Tax translation. Three levels of taxation, three official languages

Swiss tax is levied at federal, cantonal and communal level, each canton in its own language. An assessment in German and an objection in French deal with the same concepts: those of the tax acts.

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Each term, in the official text

Highlight a tax term: CHnell shows its German version in the same official text, with its source.

impôt anticipéFrenchGerman902 results

Impôt anticipé L'impôt anticipé est un impôt perçu à la source par la Confédération sur divers rendements de capitaux mobiliers (en particulier sur les intérêts et les dividendes), sur des gains de loterie et sur certaines prestations d'assurances.

Verrechnungssteuer Die Verrechnungssteuer ist eine vom Bund an der Quelle erhobene Steuer auf dem Ertrag des beweglichen Kapitalvermögens (insbesondere auf Zinsen und Dividenden), auf Lotteriegewinnen und auf bestimmten Versicherungsleistungen.

ESTV FF20156429 Botschaft-zur-Volksinitiative-Ja-zum-Schutz-der-Privatsphäre- - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on

p) l'expression «impôt anticipé suisse» désigne l'impôt anticipé selon la loi suisse du 13 octobre 1965 sur l'impôt anticipé.

p) bedeutet «Verrechnungssteuer» die Verrechnungssteuer nach dem Schweizerischen Bundesgesetz vom 13. Oktober 1965 über die Verrechnungssteuer.

SIF FF20124765 Abkommen-zwischen-der-Schweizerischen-Eidgenossenschaft-und--dem-Vereinigten-Königrei - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on

Dans le contexte de l'évolution de certains éléments des droits de timbre (timbre de négociation sur les titres étrangers) et de l'impôt anticipé (dividendes d'actions) en particulier, il convient de remettre en question cette supposition d'une élasticité de 1. Par rapport aux recettes globales de l'impôt anticipé, la part de l'impôt anticipé sur les dividendes d'actions a passé de 40 à 75 % environ au cours des années 1990.

Gerade im Zusammenhang mit der Entwicklung einzelner Komponenten der Stempelsteuer (Umsatzabgabe auf ausländischen Wertschriften) sowie der Verrechnungssteuer (Aktiendividenden) wird diese Annahme einer Elastizität von 1 hinterfragt werden müssen. Namentlich der Anteil des Verrechnungssteueranteils aus Aktiendividenden am Verrechnungssteuerertrag hat in den Neunzigerjahren von 40 auf rund 75 Prozent zugenommen.

EFV FF20012255 Rapport-complémentaire-au-message-sur-le-frein-à-lendettement - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on

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Tax vocabulary in four languages

Swiss tax vocabulary is misleading from one language to another. The Swiss withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) is not an ordinary deduction at source, and taxable profit is not the same as accounting profit. The equivalents above are those of the acts themselves. The English column uses the translation published by the Confederation on Fedlex where there is one, which has no legal force, and common usage otherwise.

German	French	Italian	English	Reference
direkte Bundessteuer	impôt fédéral direct	imposta federale diretta	direct federal tax	art. 1 LIFD
Steuerpflicht	assujettissement à l'impôt	assoggettamento all'imposta	tax liability	art. 3 LIFD
steuerbares Einkommen	revenu imposable	reddito imponibile	taxable income	art. 16 LIFD
Gewinnsteuer	impôt sur le bénéfice	imposta sull'utile	profit tax	art. 57 LIFD
Steuerhinterziehung	soustraction d'impôt	sottrazione d'imposta	tax evasion	art. 175 LIFD
Kapitalsteuer	impôt sur le capital	imposta sul capitale	capital tax	art. 29 LHID
Mehrwertsteuer	taxe sur la valeur ajoutée	imposta sul valore aggiunto	value added tax	art. 1 LTVA
Verrechnungssteuer	impôt anticipé	imposta preventiva	withholding tax	art. 1 LIA

Equivalents taken from official Swiss texts, published in German, French and Italian. In Corrext, each term opens in context in Fast lookup CHnell, with its source.

The acts a tax file cites every day

Swiss taxation layers a federal act, a harmonisation act that frames the cantons, and the cantons' own tax acts. Indirect taxes fall under separate acts, all published in the three official languages.

DFTA

Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation

DEDBGFR · ITLIFD

It defines tax liability, taxable income, taxable profit and the assessment procedure

StHG

Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Direct Taxes of the Cantons and Communes

DEStHGFRLHID

It imposes a common set of concepts and procedures on the cantons

VAT Act

Federal Act on Value Added Tax

DEMWSTGFRLTVA

It governs VAT liability, tax rates and VAT accounting

VStG

Federal Act on Withholding Tax

DEVStG

It organises the tax deducted at source on investment income, and its refund

Translating a tax file, in practice

Swiss tax translation means working with concepts defined at three levels: direct federal tax, harmonised cantonal taxes and indirect taxes such as VAT. Each act is published in German, French and Italian. In these acts, an everyday word such as income or profit takes on a precise definition, and the amount due depends on it.

Documents in a tax file

Tax assessment
An assessment arrives in the official language of the canton. The translation helps you decide whether to file an objection, often within a short time limit.
Objection and appeal
The submission filed binds the taxpayer. It goes through a Full review by a legal translator, with the delivery time shown before you approve.
International context
Documents exchanged with a foreign tax administration often circulate in English, while the reference remains the German, French or Italian text.

What Corrext brings to this area

Correspondence with the authorities

Exchanges with the tax administration are translated on the fly: up to 10,000 characters pasted into Text translation.

Accounting annexes

Documents attached to a tax return include accounts and tables. The .xls and .xlsx formats are handled like Word documents.

Sourced terminology

The Tax & Customs domain of the CHnell concordancer gives the official usage of a tax term, with its reference alongside.

Files across several cantons

The same taxpayer may fall under two cantons with different languages. Shared terminology resources keep a single vocabulary.

Taxpayer data

A tax file contains personal data. Highly sensitive content mode requires storage and processing in Switzerland only.

Three tax situations where translation is decisive

Company

An assessment in another language

The head office is in French-speaking Switzerland, the branch in German-speaking Switzerland receives the assessment in German, and the time limit for an objection is running. Instant translation lets you decide quickly, and only the objection actually filed is reviewed by a legal translator.

Fiduciary firm

Files in several cantons

The same client falls under cantons with different languages, and their labels do not always match. CHnell's shared terminology resources keep a single vocabulary from one file to the next.

Corporate group

A tax position for use abroad

The internal memo circulates in English, but the reference remains the German, French or Italian text. The concordancer shows the original article, so you do not build an argument on an approximate translation.

Frequently asked questions on tax translation

In which language do Swiss tax authorities communicate?

In the official language of the canton concerned, which produces multilingual files as soon as a company has establishments in several regions. The platform's four working languages, German, French, Italian and English, are native in every pair.

Is a translation enough to respond to a tax assessment?

Translation helps you understand and decide. The submission filed, whether an objection or an appeal, binds the taxpayer and justifies a Full review by a legal translator. When an attestation is required, Double review & certified translation remains available. The review delivery time is shown before you approve the quote.

How do I translate tax concepts that have no equivalent?

Start from the act rather than from usage. Withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer), for example, has an official name in each of the three languages and a definition of its own. The Tax & Customs domain of the concordancer shows these occurrences in context with their source.

Are tax files processed in Switzerland?

Storage is on Swiss servers in every case, and processing stays in Switzerland with LexMachina or in Highly sensitive content mode. A file containing taxpayer data should not go to an engine hosted abroad without prior pseudonymisation.

Can I translate the accounting annexes of a tax return?

Yes. The .xls and .xlsx formats are supported like Word, PowerPoint and PDF, up to 25 files of 50 MB per upload. The files come back in their original format with their table structure. For a larger batch, use Translation projects.

What about a simple letter to the tax authorities?

Text translation, in Text and document translation, accepts up to 10,000 pasted characters, with a choice of engine and up to four alternative wordings. It is the right tool for a short letter that must go out within the day. You can then order a Light review if the letter binds the company.