if you are an EU foreigner on a B permit paying tax at source (Quellensteuer), is it correct to say that your tax bill is, apart from other factors, determined only by the canton in which you live and work and NOT by which town / village you live in in that canton?

That is correct: you pay a nominal amount based on a sort of average across the parishes/towns of the canton (I don't know the fancy maths words).

unless of course you earn over 120k, in which case you will file a tax return and pay the difference.

Is that right? So the gemeinde tax rates are only applicable to the chf 120k and above club?

Learned something today already

And C-permit holders and Swiss citizens. And some B-permit holders (if they're married to a Swiss citizen). And probably a few other combinations.

Back when I was a B living in ZH, as soon as I got married I got all my quellensteuer back and had to start filling out forms (but this was 20+ years ago)

Tom

Still the same. A friend of mine got married to a Swiss lady last year, is on a B-permit and doesn't pay quellensteuer. Which is good news for me as his employer.

Is this 120k upper limit per individual or per married couple?

Married couple.

Or be refunded the difference, if you happen to live in a low-tax area of a high-tax canton, like Riehen, part of BS, but not part of the Basel Stadt Gemeinde.

Out of interest.....what is the logic (if logic indeed there is) for not charging the gemeinde specific tax for those groups?

Does the "average" get distributed averagely amongst all the communities in the canton, or do the high tax ones get a larger share of the pot?

(I know its a noob question.....I have never understood my tax here. I just pay what they send me to pay!)

Hi All,

I'm trying to understand this Quellensteuer phenomenon and I would like to have your expert advices/comments.

I'll be moving to BS next year, I have an offer of 130k p.a.

I tried to play around with the calculators and these are saying, the QSteuer is around 14-15 % (married, single earner, no children).

And here comes the tax return/filing whatever it's name is, because my salary is above 120k.

Does it mean, that they will recalculate my taxes in line with "normal taxing"? This rate is almost 30%. This is a huge difference :S.

Thanks for your answers,
ishkt

Your "normal" tax rate is not 30%.

I don't believe that is true. The 120K limit for filing is per individual. If neither earns over the 120K then you are not *obliged* to file a return. There is a possibility that it might be in your interest to file a return, though...if your gemeinde has a lower tax rate than the Quellensteuer percent...

My 'evidence' for this is that my husband and myself do not earn over the 120K threshold and have not been required to file. I have checked this several times with the tax agent and also via our employer when they discovered that they had made a major error in deducting our quellensteuer.

If your income declaration (that the employer submits to the tax office) goes over 120K, the tax office is supposed to then send you the documents to demand you to complete a return....certainly hasn't happened to us, yet...but with the error that the employer made (failing to gross up the salary with the tuition discount that we receive for our three children).... we may well just tip that 120K limit for my husband... so I'll let you know what the tax office says...

Oh, and the tax agent also warned us that if you tip the 120K limit one year, they may ask you to lodge the previous year's return, as an 'audit' process, or you may then be required to lodge future returns...seems the 120K income does trigger off a series of 'checks and balances' which are not considered so important for lower income earners...

Indeed, when I started paying "normal" taxes, my taxes went DOWN, not UP!

And back then, it wasn't only salary dependent (until I moved to Ticino), it was also required if married to a Swiss (in ZH in any case, regardless of salary)

Now that I am a Swiss, married to a Swiss, with only one income, married is a BIG savings!

Tom

Thanks for the answers.
I'll try to rephrase my question.

When the authority recalculate my tax payable, only the amount above 120k will be subject to the recalculation, or the whole sum?
I used the calculators on comparis, and also check the pdf with the tariffs on the basel tax authority's website.
It is saying, that 14,26% of my salary will be withhold at my employer as "tax at source". There are other deductions of course, pension etc.
Calculating with the "normal tax", deducting all the money which is deducted from my salary, I get around 115k as tax base. Comparis is saying, 33,438CHF is my tax payable, which is somewhere around 28,95%.
Most probably I forgot something out of the equation.
So my question is: only the taxes on salary-120k should be recalculated?

Thank you for your answers,
ishkt

There are other deductions you have to figure, depending on wife, kids, etc.

Total will be less, depending.

Tom

It is quite simple:

You either are subject to Quellensteuer (tax at source) or not.

If not subject to Quellensteuer, then you file a normal tax return just like any other Swiss resident. You state your entire world-wide income, your world-wide assets, make any applicable deductions and then pay tax on what is taxable.

Ishkt....are you putting in monthly income? If so,remember to divide annual by 13, not 12... Might be one source of higher than expected tax :-)

Also, this calculator might be easier to use...works off gross salary, so you don't need to guesstimate social security etc. http://www.estv2.admin.ch/d/dienstle...er/2010/zh.htm

For Zurich, I guessed a gross of 130k, and got roughly 115k taxable income and 23k tax.