 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi - my 19 yr old son returned early from a ski season in Saas Fee and is asking if/how he can reclaim the tax he had deducted from his employment out there. I have tried googling without much success - has anyone else had any success with this? I think they call it the withholding tax. Thank you 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Don’t think you can. My wife works for ski school in Wengen every winter and nobody claims back their income tax.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Is it TAX or AVS / AVH ?
I think you might be able to can claim back some AVS contributions if you're leaving Switzerland indefinitely and not going to work there again.
Or you can leave it be till you retire, and have a very small Swiss pension
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Looking at his pay slip he has the following deductions:
Abzuge
AHV/IV/EO
ALV
Krankengeldversicherung
Unfallversicherung
Quellensteuer
I guess some of this will be health insurance deductions that can't be reclaimed - but the largest figure is the Quellensteuer which I think is the withholding tax. If there is a process to reclaim it I'd be very interested to find out how.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Unless there is something special about the ski industry I don’t think you can. Quellensteuer is basically PAYE, i.e. he’s been taxed on what he’s earned at source.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for your comments and taking the time to reply - I'll deliver the bad news 
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@sstain1, You probably know this already, but Abzuge means deductions in German. Information about AHV/IV/EO deductions here: https://www.gastrosocial.ch/en/insurance-offer/ahv-old-age-and-survivors-insurance , looks like AHV is the Old Age Pension, IV is disability insurance and EO is Income Compensation regulations (for people doing obligatory Swiss military or Civilian service). ALV is Unemployment insurance. Krankengeldversicherung is Health Insurance and Unfallversicherung is Accident insurance. The Quellensteuer is the income tax.
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@Alastair Pink, Thanks for your reply - we were hoping that, as in the UK, there would be a personal allowance of tax free earnings. It appears he has been taxed the equivalent of a BR tax code. He was only out there for 4 months and his wage was not very high. I guess the system is different in Switzerland?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@sstain1, Sorry, I've no personal knowledge of the Swiss income tax rules. Perhaps some of the Swiss residing sHs can comment as to whether there is a personal allowance or whether it's a flat rate from zero income upwards?
Edit: P.S Welcome to snowHeads! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
@sstain1, Sorry, I've no personal knowledge of the Swiss income tax rules. Perhaps some of the Swiss residing sHs can comment as to whether there is a personal allowance or whether it's a flat rate from zero income upwards?
Edit: P.S Welcome to snowHeads! |
Mrs t_m pays a flat rate from zero, plus all the other deductions. The rate is lower than U.K. tax rates, but there are no personal allowances.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Firstly, he will be liable for self assessment in The UK even if he was PAYE for foreign earned income. I'm in the same position even though I'm paid in the UK from a Swiss office via UK payroll. You have until Jan to do it.
Also Switzerland and the UK have a bidirectional agreement so he may not be able to claim money back because he has paid tax locally just the same as Ch can't ask me for money because I'm in the UK. He may have the UK allowance etc in his benefit for future employment here.
Call HMRC regarding tax credit. He may only benefit next year.
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Even if you have a good tax accountant, they may not be familiar with UK:CH reciprocal tax arrangements. Make sure that he doesn't also have to complete any sort of authorisation for HMRC or his CH bank to obtain Swiss personal financial information. I've had to complete two such:
Authorisation for Future/Voluntary or Withholding Tax
Bilateral Tax Agreement UK
but these may only be relevant to those like me with property in the country. Worth checking, anyway. You know HMRC - it's always your fault for not doing something they knew you had to do but never told you about even 'though you would happily have done it if you'd known you had to.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Wed 13-05-20 11:44; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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@LaForet, exactly. I spoke to them 2x about why I had a letter for self assessment even though I was PAY E
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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When you leave a canton you have to inform the tax office and effectively close your account with them. They then decide whether you get a refund of anything or not. He also should have returned his permit to the Zivilstand or his gemeinde where he was resident.
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