Tax reference, joint and several liability and (co-)responsibility under criminal tax law in marriage and partnership

Case study 1

1. facts of the case

The Maurer spouses had not declared a foreign bank account of the husband worth around CHF 1 million over the past 20 years. The wife had not really been aware of this fact. Due to the automatic exchange of information (AEOI), the tax office now becomes aware of this and initiates criminal proceedings for tax evasion.

Ms. Maurer is not at all comfortable with this and turns to you. She wants to know if she has committed a crime.

Question

Did she?

Case study 2

1. facts of the case

During the conversation with you, it comes to light that there is another undeclared account which is in the name of both spouses Maurer. Mrs Maurer now wants to file a voluntary declaration without penalty.

Question

Does Mrs. Maurer's unpunished voluntary declaration also apply to her husband?

Case study 3: Excursus on the criminal liability of the counsellor

1. facts of the case

Martin, newly moved to Switzerland, has a taxable income of CHF 100,000 and securities assets of CHF 5 million. As he fails to file a tax return despite reminders, he is assessed with an income of CHF 50,000 and assets of CHF 100,000 on a discretionary basis.

He turns to his trustee with this assessment. The trustee advises him not to do anything, as he gets off so cheaply and will probably move back abroad the following year anyway, so that the Swiss tax authorities will probably not notice anything. If they do, he can apologise and pay the missing tax in the after-tax procedure. That way, everything would be neatly sorted out. Based on this recommendation, Martin allowed the discretionary assessment to become legally binding.

Question

Has the trustee committed tax evasion?

Case study 4: Discharge due to insolvency

1. facts of the case

Lukas (works 100%) and Anina (works 20%) have been married for six years. Lukas has been speculating on the stock market for some time, for which he has used the spouses' wages, not to Anina's enthusiasm. A few years ago, without Anina's knowledge, he started doing highly speculative business with large amounts of money. As it happens, he suffers heavy losses. As a result of this situation, two loss certificates have already been issued against Lukas.

In addition to other bills, the couple is now unable to pay the outstanding tax bills from the last few years. Because of her predicament, Anina now wants to ask her parents for an advance on her inheritance so that everything does not go down the drain. The marriage is in crisis.

Questions

Can the tax office claim Anina for the entire outstanding tax bills and thus draw the amount received through an advance inheritance to settle them?
Is there any way for Anina to prevent this?

Case study 5: Detachment due to separation

1. facts of the case

Continuation of case study 4

Lukas is lucky: Especially in this privately so difficult year 2021, he receives a notable bonus. As a result, he just about manages to stabilise himself financially. However, his marriage to Anina does not stand up to all this: in August 2021 the couple separate and Lukas moves out of the marital home.

No payments have yet been made for the 2018 to and including 2021 tax periods; 2019 and 2020 have not yet been legally assessed, 2018 has.

In the context of the property law dispute, one of the issues is which tax debts still exist and who has to pay them.