I've been paying my taxes like every good resident, the usual 10-12 BVR's over the course of a year (1 deposit each month even ahead of schedule) for federal taxes, plus the usual 3k-4k chf towards the end of the year for cantonal taxes.

So a few days ago I receive a letter from our friends at the "Impot Federal Direct" asking me to pay this for 2007 as well as the "Impot sur le Revenue et la Fortune" at a total cost of ~11k chf.

Now where in gods name did this come from?!?

Is there something I'm missing here? Is it not true that one pays those 10 or 12 split-bills over the course of a year as well as the local cantonal tax separately and this is it? Did I miss something at the beginning of the year that I forgot to pay somehow?

Why do they have to make this so bloody complicated

God I hate going over to the tax office to sort out something like this... can anyone suggest what it is that I might be missing here. For some history, I moved to the Canton of Vaud in 2004 (to Bussigny) and in early 2008, I moved to Gland. Could it be some mistake? Shouldn't it be Nyon that takes care of these tax things for me as I live next door and Bussigny used to be next to Lausanne?

aaaaarggh, as if I havent had enough crap this month with a broken hand, GF broke up with me and my grandma's dying, and now this. What the heck did I do to deserve such a terrible month?!?

Forgot to mention, the letter came from Lausanne... and the local taxes have always been paid in one go as all I get is the usual single BVR (paid that a week ago, about 4k chf).

What is BVR?

"Bulletin de Versement"... the orange slip with all the necessary details that allow you to pay for services like phone bills, house, etc...

A good assumption is that the demands for tax payments are accurate. There may be differences in allowing or disallowing certain deductions. That is apparently not the case.

I am not knowledgeable on VD tax practice, but guess it is similar to ZH, which I know very well.

The 12 monthly installments you paid, are advance payments for anticipated cantonal and communal taxes. The commune, where you are registered, collects those. These advance payments are subsequently adjusted towards your tax assessment, which is usually finalized some months after you submit your tax return for the previous year.

Now you are being asked to pay the federal tax for 2007. That is always collected after the pertinent tax year.

Hello,

Problem here too. I'm taxed at source and I was expecting to be reimbursed but I received the highest orange slip ever . I need to go to the office too and it seems there will be a queue....

Is the "IMPÔT FEDERAL DIRECT" part of the total paid at source? It came as a separated slip.

Thanks

Also same here, I was taxed at source in Lausanne; filed a tax declaration and the first set of bills I received were total over 50k CHF. Struggling to sort it out for 4 months now.

"Impot Federal Direct" is the federal tax, and it is normally not something you would pay outside tax at source. Tax at source is an average value, calculated based on your income and it covers all three taxes: cantonal, communal and federal.

Of course the moment you file a declaration these taxes are calculated separately, i.e. an accurate assessment is made and then the tax at source payments you made are deducted from the amount and you're either reimbursed or a bill is sent your way.

looks complicated!!!

why have you filled tax return if you are paid "a la source"?

I heard its all automatically done?



50K CHF for taxes???????

How childish

It is quite complicated and as I said I'm still struggling to get it right. 50K was for 3 years worth taxes and they had not deducted all the relevant tax at source payments. Later they fixed this error and sent me a new invoice, with brand new errors.

Why have I filed a tax return? A question I have been asking myself every day for the past 4 months. Apparently those taxed at source with income over 120K/year are supposed to file a return, so I was trying to be a good citizen.

Actually now that i remember, a colleague told me its good to fill tax return when you are "a la source", because they will refund you like 200-500chf, apparently they always take more...

I guess it's a bit risky then!!

I thought the same but what my tax consultants told me in the end was it is quite possible to end up owing to the tax authorities in the case of tax at source. I can only advise to go for each and every deduction you can; if you're filing a return, don't just file a "standard" one with the fixed deductions etc.

If you invest on a 3rd pillar, make substantial charities, etc you may want to verify if you can have something reimbursed. It can be as high as your monthly salary in some cases. The system is rich enough. I personally think if I can have 100 bucks reimbursed It's worth the work, It will sponsor a dinner with the wife or reduce the amount of Mbudget

We were in the very same situation as Shinigami and other posters whose posts are mentioned above as we were paying tax at source, yet we received a huge, very huge amount for 2007 in Dec 2008! We wrote them a letter mentioning that we have already paid all the taxes in 2007 itself and that we don't have to pay 'this extra amount' which they have miscalculated as the unpaid tax and requested them to recheck our details.

So, don't panic, just send a letter to Office d'impôt des district de Lausanne (don't call them, it wouldn't be of any help) stating that you have been paying your taxes and the photocopies of all the salary slips and other documents that are required for the purpose. Obviously if you have already paid all the taxes, they can't make you pay anything extra! Good luck!

all VD people dealing with this federal tax issue:

you have a 'tax account' with the Cantonal VD tax office. when you pay "a la source" the money (cantonal + ederal) goes into this account. but the federal guys need to be told by the VD guys that you have money in that account. the VD guys then make the transfer. as i understand it you actually have to tell the VD guys to do this. i don't know why, but you just do! letter, explain, ask nicely, etc etc .... (c;


bill

Hi,
i am in a similar situation - was at source, but "heard" that you have to file a tax return and was stupid enough to rush into it without talking to tax consultant, now have some CHF 10K bill for direct federal tax (and net of CHF2K more in taxes that has been paid at source). i sent a letter to authorities, stating that (i) i have duly paid all taxes as were deducted by the employer (ii) i have paid all taxes together, not separately, therefore if there needs to be some re-distribution among various levels, could you been so kind to proceed with such re-distribution.... no response.... i guess there is no way back to "a la source"? Or anybody has managed to go back?

if not, i would have to pay the additional CHF2K...but no way i can pay the whole amount of federal direct tax ... has anybody had positive experience dealing with Vaud authorities in that respect? Would greatly appreciate if you share your argumentation etc

thanks!

Hi Bill,

i tried to follow the same logic, as in post...so far not much success... Have you / do you know somebody who has managed to do it? Any advise what arguments i shall use?

thanks!

my experience 2007 tax year (i was taxed at source in VD), processed mid 2008:

6 months or so after I filed my return, I received two tax bills, Cantonal and Federal; pay a significant amount within 30 days etc etc.

I rang them up, explained. They said okay stick it in a letter and send it to them with the appropriate reference numbers.

No response, no confirmation, no 'withdrawal' of 30 days to pay etc. But a few weeks after the 30 days I received the tax rebate I was expecting!

VD tax office are not the friendliest people to talk with, they tend to interact at a minimal level as necessary. If they don't need to say/send you something they wont! Reason being the office is small relative to the number of returns they have to process I suppose. Trivial questions like where are my forms, where's my rebate etc get 'ignored' as they will be dealt with eventually in the normal run of things.

But that said the tax system here is probably the most civil I have encountered. Don't expect massive fines, visit from the tax police or similar for things like delays, transfer from Cantonal account to Federal, etc. If you are insecure about it send the letters, send them registered if you're paranoid. it'll be fine in the end.

Hi,

thanks for sharing it with me. just want to make sure i got it right - you rang them up to explain that you have paid all the taxes at source, right? or you had other rationale?
the rabate you asked for, was the difference between what you paid at source and what the new cantonal/federal bills asked for, right?

uff..sounds promising...lets see if i am lucky to get off the hook

thanks!

With 10-12 BVR, you pay advance tax, and toward the end of the year, it is final settlement of the yearly income tax of cantonal and communal tax.

Federal Income tax bill comes separetly in cases where final tax is not setteled with federation.