You rent out a room through Airbnb? Then you will be interested in how this income must be correctly declared in the tax return.
Sending confidential data to one's own private email can lead to termination without notice. Read about such a concrete case in this newsletter.
Inheritance divisions are often a cause for dispute when it comes to the fair distribution of the inheritance. A possible solution is an auction for a fair distribution.
Rental income from Airbnb and similar offers
It is increasingly common that apartments or rooms are made available to foreign guests against payment. Often via Internet portals such as Airbnb, which are publicly accessible, even for the tax authorities.
The net income from these rentals must be declared in the tax return under "other taxable income". Likewise, each landlord must pay the tourist tax to the municipality; this is handled differently from municipality to municipality.
If several apartments are rented out and hotel-typical additional services such as breakfast, rental of parking spaces, etc. are provided, these are also listed below. offered, it is a self-employed (secondary) activity. The profit is to be declared in the private tax return under the heading "self-employment". Income taxes are owed on them and AHV contributions must be paid on the profit (source: applied tax laws as well as social insurance law-AHV).
Employees are taken over with the purchase of the company
A Geneva bar was staffed by an employee who was pregnant. The bar was sold and the new employer did not want to take it over, although it offered its work.
Both the Geneva Labor Court and the Federal Court ruled in favor of the woman: according to the law, the buyer of a business automatically takes over all employees. Therefore, the LLC must continue to pay the salary to the employee (source: BGE 4A_350/2018 dated 25.10.2018).
Termination without notice justified for sending confidential information by private mail
The manager of a pharmacy in Zurich resigned in compliance with her six-month notice period. A month before expiration, she was summarily dismissed for sending confidential information to her private email address, such as.B. Prescriptions of home pharmacy specialties and tax documents. The woman reached the labor court and argued that she had wanted to work from home. The Zurich Labor Court did not believe her, because at work she had deleted the e-mails, and the documents had no connection with her work. The court judged the dismissal to be justified due to the breach of trust (source: Zurich Labor Court, decision AH160161 dated 27.2.2017).
Do not accept a raw rent
In the case of business premises, it was at times customary to leave the property in "shell form". A shell construction is an enormous cost driver for the business tenant, since he is responsible for the development and maintenance and repairs are at the expense of the tenant.
Also to be rejected is the changeover from normal rental agreement to unfinished rental agreement. A previously built-out rental property is now referred to as a "shell" property. What at first glance looks like a formality triggers additional costs of around 15-20% of the net rent at the expense of the business tenant, as he is expected to pay for the maintenance of the extension (source: Art. 254 ff OR).
What does "Chicago settlement" mean??
The Chicago settlement is a form of installment agreement.
In this case, the creditor waives part of the debt and agrees with the debtor that if the installment payment obligation is not met, the entire amount originally owed becomes due immediately, with credit for installment payments already made. In the meantime, the so-called. Chicago settlement also called pressure, Monaco, Monte Carlo or Las Vegas settlement. As an incentive to pay, an installment agreement is combined with a conditional debt waiver. The Chicago Settlement has proven its worth for creditors and debtors alike and relieves the burden on courts and debt collection offices (Source: Art. 69 ff OR).
Fair division of the inheritance by auction
In the case of division of an estate, the problem often arises that several heirs have an interest in the same, usually valuable, items of the estate. The question of the fair distribution of furniture and jewelry often gives rise to disputes. Under certain circumstances, such apparent trifles jeopardize the whole further settlement of the division of the estate. An auction within the community of heirs can be a sensible solution, in which the disputed items are auctioned off among the heirs.
The estate inventory under tax law serves as the basis for the auction catalog. All assets from the inheritance are listed with their market value. Valuable household effects should be appraised in advance by an expert. First of all, those items are deleted from the valuation inventory for which the testator has issued partition regulations. The remaining properties are put up for auction.
For the auction procedure, the heirs agree on binding rules of the game. For example, there should only be one pass for each object. The contract is awarded to whoever submits the highest bid. If no one bids, the item can be taken over by any heir without being credited with any tangible value. What is not auctioned can be used for charitable purposes or disposed of.
A neutral person takes over the management of the auction. An auction among heirs takes place where the items to be auctioned are located.
The auctioneer records all proceeds so that the reciprocal inheritance settlement can be calculated following the auction. Finally, each heir is entitled to only a certain quota of the inheritance. An heir does not have to pay in cash the total value for which he/she has purchased items at auction. Only in the course of the division of the inheritance, the amount is credited to his share of the inheritance, so that he receives correspondingly less money. If an heir has acquired so many or expensive items at the auction that they exceed his share of the inheritance, he must pay out the excess amount proportionally to his co-heirs(source: from applied practice).
Subsequent claims of euro wage payments are abusive of rights
Two employees of Swiss companies sued for back wages before the Federal Supreme Court. In 2011, they agreed to change their salary payment contract to euros, knowing that a salary paid in Swiss francs would have resulted in a higher euro amount.
The plaintiffs demanded payment of the difference on the grounds that discrimination against nationals of one contracting party who reside in the territory of another contracting party is prohibited.
Both lower courts awarded compensation to the workers. The Federal Court, however, ruled in favor of the companies and rejected the claim.
As justification, the court stated that the employees knew at the time what they were getting into and they knew the special circumstances such as serious economic circumstances. They considered the additional claims to be an abuse of rights (source: BGE 4A_215/2017 dated 15.1.2019).
More than 50% of the debt collection is handled electronically
In 2018, in the exchange of debt collection data between creditors (individuals and legal entities) and debt collection offices, for the first time over 50% of debt collection procedures were handled electronically. In the cantons of Neuchatel, Schaffhausen, Geneva and Berne, more than two thirds of all debt collection requests were submitted electronically last year (source: Federal Office of Justice).
Caution with shareholder loans
If companies are in liquidity difficulties, owners or related parties can grant a loan, which can later be drawn again when the situation is better. Private persons but also legal entities can act as lenders. Possible risks with passive loans are the exceeding of the maximum interest rates possible for tax purposes and the payment of interest on hidden equity capital.
Passive loans do not necessarily have to pay interest, provided it is a natural person. In the case of legal entities, the circular of the FTA applies with regard to the interest rates recognized for tax purposes for advances and loans in CHF (also exists for foreign currencies). If these interest rates are not observed in the case of legal entities, tax offsets may occur. This also applies to hidden equity capital. The FTA has also issued a circular on the subject of hidden equity capital.
These risks exist in addition to the loss of the loan if the business situation does not permit repayment (source: FTA circular).