Legal & Compliance · Lesson 4 of 5

Annual Accounting & Tax Filing

What a Swiss company must file annually and when

Swiss Accounting Standards

Swiss companies must keep proper accounts in accordance with the Swiss Code of Obligations (Part 3, titled "Commercial Register and Accounting"). For SMEs, this means Swiss GAAP FER or simply OR accounting — far simpler than IFRS.

Annual Filing Calendar

  • January 1: New fiscal year begins (standard Swiss calendar year)
  • March 31: Annual accounts presented to general meeting (latest June 30)
  • June 30: Tax declaration deadline (provisional; extensions possible)
  • December 31: Fiscal year ends
10 yrsAccounting records retention
June 30Standard tax filing deadline
5 yrsVAT records retention

Required Financial Statements

  • Balance sheet (Bilanz)
  • Income statement (Erfolgsrechnung)
  • Notes to the accounts (for larger companies)
  • Cash flow statement (for public companies or large enterprises)

VOZ Annual Fiscal Report

VOZ provides a free Annual Fiscal Report summarizing your domiciliation year, tax position, and compliance checklist — available every January to all VOZ clients. Access it via your dashboard.

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