For which Cantons are the provisional taxes mandatory?

Taxes
1

I have been trying to find if the bill is mandatory but their legal wording on the back seems contradictory. Is there a list somewhere of the cantons where it’s mandatory?

I know that if estimate of your provisional taxes is too low that you just get charged the (very low) ausgleichszins until you get the schlussrechnung and that the Verzugszins is only charged for missing the Schlussrechnung payment (don’t do that) but I’m not sure whether simply fully not paying the provisional bill is allowed.

On the steueramt website they say the ausgleichszins applies to unpaid provisional taxes but it doesn’t explicitly say you are allowed to not pay it. Can I assume this from the fact they mention it specifically?

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2

I’m not aware of a list, but I know that the payment of provisional state tax bills is mandatory in AG while it’s voluntary in ZH.

In ZH, these optional bills have “Zahlungseinladung” in the title. Make sure that you still pay provisional federal tax bills on time as they use a different system (but they are also sent a year later).

If you live in another canton, maybe someone else in the forum can confirm if you tell us the canton.

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3

If you don’t pay, you end up having to pay interest. I forgot to pay once and ended up with a large interest bill.

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4

Nidwalden.

And yes, I’m not speaking about federal taxes, just cantonal and gemeinde.

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Yeah I know, but that’s just ausgleichszins (so very low) not verzugszins (which is only for schlussrechnungen). Just want to know if I’m really allowed to choose to not pay the bill (of course, at the cost of ausgleichszins).

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6

Ask your Steueramt if you’re unsure?

Edit: comparing StG between NW, AG and ZH, NW phrasing looks like the Zürich one, Aarau is very clear that the bill is due in October.

Edit 2:

Bei einer provisorischen Rechnung kann nur die Steuerhoheit bestritten oder glaubhaft gemacht werden, dass der mutmassliche Steuerbetrag für die Steuerperiode tiefer ist als die in Rechnung gestellte Akontozahlung.

This sounds like you’re supposed to pay, otherwise that article wouldn’t make much sense?

Edit 3:

Art. 237a Zahlungsfrist
Die periodisch geschuldeten Einkommens-, Vermögens-, Gewinn- und Kapitalsteuern sowie die Kopfsteuer sind mit der allgemeinen Fälligkeit zu entrichten.
Die übrigen Steuern sowie die Bussen und Gebühren sind binnen 30 Tagen nach Fälligkeit zu entrichten.
Die steuerpflichtige Person ist nach Ablauf der Zahlungsfrist zu mahnen.

I guess that confirms it?

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Yeah I said it was contradictory. Eg on Steuerbezug & Verzinsung - Steuern Nidwalden it says: “Die Höhe des Ausgleichzinses wird durch den Regierungsrat festgesetzt. Derselbe Zinssatz gilt auch für nicht bezahlte provisorische Steuern.” (emphasis mine).

Doesnt that imply not paying is an option? If they would send a Mahnung the Verzugszins (and fines) would apply right? Not the Ausgleichzins?

I’m mostly asking because ChatGPT is EXTREMELY convinced I don’t have to pay this but I saw references like you found that indicate otherwise too, so I wasn’t fully convinced. I put a lot of pressure on it though.

I didnt ask the Steueramt because I expect they will always say you have to pay or no-one will pay it, right? Also German has many lawyers of “have to”, if you don’t pay the provisional bill you’ll be charged ausgleichszins (which I’m fine with) but that might make it a have to to them while I just want to know whether it’s fine to not pay it until the schlussrechning and then just be charged Ausgleichszins.

Thanks for the help btw :slight_smile:

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8

I’m not sure why the Steueramt would be this adversarial, you could ask pointing at the website for a confirmation that if you don’t pay the bill, you won’t have penalty interests.

That said I think my (poor) reading of the StG makes it somewhat clear it shouldn’t work. Like Art. 239 explicitly mentions the provisional bills.

edit: and working a bit on a comparison of StG of various canton (AG, LU, NW, ZH) with LLM help, I think the key point is that Zurich doesn’t really define the Fälligkeit explicitly, the others kinda make it explicit.

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9

In Nidwalden, the provisional tax bill for a given tax year must be paid by the end of that tax year. So a provisional tax bill for the 2025 tax year would have to paid by the end of December 2025.

So I guess the answer to your question is yes, you do have to pay the provisional bills (in contrast to Zurich, for example, where you are only required to pay the final bill in the following year after your tax declaration is processed).

Note: In Nidwalden you can make provisional payments into your “tax account” in advance and earn relatively good interest on it (0.50% for the 2025 tax year).

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11

Thanks! I have always paid, just started wondering if I really do have to (I prefer to pay later when the final bill comes in and just pay the tiny ausgleichszins on the outstanding amount). Thanks for the confirmation. Surprising that Zürich is more lenient.

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