Request for withholding tax adjustment
Correct the amount of your taxable base
Withholding tax consists of deducting tax before payment of income. If you are a cross-border commuter or have a B permit, you are subject to this and must therefore take the necessary steps.
What is withholding tax?
Tax calculation
In Switzerland, the cantons and municipalities can also levy taxes. Since the federal law on the harmonization of taxes of 1990, cantons may set their own tax rates or create new taxes (except for taxes set by the state).
Withholding tax is deducted by the employer. It includes all federal, cantonal and municipal taxes. It is calculated on the basis of the employee's gross income.
Who is subject to withholding tax
Every Swiss resident must file a tax return every year. Foreign employees who do not have a permit, but are employed, are subject to a process called "withholding tax", which is deducted from the monthly salary by the employer. If you are married to a spouse who has Swiss citizenship or a residence permit, you are exempt from withholding tax.
However, if you are a Swiss resident with a B permit, you will still be subject to withholding tax.
Only residents with a C permit and Swiss nationals are exempt.
Frequently asked questions
In case of doubt, any individual taxed at source (resident with a B permit or cross-border commuter) can request a new calculation of the tax at source for two main reasons:
- In order to correct the amount of the taxable base, tax rate or scale.
- Requesting that dependent children be taken into account in several cases
You can reclaim a portion of your withholding tax by obtaining quasi-resident status.
Cross-border commuters and B-permits who receive 90% of their household income from Switzerland can be considered as semi-resident.
Therefore, they are treated as resident taxpayers (Swiss citizens or C permit) after studying the file.
The TOU offers taxpayers who are taxed at source the ability to request adjustments to their taxes the following year by reporting additional expenses and additional income.
Cette démarche est traitée de la même manière qu’une taxation classique, mais intervient après le prélèvement de l’impôt à la source.
We advise you to
Call one of our experts to rectify your withholding tax and recover the overpayment.
