Last year 575 voluntary reports for tax evasion were submitted to the tax office of the canton of Aargau. Assets worth CHF 231 million were registered for subsequent taxation.
This resulted in additional tax revenue of 15 million francs for the canton and the municipalities, as the cantonal finance and resources department (DFR) announced on Tuesday. The 575 voluntary reports are slightly above the average for the past 10 years.
There were record numbers in 2017 and 2018. At that time, more than 1000 voluntary reports were registered. Also in 2021, mainly domestic and foreign bank balances and securities accounts as well as numerous foreign properties were registered for post-taxation.
Most of them concern assets of CHF 200,000
The total value of the assets registered for subsequent taxation was CHF 231 million. That is significantly less than the record value of CHF 287 million in 2018.
The largest voluntary disclosure in 2021 related to total assets of 19 million francs that had previously been withheld from taxation. This resulted in after taxes and interest on arrears of 2.3 million francs. According to the DFR, however, the majority of voluntary disclosures concern assets of CHF 200,000 or less.
The voluntary reports completed last year brought the canton and the municipalities a total of around 15 million francs and the federal government around 3.8 million francs in additional tax revenue.
Small tax amnesty since 2010
The decline in the number of voluntary disclosures made annually since the highest values in the tax years 2017 and 2018 is due to the fact that, according to the practice of the tax office, voluntary disclosures in connection with bank accounts and securities accounts in over 80 foreign countries (including in particular the EU and Liechtenstein) are no longer withheld from taxation are possible without penalty.
For this reason, it can be assumed that the number of voluntary disclosures will continue to decrease in the current year, the DFR states.
The so-called minor tax amnesty has been in effect in Switzerland since 2010. According to this, everyone and every taxpayer can file a voluntary disclosure for tax evasion once in their life. The taxable person then has to pay additional taxes and interest on arrears, but no fines. (SDA)