Friday, September 26, 2008

A Very Taxing Day!

Today is the day we pay our Swiss taxes. OK...they really don't need to be paid until next Tuesday, but I like to pay them a few days early just to make sure that the bank actually pays them - unlike last year.

That's right! Our bank did not approve the electronic payment I had set up (two weeks in advance) last September because the amount....EXCEEDED THE MAXIMUM MONTHLY AMOUNT ONE CAN PAY OUT OF HIS/HER BANK ACCOUNT. Maximum amount?!?!?!?! Wha' da?

Ummm...who's money is this anyway?

All was well in the end, however, after the private banker dude gave his "managerial" approval, and the taxes ended up finally being paid - ONE DAY LATE on October 1st!

Not this year, baby! The payment is set up for today, and I'll be on-line checking our account on Monday. No payment? Private banker dude will be gettin' a phone call from TBF.

Oh...and the grand total of our tax payment?

Ha! You think I'd tell you that? Of course I won't. However, here's an equation that will put it all into perspective.

The TBF's 2008 Swiss tax payment > Our first house + Mrs. TBF's first car + TBF's first car!!!

I just love it when I hear people (usually American youth who have yet to have their first real job) say "I think we should pay more taxes!" In fact, I think the I.R.S. should just add a voluntary, non-refundable extra tax payment line to the tax forms (You listening to me, I.R.S.?).

You see?

That way you could fund bridges to nowhere, wars, and financial bail-outs to your hearts' content.

6 comments:

Sara said...

you pay your swiss taxes?? mine and The Husbands just get taken out each month, the only thing we do is the 3rd pillar retirement account and get a little bit back each year.

The Big Finn said...

sara - There's no withholding tax with a C permit in Switzerland.

Anonymous said...

TBF, Mr. ESP and I have decided that we do not want to have to worry about paying our Swiss taxes ourselves(we are not as grown up and responsible as yourself and ontop of that you pay ahead of time!! We want to be like you and Mrs. TBF!!), so our solution is get an IA package to another country!! Yahoo..PWC will do all the paying for us, of course with our money unfortunately!!! OBTW, if you are wondering why I am not signing in and leaving Blogger name at end is because I can not remember the password, do you know where I go to retrieve the darn thing? ESP

CanadianSwiss said...

I REALLY don't wanna know what you pay in taxes here. I know mine and that's more than 'nuff for me.

And yeah, what is this thing about the maximal amount you're allowed (??) to pay out? Not that I have that problem... except for getting a negative balance on my accout ;)

The DP said...

I was more than happy to do the withholding tax thing with our B permits (out of sight, out of mind) until Hombre's accountant let us know that certain things were tax deductible for us- namely our train passes, which is a cool couple grand straight back to us- and we decided to take the plunge this year and file taxes. At any rate, next year we both pass to C permits (time to move!) so no more easy taxes.

The Big Finn said...

ESP - Sorry, I have no idea about the password.

cs - UBS has a monthly limit to how much money can actually be paid out of your account. I'm sure, like most money-related things in Switzerland, that it's negotiable. AAMOF, I just checked our account, and I was surprised to see that they just went ahead and paid the taxes. I actually began to worry on Friday afternoon that they might go bankrupt before our taxes were paid (and that we'd be left in the lurch), but no worries.

dp - Not having the withholding takes a bit of getting used to. I'm kind of a finance geek, so I do a quarterly net worth statement (NERD ALERT!), and I always line item our tax liability so that I always know how much to keep on hand for the September payment.