Taxes

With tax declaration (Steuererklärung)

Swiss citizens and permanent residents (C permit) receive a tax declaration form in February. This form is used to declare income, e.g., salary or pension, as well as assets and various deductions for the past year. This form must be completed and returned by the end of March, extendable to the end of September.
Here are the most important deductions:

• Health costs: franchise (Selbstbehalt) and excess, dental bills, expenses of diabetics, etc., if they account for more than 5 per cent of income
• Expenses for commuting to work (Arbeitsweg, Pendeln), eating out, special professional
• Expenses Relatives‘ allowance (min. 5500 francs per year)
• Childcare costs

To claim deductions you must enclose receipts for the expenses.You will then receive your tax bill. Cantonal and federal taxes (Kantons- und Bundessteuer) are charged separately. In Baselland there are also municipal taxes (Gemeindesteuer).

Important: Since the amount of tax due can be quite a lot, it is advisable to put money aside or pay it in advance so that you do not run into tax debt. If you pay your taxes in advance, you will receive interest on these payments. Those who only pay their taxes from the middle of the year (always for the previous year) pay additional interest on the bill.

Tax deducted at source (Quellensteuer)

If you do not receive a tax return, a withholding tax is deducted directly from your salary.
A percentage is deducted from the salary according to a scale (married, single, number of children). The employer transfers this amount to the tax authorities.

What needs to be considered here: If you want to claim special deductions (see above), you can request a so-called tariff correction (Tarifkorrektur) from the tax authorities by the end of March at the latest. You will then receive a tax form on which these deductions can be listed. Here, too, the following applies: all receipts must be enclosed. Attention: If you have several small part-time jobs, you must request a tariff correction. Otherwise, you will pay far too much withholding tax (see the enclosed information sheet on multi-jobs).

Addresses

• Tax Administration BS, Fischmarkt 10, 4001 Basel
• Tax Administration BL, Rheinstrasse 33, 4410 Liestal

Help with filling out tax declarations

• mir-haelfe.ch
• At your trade union: e.g., IGA, Kleinhüningeranlage 3, 4057 Basel, viavia.ch

Information material / Links

• Leaflet Multijobs of the IGA
• Documents that you must enclose with your taxes: ggg-migration.ch