Your assessment (avis de taxation), and how to object

What you receive

Once your return is processed, the tax office (AFC) sends your tax bills (bordereaux) for cantonal and communal tax (ICC) and for federal direct tax (IFD), and an assessment (avis de taxation) that sums up the amounts used to calculate your tax.

Check it

Compare the assessment with your return, line by line. If your instalments were more than the tax, the AFC refunds you within 30 days. If not, you have 30 days to pay or contest the amount.

In Taxpresso, drop the assessment into your folder: Taxpresso compares it with your return, item by item, and shows you the deadline to object.

Objecting: 30 days

If you disagree, send a written objection (réclamation) to the tax office that assessed you, within 30 days of being notified. The same deadline applies to cantonal and communal tax and to federal direct tax.

How to count

The 30 days start the day after notification. You’re on time if you hand your objection to the tax office, or to a Swiss post office, by the last day. If that day is a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day. If in doubt, ask the AFC.

What to write

Say what you contest and why, and attach copies of the documents that show it. If you were assessed by default (taxation d’office), for example because no return was filed, your objection must explain why the assessment is clearly wrong and give the evidence.

What happens next

The objection is free, in principle. The tax office can review every part of your assessment and, after hearing you, change it to your disadvantage too. You still pay the amount you don’t contest on time. Taxpresso never sends the objection for you.