Hi

I am on an L Permit and as a result my tax is taken out at source. Hence I was a bit than more surprised when I got a form from the tax office to fill out.

Apparently if you earn more than 120k, you have to make a tax return. I made 123k. So I have the following questions ;

1. Do most people fill them out themselves or do they get an tax advisor ?
2. if doing them yourself ...is it complicated ?
3. if one gets a tax advisor do they take their fee as a percentage of your income ? ...or how do they calculate their fee ?

4. How long do I have before I have to send them back ?

thx in advance

iste

Do you speak German? If not, and your tax form available is not available in English then you have an easy decision - pay someone to do it!

Prices vary for tax preparation- I've paid 139chf and 460chf for the same service.

Imho, it's worth paying someone to have them done.

'09 was due at the end of March (I think), unless you asked for an extension.

09 was due end of March ?????? i only got it last weeek. And that was even a surprise as my tax is taken from source ?

JLP...can you recommend anyone ?

What does it say on your form? To be honest, I've filed later than my extension (bad me) and I was not penalized for it. The consultant wrote them saying I was a 'tard (yes, I know it is not pc to say that, but it's true).

Pm me for the name of the man I used, he is in Aargau. You'll have to email him to ask if he can do yours (EN is ok). My declaration last year including their forms and my copies ran to 42 pages... and I do not have a lot to declare.

we filed very late last year with no negative consequences so far - as they have already got the majority of your taxes maybe they are less strict?

If you ask for an extension I believe they give you until the end of June.
You can extend again but they start to get really arsey.

You can also fill the form in online and there is some software you can download from their website which helps in filling it out.

Since you have an L, you already paid your tax at source. Therefore the extension till the end of September comes automatically... should say so on the forms as well (even if you do not speak German, you can see some date on the front page somewhere.).

@ treverus

I speak german...

There is no date....just a " merkblatt" für Nachtragliche Veranlagung von quellensteuerpflichtigen personen"

the rest are all tax forms to fill out ???

the fact they have already most of my taxes done ease me a bit....but still ......

i walked past the office of one guy here and he states 50-100chfs.

@ treverus

your right ...just seen it...it was on the steuereklarungs form itself...

it says einreichungsfrist bis 30.09.2010.....phew...now i just have to figure out how to fill it

I had a choice of September or November Herr Planthead (you and I have the same tax office) and they didn't get "arsey" with me at all. It wasn't till end of Feb that I received a "by the way, do you mind filing" letter.

In Switzerland you pay tax on your income and your assets, so sorry to say it is likely they will send you a bill when you have completed your return.

Personally I use Dr Tax to complete my tax returns, have done for some years and I dont speak German- its not that difficult, you dont have write any essays just fill in the figures.

As for paying somebody else, everyone to his own. The principle of paying somebody else is in theory the fact that their knowledge of the process will save you tax (the service paying for itself), in reality I am unconvinced this is a reality, maybe if it costs on 139chf to do the job, almost certainly not if it costs 639chf.

You see, it was on it!!!

Or in my case "I don't want to fü*king do it myself and take the risk of making errors.". Nah, that is not true. I just don't want to do it.

I have my nice 15 minutes of the day, so here you are: How to do your tax return Kt ZH

Thanks to everyone....got a bit panicky there...

Im going to do it wuith my German brother in law on the weekend

I use these guys, all done by post or there is a first time meeting so that they can go over what you need.

Used them for years, fast, pro, clean, easy.

250CHF does it.

Resede Treuhand AG

I have heard that there are 100CHF services. Maybe some day I'll get round to understanding how to do this myself.

I've had Ernst and Young doing my accounts for the last couple of years as part of my relo deal. I've just asked about employing them privately next year and they've quoted me CHF2500

I'll probably be looking for a less expensive option then or perhaps plunging into Dr Tax myself.

First, apologies to all if this has been in answered in the forums; yes, I did search but the information seemed to be in too many places...

Just need to understand, in layman terms, how taxes work here for expats:

1. When employed, are taxes automatically deducted from my paycheck? If so, how is it calculated based on which canton I live in and which I work in?
2. Are there any exceptions for expats? Or do you pretty much pay same rates as Swiss nationals?
3. Assume there is an annual tax filing around March/April, and similar processes as other countries; file w/ service online or through accountant, might receive a refund etc.

Just trying to get a general idea of how it works here... Thanks for any help!