Hi all,

I started my job in Lausanne in March '12 and (as an EU Permit B) had my tax deducted at source by my employer.

We are a small company with one person responsible for all accounting procedures, including salaries. The system is in a real mess, mostly due to a previous bad choice of accounting software and also the accounts manager having had an accident and taken quite a bit of time off work.

This is the second time I have worked for the same employer, the last time being in 2008/9. We don't receive a monthly salary statement and this is blamed on the above mess. I asked for one shortly after starting and got a May statement. My deductions had changed a little since 2008 (I am now married and my wife does not have paid work) but otherwise I trusted the accounts manager that what I was being paid was correct.

A few weeks ago my boss told me that the accounts manager had messed up my salary calculations; I had overpaid LPP (pension) and underpaid taxes with a net result that I owe several thousand CHF for unpaid taxes in 2012, repayable immediately. I also have to live with the fact that I will receive 10% less net salary in 2013 than expected.

Now, I don't have a problem paying my taxes. Where I do have a problem is that I based my life in Lausanne on the 2012 net salary; how much rent to pay, what car to buy, how often we can eat out etc... I now find that I actually receive 10% less than I was told plus I have a tax bill of several thousand CHF to repay.

So, have I been a trusting fool, I should have checked the figures and it's my fault? Or can I justifiably feel a bit miffed that the accounts manager has made errors in my salary? I might add that she has made errors with at least 3 other employees, one of whom has received different salarly figures throughout 2012, including a demand to pay back several thousand CHF.

I've told the company I shall repay the back taxes over a longer period and not in one lump sum as they demanded. I've also told my boss that I consider the accounts manager incompetent and I want my salary dealt with by someone else. (I won't start on all the other errors I've since found...)

Apart from that, what do you think - any advice or opinions?

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