Delaying your declaration means giving the state millions

Completing and filing your tax return is rarely a piece of cake. Not to mention that the few weeks between receiving the necessary documents and the March filing deadline are sometimes not enough. For the 2023 tax year, more than half of Bernese residents have requested an extension. Five years ago, there were only 286,000, compared to 362,000 in 2023. These expenses bring in millions of dollars each year for the tax authorities. Last year, the Bernese state collected around 2.3 million dollars in this way, reported the "Berner Zeitung."

And that's not all. Added to this are the costs of reminders for late tax returns. Some 15% of Bernese taxpayers are affected. The more than 100,000 reminders issued generated 4.9 million francs. What's more: with a default interest rate of 4%, the canton of Bern collected more than 24 million francs in 2024 for late taxes.

While residents of Vaud can request an extension, free of charge, until September 30, in the canton of Fribourg, where each extension costs 20 francs, "an amount of 1.4 million has been recorded for the invoicing of delays, in the 2024 accounts," says Alain Mauron, administrator at the cantonal tax office. He adds that "late payment interest for individuals and legal entities has brought in 7.8 million francs."

According to the Geneva tax administration, the costs of extending the deadline for returning declarations amounted to more than 4 million francs in 2023. In the canton, taxpayers pay 20 francs to postpone the deadline by up to 3 months, 40 francs for up to 5 months and 60 francs for more than 5 months.

If the number of extension periods billed has tended to increase in recent years, according to Alain Mauron, this is explained in particular by the increase in the number of taxpayers. But also probably because taxpayers have no need to provide an explanation, as long as they pay the amount required to obtain an extension.