Voluntary self-disclosure without punishment and simplified tax assessment for heirs – Part 1: What is it about?

In recent years, especially since the financial crisis of 2007/2008, efforts have been intensified against tax fraud and tax evasion. The focus is not only on preventing future tax offenses. In Switzerland, the penalty-free voluntary disclosure and the simplified taxation of heirs provide an incentive to legalize previously undeclared income and assets. Findea explains these concepts in a four-part series of articles. This first article explains what it is all about.

For a long time, tax offenses were considered "gentleman's offenses". They were trivialized by public opinion and the penalties imposed were usually very mild. This has now changed significantly. Especially in the wake of the international financial crisis of 2007/2008, there were (international) efforts to curb tax offenses.

However, the goal is not only to prevent future tax offenses. There is also an attempt to uncover previously untaxed money and to tax it retroactively. If this were all to be done through official investigations, it would take a lot of time and resources. For this reason, since 2010 Switzerland has offered the possibility of penalty-free voluntary disclosure and the simplified taxation of heirs.

With these concepts, individuals who have undeclared assets are given an incentive to report these assets to the authorities themselves. If the requirements are met, sometimes less taxes are due, or at least the penalty is waived.

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