case it brings many benefits I dont know.
The big benefit for you as a non EU permit holder. Is freedom.
If you have a C permit, it is yours, you can move and change companies as you like. With a B permit it is your employers. So to change job you basically hand back your B permit and your new employer must get you a new one (thats not how it happens practically but the paper work side yes). You may be limited on taking another job without a C permit.
Theres other benefits as well, such as a C permit you can buy a property and dont need a property owners permit or what ever they are called.
Can also freely relocate anywhere in CH from one canton to another.
Don’t need that anyway. Any B permit holder can buy a house/flat so long as they intend to use it as their main residence.
It's easier to acquire weapons on a C permit with the exception of nationals from certain countries.
Anyone on permit B can request to be subject to regular taxation and do a full regular tax return. (Tax at source is still deducted and accounted towards the final bill)
Actually, it's almost the other way around... you are asked to begin pay taxes in February for the entire year. It's true that you can pay in installments, but the latest deadline is the end of the year, so you almost always end up paying something in advance.
On the other side, if you pay too much you get it refunded with the interests, which are not too high but higher than most savings accounts.
As with many other things in this country, this varies from canton to canton.
Considering venetian is from canton Zurich it is actually even wrong.
https://www.zh.ch/de/steuern-finanze...stb-172-1.html
Wrong? I received on 15.02.2022 the paying slips for the Steuerperiode 2022, and the last one is due on 31.12.2022...
Yep, we pay ours from May to January - 9 instalments.
... and we pay ours in as many installments as we wish before the end of April of the following year.
I was wondering too, so went to a tax advisor who filled out a whole tax declaration (without submitting it) and it turned out to be slightly (<10%) higher than the sum of our tax-at-source payments. Better to stay on a B permit for us, but as said before: depends on the individual situation, other incomes, deductions, etc.
Note that, you can also do the full declaration on a B permit, just be aware there is no way back: if you do it once, you always have to do it.