Would anyone know where to put custody fees in the Zürich tax return?

I assume it's on Seite 3 "Abzüge".

Even if this were in English I'd have problems.

Put it in 16.3 "Kosten für die Verwaltung des beweglichen Privatvermögens". You can claim 0.3% without proof. Or actuals with full proof of incurred costs.

"Kosten für die Verwaltung des beweglichen Privatvermögens" =
"Costs for the private management of movable assets"

Makes sense now someone explained it to me.

Thanks

If one can reclaim custody fees, then surely can one reclaim bank charges? e.g. for paying a cheque over the counter? If not, I wonder why not?

Assets generate taxable revenue (dividends, interest, etc.). The expense -- of obtaining this revenue -- is deductible within limits. When you pay a cheque, there is no revenue, no taxes, and no deductible expense.

But I get interest on the cash. Which is revenue. The cheque itself is revenue.

I'm not trying to pick a fight by the way.

Please do not convince the tax department that they should now tax cheques because, according to you, it is "revenue". No one will thank you.

You are right. Now I know why I studied science and not accounting.

Hi,
I am about to submit my tax declaration for the first time (i'm Swiss and just arrived in CH last year) and was wondering when you declare a bank account, can the tax authorities then access the account history or is that still protected by Bank Secrecy?

Also, when submitting it, should it be via registered mail?

Thanks for the clarification.

if you declare it or not the CH tax authorities have the right to know all named accounts you have with CH institutions. By opening said named account (UBS, CS, BCV, SWISSQUTE, FX ACC's etc) you usually explicitly allow them to inform the tax people when asked if an account exists in your name.

then if you declare a named account, the tax people can talk to that institution to confirm what withholding tax they have applied.

i don't think they can look at the detailed history on the account unilaterally. they could demand an audit of your return _with_ you, in which you have to provide detailed info as to where the money came from or goes to. And force you to do the same for past years. But working unilaterally without your knowledge or a court order is not permitted, i believe.

Regular post is fine for the return, unless you are super paranoid and/or are late and want to make sure the interest on the debt you owe them is kept to a minimum.

bill

Thanks for the reply, Bill.

So, when I declare my accounts, I should just provide those year-end bank statements with the tax return...and that should suffice, right?

correct. make sure you put the interest paid in the correct column A or B one has 35% withholding applied the other doesn't. it should match the statement you get from the bank/etc.

N.B. my point on CH institutions above. even if they do not give you a year end statement of interest you should still be receiving a year end statement and declaring the account e.g. CH based FX trading accounts. the little or large amount you have in them goes towards your total 'wealth' tax.

bill

No Swiss Bank will provide information directly to the Swiss tax authorities unless a Swiss court forces them.

However, the tax authorities can put substantial pressure on a taxpayer to get from the Bank and submit to the tax authorities the data needed to assess taxes.

So, it is best to voluntarily divulge all assets and incomes.

I was asked about this, but had to admit I didn't know the specifics. If someone knew or could link to the official statement in this regard, I would much appreciate it.

1) If one has NOT been sent the Steuererklärung, does that mean one is not obliged to submit a return?

2) As for the annual income threshold of 120k, is this Gross or Net, and does it include virtual income such as 'eigenmietwert'.

1.) if this is your first time then it will take a few months for the tax people to realise that you are in the system (c.f. some of the other tax threads i have posted in)

2.) >120kCHF gross salary. i don't know what that german thing is (c;

hi goldtop

0.3% of what? is it the total of all accounts or just that 'under' management: stocks, funds etc?

TIA, bill

Here's the main Quellensteuer page:
http://www.steueramt.zh.ch/html/quel...beitnehmer.htm

Taxable income for Quellensteuer is defined here:
http://www.steueramt.zh.ch/html/erla...ter/w_qst1.htm

It says:
"34 Für die Berechnung des Steuerabzuges ist der monatliche Bruttolohn massgebend."
Bruttolohn = gross wages.

Found the guff on the 120k limit:
"55 Betragen die dem Steuerabzug an der Quelle unterworfenen Bruttoeinkünfte eines Steuerpflichtigen (ausgenommen Grenzgänger, Kurz- und Wochenaufenthalter) in einem Kalenderjahr mehr als Fr. 120 000, wird, wenn Wohnsitz oder Aufenthalt im Kanton im Sinne des Steuergesetzes besteht, für dieses und die nachfolgenden Jahre bis zum Ende der Quellensteuerpflicht eine nachträgliche Veranlagung im ordentlichen Verfahren für das gesamte Einkommen und Vermögen durchgeführt. Dies gilt auch dann, wenn in den Folgejahren die Limite von Fr. 120 000 vorübergehend oder dauernd unterschritten wird."

Which translates basically to: if your gross income hits 120k or more, you change to the standard tax return

As for "eigenmietwert", if that is an issue, wouldn't it mean you own a house here, and in that case, you wouldn't be on Quellensteuer. Oder?

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Warning: may contain traces of nuts.

Thanks for the prompt replies guys.

google doesn't help with the translation on this: imputed

is this the 'possible' rental value of the house you own and/or live in?

as to that (owning a house in CH) being a reason NOT to be on Quellensteuer that is not true. I know several people owning homes on B permits that are taxed at source but they make a return also. You can arrange to drop out of 'tax at source' system while on a B permit but that is on an individual basis and i think the employer has to be involved too.

Correct, it's the potential rental income the property would earn, if it was rented out.

Because you live in it and don't pay rent, the tax department deems that the potential rental income you would have otherwise earned is valid "income" and thus taxable.

It's a concept that homeowners from other countries find difficult to grasp.

But on the other hand, any mortgage interest on the property can be deducted (which eg New Zealand doesn't allow).

So a lot of Swiss try and balance the extra Eigenmietwert income with the deduction of their mortgage interest. If the mortgage interest is reducing, you borrow some extra money to renovate the home and increase the mortgage interest again. System works fine if you have a perpetual mortgage.

But you get penalised for home ownership if you ever pay the mortgage off and own the house outright.

To prevent this penalty from hitting most Swiss, the Swiss simply plan to never pay off their home, and when they die the children inherit the mortgage. Which creates interesting situations if suddenly the children cannot afford to pay the mortgage interest, and thus cannot afford to live in their family home - I've heard cases where this actually occurred!

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Warning: may contain traces of nuts.

If like me, you are trying to do your tax return last minute and submit it tomorrow (which isnt going to happen now because I cant find my health insurance stuff in the backlog of post to be "filed"), then this post by Idgie is super useful.

You just need 2 numbers from the tax form you got in the post (there's a diagram to show you which ones) and then you can choose to extend your deadline until Sept 30 or Nov 30. You can print out the confirmation to send in with your form to prove that you did extend the deadline.