- Individuals
Regularization, Back Taxes, Criminal Proceedings
Note: This language version is an automatically generated translation. The text may therefore contain linguistic and terminological errors.
view in original language (German)Note: This language version is an automatically generated translation. The text may therefore contain linguistic and terminological errors.
view in original language (German)Should one wake a sleeping dog? This seminar examines the possibilities and limitations of tax regularization, voluntary disclosure without penalty, and simplified reassessment for heirs. Using practical case studies, the seminar addresses issues related to back-tax and criminal tax proceedings, benefits in kind, discretionary assessments, and international tax structures. The focus is on the rights and obligations of taxpayers, as well as the tax and criminal law risks involved.
Mr. and Mrs. Dupont are an entrepreneurial couple who have been married for 50 years; they are retired and reside in the Canton of Zurich.
While preparing their 2025 tax return, the question arises as to how various items in their household should be treated for tax purposes. After speaking with acquaintances, the Duponts fear that they may have erroneously failed to report their valuable items for years. They have taken out a valuables insurance policy covering CHF 100,000.
In particular, the couple owns the following items:
F AG is a long-established family-owned company. The long-standing sole shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Friedli, passed away in 2025 at the age of 89.
During an archive cleanup in 2026, a box containing 228 gold Vreneli coins was discovered in a locked cabinet in the company’s archives.
Neither the Goldvreneli nor any other identifiable item is capitalized in F AG’s accounting records or listed in any inventory. There is also no mention of the coins in the annual financial statements for the past 17 years.
However, a long-time employee recalls that Mr. Friedli used to occasionally give a gold Vreneli to individual employees, for example, as recognition for special achievements or on special occasions.
It is therefore presumed that the coins belonged to the company (stored in the company archives, used in connection with employees). Some of Mr. Friedli’s heirs, on the other hand, assert that the gold Vreneli are part of his estate; they claim that Mr. Friedli owned the gold Vreneli privately and merely kept them in the company archives. No precious metals or gold coins were declared in his tax returns from recent years.
Andrea Hässig lived in the canton of Zurich until the end of 2021 and then moved to the canton of Schwyz. Since 2017, she has held an account and a securities account at a foreign bank, which she never reported on her tax returns. In March 2026, she received a standard notice from the foreign bank stating that tax-related information had been transmitted to the Swiss tax authorities as part of the automatic exchange of information.
Andrea Hässig then informs the Schwyz cantonal tax office by phone that she “may not have fully declared certain foreign assets.” She does not initially submit any specific details or documents. Two weeks later, she has her legal representative file a written voluntary disclosure. This disclosure reveals the bank account and the income earned since 2020. The income for the years 2017 through 2019 is not mentioned because the corresponding bank records are not yet available.
Andrea Hässig believes that the report to the Canton of Schwyz is sufficient even for the earlier Zurich tax periods. She also argues that the submission of the bank data does not preclude a voluntary disclosure without penalty as long as it remains unclear whether the competent tax authority has already evaluated the data.
Bruno Bart dies in February 2026, having last resided in the canton of Zurich. While reviewing the estate, his two children discover a bank account in Singapore with a balance of CHF 4 million. The account and the income generated from it were never listed in the decedent’s tax returns.
One of the children recalls that Bruno Bart had already disclosed an undeclared account in France to the tax authority of his former canton of residence, Vaud, back in 2018. The heirs do not know whether this disclosure was treated at the time as an initial voluntary disclosure without penalty.
Immediately after discovering the account, they notified the Zurich tax authority. Shortly thereafter, it emerged that the tax authority had initiated an internal investigation a few days before the report was filed, based on a separate report of suspicious activity. The heirs were unaware of this.
The heirs apply for simplified back-tax assessment. The tax authority requests complete bank records for the past ten years. One of the heirs refuses to cooperate, stating that he knew nothing about the account and has not yet accepted the estate.
heirs cooperate unconditionally? 7. What steps should be taken if individual heirs refuse to cooperate?
Dario Schlau is the sole shareholder and managing director of D AG, a company based in the Canton of Zurich. During an audit of D AG, the tax authority determined the following facts for the tax periods 2021 through 2025:
D AG never reported the aforementioned items as benefits in kind.
Dario Schlau himself failed to file tax returns for several years despite receiving reminders. The tax authority therefore assessed his taxes on a discretionary basis in each instance. Dario Schlau never contested the discretionary assessments, and they have become final. During the audit, the tax authority determined that the discretionary assessments were significantly too low. In particular, the following were not taken into account:
The tax authority is considering initiating proceedings for additional tax and criminal tax penalties against both D AG and D.
Shareholder Zahara Jones resides in Zurich and is the sole shareholder of Z AG, which is headquartered at her residential address in Zurich. Z AG is a pure holding company whose primary purpose is to hold equity interests. One of its equity interests is C Ltd, headquartered in the Cayman Islands.
C Ltd was originally founded by Zahara Jones as a vehicle to hold an equity interest in connection with her work on the deal team of a global private equity firm and the associated equity rights. Over the years, C Ltd has evolved into a “dormant” company that now holds only a significant outstanding loan receivable from Z AG, from which it records annual interest income of approximately CHF 1 million. C Ltd has no employees, and its accounting is handled by a local third-party provider, who also serves as the director. The director is responsible for preparing the annual financial statements and for other necessary administrative tasks. Zahara Jones has neither signed the annual financial statements nor issued any instructions to C Ltd. The company does not have its own office space. Its fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Several years ago, Zahara Jones contributed her stake in C Ltd to Z AG with the aim of dissolving C Ltd.
