Tax is decided in October. By March, all you can do is record it.
A well-filled return does not make up for a badly steered year. We look at your figures before the close, while the trade-offs are still open.
From the trade-off to the assessment decision.
Interim accounts, a projection of the result, and the trade-offs that follow: the director's remuneration, dividends, depreciation, justified provisions, the timing of an investment. That is where most of it is decided.
Preparing and filing the return, federal direct tax and cantonal and communal taxes, capital tax. Extension requests, follow-up to the decision, checking the assessment, and appealing it when it is wrong.
The two returns cannot be thought about separately.
The salary you pay yourself is a cost for the company and income for you. A dividend is neither, but it has already borne profit tax upstream and creates no pension entitlement. There is no universal answer: it depends on your income level, your family situation, your municipality, and what you intend to do with the next five years.
We prepare both returns, which lets us calculate the trade-off on the whole rather than on one half.
What happens if the return is not filed?
The authority issues a reminder, then assesses by default. An assessment by default is an estimate, and it is never made in your favour. It becomes final if you do not react, and late-payment interest runs meanwhile. It can be repaired, but at far greater cost than filing on time.
Can an assessment be challenged?
Yes, by objection, within thirty days of the decision being served. The deadline is absolute: past that point the assessment becomes final even if it is plainly wrong. That is why we read every decision when it arrives, not when it falls due.
Can an extension be obtained?
Yes, extensions are common and generally granted when requested before the deadline. We request them as a matter of course when it helps, without you having to think about it. An extension postpones the filing, not the payment.
Which provisions does the authority accept?
Those justified by commercial usage and documented. A provision for a real, identifiable risk goes through; a comfort provision is added back, with a tax adjustment. The difference almost always lies in the supporting document, which is why we build it at the time of the event, not at the year-end close.
Is your financial year ending soon?
This is the right moment to talk. In three months, most of the levers will have closed.