I have collected various pieces of information regarding the obligation to pay the provisional bill (provisorische Rechnung) for the state and municipal taxes (Staats- und Gemeindesteuern) each year which are due each September.
Payments made before 30.09 earn you interest (currently 0.25%)
If the final bill comes out on date X and you paid less that you should, then you pay interest (currently also 0.25%) for the period from 30.09 until X for the remaining amount.
If you do not pay the final bill within 30 days, you are charged 4.5% interest.
Here are my questions:
Is the above correct? Can someone verify?
Is it really obligatory to pay the provisional bill? Doesnât it make more sense to pay the 0.25% interest and invest the cash isntead? Is there any other consequence for not paying the provisional bill, such as a debt register record?
I understand it like you do, and I donât think itâs obligatory to pay anything, but I would personally not like to go into debt this way (the mortgage is enough). The tax office in Zurich can take long time to process your return and by the time you get the final bill maybe the stock market has crashed and youâll have to sell something at a loss to pay the taxes (plus the interests).
On a personal note, I just got my final bill from 2018: almost 30K CHF
In der Schlussrechnung werden in der Regel Zinsen berechnet: [âŠ] 2. zulasten des Steuerpflichtigen ab einem Verfalltag in der Steuerperiode. Die Einzelheiten, einschliesslich des Verfalltags in der Steuerperiode, werden durch Verordnung festgelegt."
§ 174 StG
"Als Verfalltag im Sinn von § 174 Abs. 1 lit. b StG gilt fuÌr die Staatssteuer: 1. wenn die Steuerpflicht schon vor dem 1. Januar bestanden hat, der 30. September in der Steuerperiode"
§ 49 StV
ââŠerscheint die Bezahlung der vo[m Steuerpflichtigen] geschuldeten Steuer als gefaÌhrdet, kann das Gemeindesteueramt oder das kantonale Steueramt auch vor der rechtskraÌftigen EinschaÌtzung die Sicherstellung des mutmasslich geschuldeten Steuerbetrags verlangen. Die SicherstellungsverfuÌgung gibt den sicherzustellenden Betrag an und ist sofort vollstreckbar. Sie hat im Betreibungsverfahren die gleichen Wirkungen wie ein vollstreckbares Gerichtsurteil.â
§ 181 StG
âDie SicherstellungsverfuÌgung gilt als Arrestbefehl nach Art. 274 des Bundesgesetzes uÌber Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs. Der Arrest wird durch das zustaÌndige Betreibungsamt vollzogen.â
§ 182 StG
Why would you ever pay tax (before retirement), if youâre only paying 4.5% interest - when you can expect 6% p.a. on the stock market over the long term?
This gets me every time. From what I gather you earn way more than I do, yet I pay more taxes than you. At least now Iâm know weâre not alone in Romandie, thereâs also Basel!
I take it youâre being sarcastic here?
Other than that, itâd be nice if you could sum up the conclusions from reading the text auf Deutsch.
In that case, my bad. You said âfinal billâ and I assumed âfinal taxationâ. Unfortunately I can say that I also know first hand how it feels to get a 20k+ tax bill on top of what one has already paid.
If the tax authorities deem you at risk for non-payment, they can secure assets.
Simplified speaking, this seems similar to debt enforcement - but they seem to have âshortcutsâ in that theyâre able to do it on their own and their order is similarly enforceable to a court decree.
I would not be surprised if some people in some municipalities get away with only paying interest from the due date and thatâs that. I would also not be surprised if some municipalitiesâ tax authorities will take enforcement action based on the taxpayerâs refusal to pay on time.
I generally recommend paying taxes monthly using a standing order. There isnât really a point in accumulating money for taxes in a bank account these days. And short-term investment in stocks is not advisable either. Paying monthly keeps the bank account balance stable and you get at least a tiny bit of interest. Itâs also helpful for people who have trouble controlling their spending but that aspect is probably not relevant to people here.
Depending on your tax municipality, you may be able to manage taxes online at EGOV Box or Steuern verwalten - Stadt ZĂŒrich. Monthly payments during the tax year are not possible for federal taxes in ZH, though, as far as I know.
The exception is if you have sufficient cash beyond your emergency fund that you donât need in the immediate future and also donât want to invest. In that case paying taxes as early as possible (January) may make sense, so you at least get the 0.25% interest, better than your regular bank account.
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