In its session of 28 June 2017, the Federal Council decided that a negligently omitted declaration of withholding tax in the tax return can be made up for by the end of the objection period and has approved a corresponding consultation draft. This applies to natural persons with residence in Germany.
According to the Federal Council's press release, the claim for restitution is thus no longer forfeited if
- the taxable person makes a subsequent declaration of his own accord;
- the tax authority has discovered the omission and brought it to the attention of the taxpayer;
- the tax authorities offset the undeclared amount on their own initiative.
With the proposed amendment to the law, the Federal Council takes up the fundamental concern of motion Schneeberger (16.3797) "No forfeiture of withholding tax", which proposes that the Federal Council be instructed to amend the Withholding Tax Act so that natural persons resident in Switzerland do not forfeit the refund of withholding tax due to accidental or negligent failure to declare or false declaration, as long as it is guaranteed that the investment income charged with the withholding tax will be taxed.
The bill is now going into consultation. The following consultation documents are available:
The press release and all consultation documents are available here.
