Hello,

I have a question about taxation in Switzerland. I moved to Geneva in November 2009 and commenced work as a permanent employee in December 2009. I received my salary and noticed the amount of tax I had to pay for this one month of work was around 35%.

Does anyone know if I can claim back any of this tax considering that I only worked one month in the 12 months of the year, as I’m assuming that I was taxed the 35% which I guess has been calculated assuming I was working for the total year.

So far I’ve heard different stories about what I can’t and can claim back.

Thank you for any information on this……

Hello,
The actual percentage withheld depends on whether you are single or married, with or without children. (Barème A, B, etc on the year-end "attestation quittance") and on the amount earned.
First of all, have HR explain how they came up with 35%, i.e what basis they used.
You may request a correction and/or reimbursement by filling out the "demande de rectification" by March 31, 2010. A 35% tax at source is possible if your monthly income is very high.
Hope this is helpful!

Usually we don't respond to requests for tax advice for salaries under CHF 3 million, but since you're new 'n' all ...

You are required to fill out a tax return (thereby enabling you to claim any overpayment of tax) if you earn more than CHF 120,000. I don't know what happens if you earn that salary pro rata, but haven't earned a total exceeding CH 120k in the year. I suspect it's not good news, unfortunately ... sorry! All I can suggest is a phone call to the tax office.

Good luck!

Tax at source is levied each month on the assumption that what you earn that month is what you earn throughout the year. For example, if you earnt 10k in Dec, then the tax system will extrapolate that up to 120k for the whole year (assuming a 12 payments salary system, some are 13) and tax you accordingly.

This is particularly tiresome if you get the sort of bonus that doubles that month's salary, as the system assumes you're going to be paid THAT much every month for the whole year, and taxes you at a staggeringly high percentage, pushing your overall average up for the whole year. It all comes out in the wash, though, after the tax return is submitted. Eventually. A couple of years later. And let's face it, 'my bonus is so big it's messed up my tax deduction' is hardly a cause for complaint.

But anyhow, the 35% may be correct if you earn a high amount, especially if you're single with no kids. Take the Dec salary, multiply it by 12 (or 13), find the tax at source tables for your canton (I expect someone here will help with that if you can't track them down) and voilà- it'll tell you if 35% is right or not.

kodokan

Did you receive some signing bonus from your company? This could have inflated your monthly salary and thus bringing you up to the 35% bracket

Hi all,

Thanks very much for the advice. It certainly makes sense to me now and I need to complete a tax return for the 2009 year and see if I can claim some of this tax back.

Now all I need to do is to find a good tax accountant in Geneva that can do this for me - anyone have any recommendations???

By DrTax and do it yourself! or I could do it for you for a small fee; including of course the cost of DrTax.

What is Dr Tax?

http://www.drtax.ch/web/ch/de/index.aspx

It's the software which my accountant (which my employer no doubt pays a fortune for) uses to do my accounts. It does make me confident that when the time comes when I have to do my own accounts (next year) I'll be able to handle it.

you could always find the local tax software (www.ge.ch maybe helps) or use a firm like www.colfina.ch to do your taxes. Both not expensive compared to what you might get back...