Sorry if this has been answered before - or is something of a no brainer - but after trawling the forum I can't find any definitive answer.

How do I claim back or notify/alert the tax office that I've paid withholding tax for part of the tax year?

I think this is a similar story for many of us expats: I got my C permit half way through the year, had been paying withholding tax until then and was sent the tax forms to fill in as rites of passage of any C permit holder.

The Lohnausweis shows the withholding tax I've paid but I can't find anywhere on the Steuererklärung to enter this in? Or do I submit another form? Or hope someone sees my Bemerkungen/Notes and does the necessary?

Thanks very much for any help!

They know. And if you want to be sure, just add some wording that you paid tax at source until xx.xx.xxxx.

Worked fine for me when changing mid year from B to C.

Not sure what forms you filled in and how it works in Zurich but when i received my C permit at the beginning of this year i was sent a form to register for tax purposes as i will not be paying any withholding taxes. In that form there was a field to enter the amount of taxes already paid and till which month it was deducted. Also i remember there was a field to mention the estimate of revenue for the year and it was mentioned that i should only put the amount for the rest of the year. Hope this helps.

From what I remember, in Luzern, they just reflected my previous payments in any tax bill that they were sending. I don't remember having to notify them at all.

Thanks so much for your replies

So after submitting my tax forms, I'll receive a bill with the withholding tax I've already paid taken into account (so, 2016's tax minus WT), rather than getting a bill for 2016's taxes and then a credit for the withholding tax?

I can´t remember how that exactly went in my case, but I think I just contacted the Steueramt in my town, told them what I earn and they sent me the pay-in slips with the amount they proposed

I have not paid tax since July of last year when I moved from a B to a C permit.

This said, I have over the last few years done my tax return as I went well over the threshold of earnings so the Commune, Canton and State knows what my earnings were AND how much tax was withheld from my pay last year (6 month while I was on a B permit for the first half of last year).

Talked to some colleagues at work (both Swiss as well as fellow expats) about my tax situation and was told it could (or rather would) take another 6 months (at least) before I hear anything back from the tax man at all.

I did send them a mail asking about my taxes but never received an answer...

I got a reply from the tax office and thought it might be useful for anyone else in the future that's in a similar situation.

They said that the withholding tax I already paid will be taken into account and that I'll be taxed only for the months that I did not pay withholding tax. Perhaps this is different in other cantons, but this is what Zurich does.

Here's the reply, in German. Hopefully I (and Leo) understood it correctly:

"Dabei wird berücksichtigt, dass Sie nicht für die gesamte Steuerperiode 2016 ordentlich steuerpflichtig waren und die geschuldeten Steuern pro rata temporis berechnet."

So, submit your tax forms without entering your withholding tax (no where to enter it anyway) and the canton/gemeinde will send you a bill for the months you didn't pay withholding tax.

Thanks to everyone for their replies and help

Watch our that they dont charge you negative interests on the money you did not "pre-pay" because you were withholding tax and did not receive a payslip to pre-pay.

In Kanton Zurich anything paid in up till the end of September (I think) gets a small credit interest, anything afterwards a negative interest.

Interest is only on cantonal/municipal taxes and is mere 0.5%. That's the cheapest money there is to loan here, practically at inflation level, you can't even find any mortgage at these rates