Question about tax authorities and Swiss banks

[CryptoTrader87]

Hello, is it possible for tax authorities to freeze my Swiss bank account and take from it the amount of taxes I owe them?

I live in Europe by the way. I'm just asking out of curiosity, I'm not in a predicament. But I'm very curious how this works, if anyone knows. Thank you!

 

[Marzio]

CryptoTrader87 said:
Hello, is it possible for tax authorities to freeze my Swiss bank account and take from it the amount of taxes I owe them?
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If you owe something to Swiss tax authority rest assured that they will get want they want from you.

 

[CryptoTrader87]

marzio said:
If you owe something to Swiss tax authority rest assured that they will get want they want from you.
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Not to the Swiss, but in case I would ever owe anything to the tax man in my country. Would the tax man in my country ever be able to take money from my swiss account?

 

[JackAlabama]

CryptoTrader87 said:
Hello, is it possible for tax authorities to freeze my Swiss bank account and take from it the amount of taxes I owe them?

I live in Europe by the way. I'm just asking out of curiosity, I'm not in a predicament. But I'm very curious how this works, if anyone knows. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Yes, very possible when EU is involved CH provides exactly 0 shelter.
And your account is known due to CRS etc.
But it goes thru court orders etc and is a lengthy process, so you will not wake up one day and your account has missing funds.

 

[Marzio]

CryptoTrader87 said:
Not to the Swiss, but in case I would ever owe anything to the tax man in my country. Would the tax man in my country ever be able to take money from my swiss account?
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Sorry i misread your post. CH will not protect you if you owe money to the tax man in other countries. One of the pillars on which they built their wealth is their treaty network so they are proactive to protect those treaties.

For your this means that information exchange is not on request but it's proactive meaning if you open a bank account with them, they will communitate immediately to your country of residency that you opened an account there regardless if they asked for those informations or not.

 

[CryptoTrader87]

marzio said:
Sorry i misread your post. CH will not protect you if you owe money to the tax man in other countries. One of the pillars on which they built their wealth is their treaty network so they are proactive to protect those treaties.

For your this means that information exchange is not on request but it's proactive meaning if you open a bank account with them, they will communitate immediately to your country of residency that you opened an account there regardless if they asked for those informations or not.
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I understand, but what I would like to know if it's possible for the tax man to actually take money from my Swiss account, whether that means talking to the Swiss authorities or in any other way?

 

[JackAlabama]

CryptoTrader87 said:
I understand, but what I would like to know if it's possible for the tax man to actually take money from my Swiss account, whether that means talking to the Swiss authorities or in any other way?
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Of course. Not only "tax man" but every other entity with court claims on you e.g. child / wife support, business disputes whatever you can think of.
Also they follow thru with the Lugano convention.

 

[aage]

marzio said:
Sorry i misread your post. CH will not protect you if you owe money to the tax man in other countries. One of the pillars on which they built their wealth is their treaty network so they are proactive to protect those treaties.

For your this means that information exchange is not on request but it's proactive meaning if you open a bank account with them, they will communitate immediately to your country of residency that you opened an account there regardless if they asked for those informations or not.
Click to expand...

it depends completely on which country you come from. Have seen examples on that in the TV.

 

[Martin Everson]

CryptoTrader87 said:
I understand, but what I would like to know if it's possible for the tax man to actually take money from my Swiss account, whether that means talking to the Swiss authorities or in any other way?
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Why would they need to take money from your account? After they request for your account to be frozen YOU will agree to take money from your account to pay tax man in order for freezing order to be lifted..lol.

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Please note my posts should not be taken as financial or tax advice. Please seek professional advice in that respect.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

JackAlabama said:
Yes, very possible when EU is involved CH provides exactly 0 shelter.
And your account is known due to CRS etc.
But it goes thru court orders etc and is a lengthy process, so you will not wake up one day and your account has missing funds.
Click to expand...

The act of taking your money from the account will indeed take some time. But any account can be frozen in a second. In fact, banks will just do that based on a suspicion or a Google search without any warning, well before the prosecutor issues the formal freezing order.

Moral of the story is: your fiat money is not safe, irrespective of where it is stored (with the exception of physical cash under your sole control).

Last edited: Aug 4, 2022
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[CryptoTrader87]

Thank you all for your answers, really appreciate your knowledge!