What do I need to do?

Complete the power of attorney with your Swiss permanent address (if you do not have a Swiss permanent address yet, please wait until you have one as we will need your residency address on December 31st or departure date), sign it (together with your spouse, if applicable) and re-upload it to www.gadeloitte.com. This enables Deloitte to receive all documentation sent from the Swiss tax authorities on your behalf. This service is usually offered for cases authorized for Deloitte services for more than one year. Should you be authorized for Deloitte services for only the arrival year, we would recomend not to file a POA with us. We will review the documents received and forward them to you with information on the next steps to be taken.

Read the working and living in Switzerland brochure for further information.

It's important to keep your Deloitte calendar up-to-date at all times. This is used by the Deloitte team in Switzerland and in any other countries in which Deloitte is supporting with your compliance requirements.

The calendar should confirm which country you're in and where you are working each day.

The calendar can be completed in the GA Portal or you can use the Global Advantage App on your phone where available. You can also delegate the completion of your calendar to your assistant.

Click here to view how to complete your GA calendar.

Keeping your calendar up to date ensures we correctly assess your Swiss tax residence position and can determine the taxable portion of your pay that needs to be reported in Switzerland. You should continue to use the calendar until the end of the tax period after your assignment ends to ensure all the required information is in one place before your Swiss tax return is completed.

When filing your Swiss tax return, certain documentation needs to be enclosed. The document requirements depend on your personal situation and are usually the following (list not exhaustive):

• Swiss salary certificate (or foreign compensation statement)
• Bank statements (mainly for Swiss/foreign withholding taxes)
• Mortgage/debt statements
• Additional contributions to the pension fund or private pension (pillar 3a)
• Proof of any deduction (charitable contribution, education expenses, medical cost, etc.)

The Swiss tax authorities may request additional documents when auditing your Swiss tax return; in this case they would issue a request for additional information. Should you not be able to prove any certain deductions, they might not be accepted, and your final Swiss tax liability might increase.

Please note that the Swiss authorities have a reduced-attachment policy when it comes to tax returns. This means that you might not see all documents attached to your final package, as the authorities expressively request not to send certain supporting information in order to avoid additional workload. They might then audit some individuals to make verifications.

If Deloitte is assisting you with the preparation of your Swiss tax return, then please note the following:

At the end of the tax period, we will contact you to ask you to complete your ‘About Me’ tool. This is an online questionnaire which, when filled out, should give us all the information we need to complete your tax return. We will typically send you our questionnaire at the beginning of the new year (January or February).

The questionnaire can be accessed via the GA Portal. Click here for an overview of the ‘About Me’ and how to complete it.

Before submitting your tax data, please check to make sure that the information is complete.

Deloitte will only start working on your return once you have submitted a complete set of tax data. Should we notice that any information is missing or unclear, we will reach out to you via our portal to request the additional details.

We’ll let you know once your tax return is completed so you can review and approve it via the GA Portal.

Provisional taxes are either due via payroll (tax at source/withholding taxes) if you are a non-Swiss national without a C permit or via provisional tax payments for Swiss nationals or C permit holders (or those married to such persons).

The assessment will show whether the values of the tax return are deemed correct or not. Once the assessment is released and accepted, the bills will follow. Please note that the authorities might (and often do) send the assessment and the bills at separate dates. You will receive separate bills for federal, cantonal and communal taxes. Any provisional payments done or withholding taxes paid will be considered as a down-payment towards your final taxes.

Please note that by law, the tax authorities can take up to 5 years from the moment of filing before releasing any assessment. Whereas such a long waiting time is unlikely, it is quite normal not to hear back for many months after filing, with an average waiting time of 1.5 / 2 years. This is due to the authorities’ workload and Deloitte can in no way influence the speed of the process.

If the assessment differs from the filed tax return it is possible to file an appeal against the assessment. The appeal must be sent within 30 days upon receipt and therefore, care should be taken to quickly review any tax assessments received. If Deloitte is authorised to review your tax assessments, please forward the assessments to your Deloitte professional without delay to allow proper review.

In general, any payment due must be paid within 30 days after receipt of the assessment. Interest and penalties for late payment vary based on the canton of filing. Once the tax assessment is accepted and the bills are all received and settled (by way of either a payment or a refund), the tax year is considered closed.