Liechtenstein

Taxable period

The tax year corresponds with the business year. Consequently, the applicable accounting period, which may end at any date within the calendar year, is the basis for corporate taxation.

Tax returns

Corporations resident in Liechtenstein or with PEs in Liechtenstein must file a tax return by 1 July of the calendar year following the fiscal year-end.

Due to a substantiated written request, the tax authorities may extend the submission deadline by six months. A deadline extension requires the payment of the provisional invoice. In especially justified cases, the submission deadline may be extended once again. Such a request must be made before expiry of the first deadline extension.

The tax assessment issued by the tax administration is based on the company’s tax return, including the attachments and the financial statements filed.

Payment of tax

Companies must pay tax within 30 days of receipt of the assessment. The defaults charge rate is 4%.

Tax audit process

Generally, the Liechtenstein tax system is based on self-assessment. In the past, the Liechtenstein tax authorities assessed an entity based on the documents and information provided by the entity itself and additional documents or explanations requested by the tax authorities. Currently, however, the Liechtenstein tax authorities aims to carry out external tax audits in-house. However, due to limited resources, profit tax audits happen rarely.

Statute of limitations

The limitation of the right to assess a tax is five years, starting after the end of the tax year in terms of periodic tax and after the end of the year in which the taxable incidence had taken place in terms of non-periodic tax. The tax claims, in any case, are prescribed ten years after the end of the year in which the taxes have been assessed on a final basis.

Topics of focus for tax authorities

The tax authorities especially focuses on payments between affiliated companies (e.g. inter-company loans). Furthermore, all provisions and depreciations will be checked under the premise of economic necessity.