I moved to Basel in October 2020 since I got a position as Postdoc. I am married and my husband is living in Italy, we married with separation of assets. I didn't do any taxes declaration because my income was <120k and since we are married with separation of assets I thought I should't have to declare what he has in Italy (his banking account, 120k and the apartment where he lives, ~100k). From October 2022, I got a permanent position and my salaries is >120k. I am trying to figure out what I will have to do next year for the taxes declaration but it looks like I should have done the declaration last year because in Switzerland they don't care if you are married with separation of assets. Is that correct?
Should I declare and pay taxes on my husband 's apartment and the money he has in his banking account?
Correct. The marriage type has no bearing on tax declaration. You have to declare worldwide income which will determine your tax rate which will then be applied to the income only generated in Switzerland.
For the wealth you also need to declare it all but not sure how it is taxed, someone will know
To add to the above, the value of all assets worldwide, except household items, is to be declared. This will determine the asset tax rate. The value of foreign real estate is then to be excluded in the tax division process (Steuerausscheidung) and is not taxed directly.
Be sure to include the value of any mortgages which serve to reduce the tax rate on assets.
Thank you for your help! What should I do now? Of course, I will declare everything next year (2022 declaration) but I didn't do any tax declaration for 2021 because I thought I didn't have to because of the separation of assets and because the apartment and bank account belong to my husband
Do I have to wait for them to send me something? Can I file returns for both 2021 and 2022 next year? Do I have to pay a fine?
Also, do you have any advice on who I can "hire" to help me with my tax declaration in Basel? Is it very expensive? (I don't speak German, it would be better to find someone who speaks Italian)
Ps. If you are not authorized to give this kind of advice, don't bother answering my question.
For 2021, I strongly suggest having an accountant deal with it as it might need negotiations with the tax authorities. I used this guy for years and was very happy with him. http://stadttreuhand.ch/ . If there is any tax due for last year, then chances are you’ll just have to pay interest.
You might want to use him for your tax return for this year, but it won’t be the cheapest option. After you’ve had one tax return done with help, you’ll easily be able to do all subsequent ones yourself. I seem to recall that Basel Stadt even has explanatory notes in English!
Thank you! But should I do it now? Or can I wait Jan. 2023?
I found a company called taxea. It looks like they have accountants who speak Italian. Thank you for sending the name of that guy but it seems he speaks German (or at least the web-site is in German)
I always try to do things sooner rather than later!
He speaks very good English. He once took on the tax office for me (and won) when they were trying to claim that I'd not declared rather a lot of income, and was rather shifting it to a tax haven! Which I wasn't, by the way! Also, when I first moved here I forget to declare some overseas assets. A couple of years later, he regularised that with the tax office.
It not necessarily their problem, there are cases where you must proactively file taxes and it is your problem to know it, and the case OP describes here (significant wealth) seems to match it
For last year, you need to establish your tax situation, as you may not have declared all you should have. That is what you should talk to an accountant about as soon as you can. If it turns out you've made a mistake, he or she can sort it out for you with the tax office. Worst case, you'll have a bit of interest to pay.
For this year's declaration, you should get a declaration form automatically. But if you've not received it by January, then you need to ask for one. You don't need to worry about that until 2023.
I would just wait to be asked. Your husband's assets will have little effect on your tax liability and the tax office will make any corrections. Many people in fact go forever filing incorrect declarations. You could file what you believe to be correct and wait for any corrections from the tax office.
I also would do this year all well and in order and if they ask you for last year to tell them you did not think this was needed. Worse case they open it up again and rectify. Don't worry too much the tax authorities here are pretty reasonable.