Non-punishable voluntary disclosure and its pitfalls

Case 1: The unpunished voluntary disclosure and new facts

1. facts of the case

Mrs. Müller notes on the cover sheet of the tax return that she receives maintenance contributions for her children from her divorced husband. However, the income does not include any information on the maintenance contribution and section 5.2 "Maintenance contributions for minor children" is empty. In the following year, Mrs. Müller notices this and reports it to the Cantonal Tax Office.

Question

- Are there taxes and/or fines involved?

Case 2: The unpunished voluntary disclosure and new facts

1. facts of the case

In his tax return, Mr. Meier declares paintings with a value of CHF 100,000 in his assets. In 2021, he sells these paintings for CHF 7 million. Mr. Meier subsequently files a voluntary disclosure without penalty. In this voluntary declaration, however, Mr. Meier claims that there is no new fact, since this is purely a question of valuation and he has always declared the pictures. Moreover, he was not at fault, since he had not known that the pictures were so valuable.

Question

- Are there taxes and/or fines involved?

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Case 3: Fault in the case of non-punishable voluntary disclosure

1. facts of the case

Mr. Traurig has been heavily addicted to drugs for years. During this time (several years), he is assessed on a discretionary basis, and the tax authorities' assessments are always too low. In July 2022, Mr. Traurig has himself admitted to a clinic in Baden to undergo therapy and to cope with his drug addiction. After successful treatment, Mr. Traurig is released from the clinic in the same year and, in the same week, commissions a trustee to bring order to Mr. Traurig's tax affairs. The trustee files a penalty-free voluntary disclosure on Mr. Traurig's behalf and subsequently declares assets and income for the years 2012 to 2021. There was no earned income in these years, which is why the trustee does not declare any.

Question

- Are there taxes and/or fines involved?

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Case 4: The non-punishable voluntary declaration and spouses

1. facts of the case

Mr. Frei, who lives with his wife in an unseparated marriage, reports to the tax administration that his wife inherited CHF 2 million in 2015 and has not yet declared it. The corresponding account is solely in the name of his wife.

Questions

- Is there a valid voluntary disclosure?

- What are the criminal tax consequences for the spouses?

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Case 5: The non-punishable voluntary disclosure and duties to cooperate

1. facts of the case

Sole shareholder Rast wants to clear the air and writes to the tax office: "I have not booked everything correctly in Rast AG over the last few years. I'm sorry about that, and I'd like to put things right. Unfortunately, I cannot obtain all the documents."

Questions

- Does this letter meet the requirements for a penalty-free voluntary disclosure?

- If yes, for whom and for which taxes?

- What is the procedure regarding the missing documents?

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Case 6: The unpunished voluntary declaration and accomplices

1. facts of the case

Mr. Fischer is the sole shareholder of Fischer AG. He has various living expenses booked as advertising expenses by his trustee in Fischer AG. The trustee also completes and files the tax returns of Mr. Fischer as well as those of Fischer AG. The assessments become legally binding. Mr. Fischer subsequently files a penalty-free voluntary declaration, the trustee does not.

Questions

- To whom does the penalty-free voluntary disclosure apply?

- What are the consequences of reporting and to which persons?

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Case 7: Partial self-disclosure

1. facts of the case

Ms. Frei files a voluntary disclosure because she has not declared a bank account with CHF 500,000. In the course of the SSA proceedings, it emerges that she has acquired CHF 100,000 of this amount over the last ten years with an undeclared sideline.

Questions

- Is there an unpunished voluntary disclosure?

- What are the tax and other consequences?

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Case 8: Partial self-disclosure

1. facts of the case

Mr. Prinz files a voluntary disclosure because he failed to declare a bank account with CHF 500,000. One year after the conclusion of the first non-punitive voluntary disclosure procedure, Mr. Prinz reports that he has discovered that he "inadvertently" failed to declare another account with CHF 3 million.

Questions

- What does this mean for the first incomplete non-punitive voluntary disclosure and

what for the second display?

- How would the facts of the case be assessed if, during the first

procedure a second account is mentioned?

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Case 9: Simplified subsequent taxation in inheritance cases

1. facts of the case

Mr. Weber passed away in April 2023. The heirs note that there are gold bars in a safe. The gold has not been declared before. The widow did not know anything about it. Furthermore, there is a joint account with the widow, which has also not been declared so far.

Questions

- What happens if the heirs do nothing, but the account and the

Gold bars be listed in the estate inventory?

- What happens if the heirs jointly file a "self-disclosure"?

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Case 10: Non-Punitive Self-Disclosure and the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)

1. facts of the case

An AEOI notification is received by the FTA in September 2020 and by the Zurich Cantonal Tax Office in December 2020. Mr. Wild files a penalty-free voluntary declaration in January 2022. The post-declared account is among the AEI reports.

Questions

- Is there still a valid non-punishable voluntary disclosure?

- How would the facts of the case be assessed if Mr. Wild in this connection

would also declare other accounts that are not covered by the AEOI?

- Is there voluntariness in the present case?

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Case 11: The other side of the AIA coin

1. facts of the case

The Zurich Cantonal Tax Office has received an AEOI report concerning an account held by Mr. Egger. Nevertheless, Mr. Egger is assessed without offsetting the account. Are after-tax and tax penalty proceedings still possible in the present case?

Question

- Is there still a new fact despite AIA notification?

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Case 12: Art. 23 ITA and the non-punishable voluntary declaration

1. facts of the case

Mr. Wenger files a voluntary declaration and reports that he has so far not declared a bank account of CHF 2 million and an annual asset income of CHF 35,000. His total assets amount to CHF 5 million.

Question

- What is the legal situation?

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Case 13: Art. 102 VAT Act and the penalty-free voluntary disclosure

1. facts of the case

Mr. Singer is self-employed and collects income from his restaurant partly in cash. One of his employees threatens to report him. Mr. Singer immediately makes a self-disclosure with estimates of the additional income, both in terms of direct taxes, VAT and AHV. He also declares an undeclared gift.

Questions

- Is there an unpunished voluntary disclosure?

- What will the responsible compensation office do?

- Can input tax be claimed for VAT?

- What about flat tax rates?

- Is the FTA bound by assumptions made by the cantonal tax authorities?

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Case 14: Real estate abroad

1. facts of the case

Mr. Cerutti lives in Switzerland and also owns a property in Italy. He was of the opinion that this would be taxed in Italy and therefore did not declare it in Switzerland. In any case, he assumes that the fact has hardly any influence on the Swiss taxes.

Question

- Are the statements correct?

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Case 15: Insignificance

1. facts of the case

Mr. Weiss did not declare income in the amount of CHF 2,000 from a temporary job (sideline) in his tax return.

Questions

- When is a case dropped due to insignificance?

- Is the amount in question relevant or do the overall circumstances count?

- Is the chance of self-disclosure lost (or consumed) if a

proceedings are discontinued?

- Can the obligor choose whether to be exempt from the offence of non-punishable self-disclosure?

wants to make use of?

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