Can a fictitious tax domicile be reported?
Can a fictitious tax domicile be reported?
"A wealthy neighbour bought flats in my condominium, where he lived for four years before moving out. He was not domiciled in the municipality and therefore paid no tax there. I would like to know whether wealthy people can have a fictitious address in another commune in order to pay less tax, and whether it is possible to report such behaviour.
X, Geneva
In Switzerland, tax is levied by the taxpayer's commune of residence, in conjunction with the Canton and the Confederation.
Article 23 of the Civil Code defines domicile as the place where a person resides with the intention of settling there. Case law states that a person's domicile is the place where the centre of his or her interests is located. The law provides that individuals are subject to tax on the basis of their personal connection, when they are domiciled or staying in the canton. Any person who settles in a commune is therefore obliged to register with the competent authority in order to pay tax.
It is not possible to have a fictitious domicile in a municipality with a low tax rate. On the other hand, a person can have the centre of his or her interests, and therefore his or her legal domicile, in a place other than the one where he or she regularly sleeps, for example for professional reasons. This being the case, giving false information to the tax authorities in order to pay less tax is likely to fall under the offence of tax fraud.
It is always possible to report facts that could lead to the opening of administrative proceedings, by simply writing to the cantonal tax authorities setting out the facts. However, the authorities must not take anonymous reports into account.
For the sake of completeness, it should also be pointed out that a wealthy person who is not a Swiss citizen, is not in gainful employment and returns to Geneva after an absence of at least ten years may be taxed on expenses. Some cantons offer a taxation model based not on actual income and wealth, but on actual annual expenses linked to the taxpayer's lifestyle. However, a person benefiting from such a "tax package" is taxed on a minimum annual expenditure of CHF 400,000, which is not affordable for everyone.
