i got a letter for filing taxes and currently my tax has been deducted at source, ie i pay withholding tax at source. the letters and forms ( a set) all in german. i have the tax certificate from employer and also the social obligation certificate.
now why have i got this tax form and that too all in German.
do i need a consultant ? Zurich. What do i need to fill in, also are there any more deductibles i can put like insurance premiums ? rent etc.

If your gross salary (Brutto) was over 125K then you are required to lodge a return for that year and all future years...

I can recommend 'colfina' - do a search on the forum and you'll get the details.

Some deductibles that I know about are a small amount of childcare, some costs of travel, interest on loans, donations to charity.

You'll need to also keep a record of the interest on any investments (including bank accounts) and also the balance of your bank accounts at the beginning of the financial year...

I'll be curious to hear from other people what other deductibles they know about - I think you can probably claim professional development if it's related to your field of work...

That's a start anyway...

Same for me, except I don't have a tax certificate or a social obligation certificate.

Then again, I only had one salary payment in 2011, so will be interesting to see what my liability is. I'm assuming it's jan -> dec?

My suggestion would be to call Denise at Colfina, I have had her complete my taxes for the past 2 years and she has been brilliant.


http://www.colfina.ch

+1 for Denise at Colfina.

what does she charge?

150CHF/hr,with a minimum charge of 150CHF. My colleagues all got charged the 150, mine was 175 as I had some complications to sort out.

I had some email correspondents a year ago, never got charged anything !

Hi all, i contacted Denise @ Colfina at the beginning of March. I subsequently sent off all the material requested for my tax return but have heard nothing in over 3 weeks. The material was received - the Swiss Post report says as much. My emails are not responded too and the phone numbers for Colfina now seem to be dead. Does anyone know if the company has gone out of business? It all seems very odd given the recommendations on the forum and the email correspondence I had with Denise earlier this month. Thanks.

I got a similar set of documents from Tax Department though my tax is deducted at source. You may ignore these documents if you do not have anything to claim for tax reimbursement.

A loan, an expensive car, an expensive health insurance, transportation cost to work and anything you send home to your family for dependent care....all these entitle you for some exemption and reimbursement in this particular case as your tax is also deducted at source.

I came across the following contact from EF and the consultant speaks English and is very friendly. He charged me a decent CHF 100.00 for filing the return because my taxes are deducted at source and there was very less for him to do except for filling in the form correctly and filing my case.

Mr.Christian Rufer
Mobile +41 79 636 35 08
Tel. +41 44 877 72 72
-----------------
ALPHA Finanzplanung AG
Grindelstrasse 6
CH-8304 Wallisellen
christian.rufer@alphafp.ch
www.alphafp.ch


You might want to hurry up as the deadline for filing tax return or any claims is end of March, but I have heard there can be a exception of few days.

I've used Colfina for the last 4 years. The first year was excellent speedy service but it was a late in the year return. The second year and third year were done on time but this year I've experienced a hic up.

I sent in all the information in as early as I could this year but we were still awaiting one or two details on accounts my children have in the UK. These were sent late feb but were "missed" on their arrival. I found this out when I chased Colfina early this month. I received an apology and was told that the tax forms would be completed and returned. Today,a day before the deadline, still nothing.

So I tried to phone this morning, line dead. I sent an email and got the following

Thank you for your email.
Due to an upgrade of our telephone and internet installation March 29th 2012 we partly will be disconnected. Thank you for understanding.

Which is probably explains why you and I both can't get through. Now I understand that upgrades and stuff need to happen but I would have thought that if you deal in taxes, this would not be the best day to upgrade your systems. But perhaps they had no choice.

Are there penalties for late filing?
I like Denise at Colfina, she's been really good and taken time to explain things but I'm a complete nervous wreck when it comes to taxes (and about most things really). I try not to chase her too often as I think she is likely to be very busy and I don't want to appear to be a complete control freak but lateness in these matters always makes tense.

I hope she responds to my emails soon.

Fill out the request for an extension, I always do (even though it's end of April here).

It should be included in the tax forms.

Tom

Just for another datapoint for Denise at Colfina. Sent my data on the 19th of February, received completed forms for signature on the 14th of March.

I have an external contractor that was supposed to move offices 4 weeks ago. Not yet completed, and we have a big deadline coming up (not tax-related), so he's extra stressed. Even the locals get problems with contractors.

Finally got a response from Denise today - she apologised for being swamped and for the delay in responding. So progress of sorts

I spoke to Colfina on 30th March, got an apology and was told that we should have the return in a few days.....Still nothing

After sending another two emails chasing. I finally have my return and a brief apology. I honestly don't mind stuff taking time, as long as I'm kept informed. I get so annoyed when someone says it will be done by X and it's not and there's no apology or revised time.

Another client of Colfina here, there has definitely been a problem of some kind this year, it's been much slower than usual. I've now been told the end of this month, and I hadn't yet requested an extension as I sent everything at the end of February as normal.

If I'm charged a fine for late submission I'll be having a chat with Colfina, I think a 60 day turnaround is too long, or clients should at least be warned in advance if that's going to be the case.