Hello. Moved to CH in 2019, i.e. 2019 was just a partial tax year and got the final bill early 2021. It’s 2023 now and I still haven’t gotten the final bill for the 2020 tax year although I’ve submitted the tax declaration (online) in Feb 2021. Canton ZH, no job, just dividends and rental income. Does it usually take that long? Called them but all they said is that, yeah they’re still handling 2020 returns. Kind of odd to take 2 yrs…
I consistently get the final tax bill in January (or early February) the year after the tax declaration. I.e. I got the final tax bill for 2021 a couple of weeks ago. No difference whether I file already e.g. in February or in May. This is with self-employment income (and investments), also in canton ZH.
As far as I know, assessment of simpler cases is completely handled by the municipality. In which case the timing may depend on the municipality. More complex cases are assessed by the cantonal tax authority, although some preliminary checks are performed by the municipality as well, which may or may not affect the timing.
If you taxed at source, you are the last in priority for the final tax calculation.
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Could you help me understand why that is?
Because if you are taxed at source, you have paid already your taxes and your money won’t run away. It also means that you don’t vote, so your discontent doesn’t matter. Jokes or not, this is their usual practice to treat declaration from people taxed at source after everyone else.
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Thanks for the feedback. Any experience here then how long this could take? Maybe ready in 2024 
?
For me it consistently took 3 years from filing, taxed at source. Just got 2020.
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I think what actually happens is that it’s a different pool of people doing tax at source vs. not.
And they haven’t scaled up after all the '10s immigration hence the delays.
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