Tax officials are encouraging people and businesses to complete their tax returns digitally in an attempt to accelerate the rate at which they get the required documents. At present, close to a third leave the unpleasant task until the last minute, and a majority also still uses the postal service to send in physical forms.
In 2024, the tax administration received a total of 373,000 tax returns for the year 2023. About three quarters of the documents were sent in via letter or submitted electronically by private people, according to administration director Jean-Paul Olinger. He remarks that of these 283,000 returns, “close to 88,000 were submitted in December, so 31%. For businesses it’s 90,000 tax returns in 2024, among which 36,000 or 40% were received in December.”
Pushing back the ominous task is not a new phenomenon, some even miss the deadline and only file their returns in the new year.
Olinger explained that if a tax return arrives too late and is a statement of account rather than a “real tax return”, then people and businesses lose their reimbursement rights. In case of a delayed but acceptable return, settling on an appropriate penalty is “at the discretion of the tax office”, according to Olinger.
Over a year ago, the submission delay was officially moved from 31 March to 31 December. However, before this change, returns by the end of the year had been tolerated. There are currently no plans to further push the date, asserts the tax administration director. He reasons that it is a legislative question, which is not a part of the tax office’s responsibilities.
Olinger further pointed out that formal protests by businesses usually represent more complex cases that also require more time due to additional administrative steps.
To convince more people of filing their tax returns digitally, the administration is now looking to further simplify procedures. While some users at the end of last year complained about technical issues when seeking to upload their returns, the administration did not find any systematic problems, according to Olinger.
