How to actually do and learn to do taxes without getting a tax advisor

[whysomuchtax]

Hello! I just moved to Switzerland and I would like to understand how to actually do taxes,

1. Where do I log in? or is it on paper?

2. For all the deductions that Baptiste mentioned on his article https://thepoorswiss.com/tax-deductions-in-switzerland how do I actually physically put them in the form?

3. Is there any sort of tutorial from the government or something? I am in Thurgau but I don’t speak German well yet so I cannot access anything in German unless you can translate the page but I am guessing there will be many terms in German.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Kind regards,
WST

 

[evergreen]

Welcome to Switzerland

The Thurgau tax department has a website with a lot of information, it's of course only in German but you can use the translation feature of your browser: https://steuerpraxis.tg.ch/steuerpraxis/2024-01/

They use the eFisc software for electronic tax filling, which you can download here: https://steuerverwaltung.tg.ch/hilfsmittel/efisc-steuererklaerungssoftware.html/2958

And good luck with your learning of (swiss)German !

 

[Baptiste Wicht]

1. Where do I log in? or is it on paper?

You will receive some documentation on paper the first time you do your taxes. Then you will have the choice to do it on paper or do it using the tax software of your canton (it's generally a desktop application).

2. For all the deductions that Baptiste mentioned on his article https://thepoorswiss.com/tax-deductions-in-switzerland how do I actually physically put them in the form?

You will have to go through the tax form and find them and fill them, but they are usually easy to find.

3. Is there any sort of tutorial from the government or something? I am in Thurgau but I don’t speak German well yet so I cannot access anything in German unless you can translate the page but I am guessing there will be many terms in German.

There will be many terms in German indeed. Normally, most cantons have a tax information document (like the one linked by @evergreen). You should translate this with your browser (or ChatGPT, or DeepL) and then when you do the tax form, you will have to match English and German.
Another solution would be to ask somebody you know in Switzerland to do it with you the first year.