Fiduciary in Geneva
Fiduciary in Geneva: when your case becomes a legal matter
A law firm dedicated to tax law and business law. We advise and defend companies, SMEs, executives, self-employed professionals and families, in Switzerland and in France.
Your fiduciary in Geneva keeps your books and prepares your tax returns. As soon as the question becomes a legal one (structuring, ruling, tax audit, litigation), we take over, in direct coordination with your fiduciary.
Two offices, Annecy and Geneva, a single point of contact.
Confidentiality, absolute, in advisory work as in litigation.
Responsiveness, a single point of contact on both sides of the border.
Availability, from the initial diagnosis to the defence before the tax courts.
The firm
A law firm dedicated to tax law, based in Geneva.
COTAX acts for companies and groups, Geneva SMEs, their executives and shareholders, as well as for individuals and families whose wealth has an international dimension.
Our practice covers the full cycle: review, structuring, reporting obligations and then, where necessary, audits and litigation. Every situation is read simultaneously under Swiss and French law.
Geneva taxation combines three levels of tax, an administrative practice specific to the AFC and short procedural deadlines. Our work is to secure upstream what can be secured, and to defend downstream what must be defended.
We work daily with Geneva fiduciaries and chartered accountants: they refer to us the cases that go beyond bookkeeping, and we return a clear legal analysis that can be used directly in the accounts and tax returns.
Me Gilles Colin
Partner
Who to consult
Fiduciary or tax lawyer in Geneva: who should you consult?
The two professions are complementary. A fiduciary in Geneva handles day-to-day management: bookkeeping, year-end closing, payslips, VAT returns, company domiciliation and standard tax returns. The tax lawyer steps in when the issue is a legal one or the tax risk is high:
- tax audit, supplementary tax or objection against an assessment;
- setting up a company (Sàrl, SA, holding company) with structuring issues at stake;
- choosing between salary and dividends for an SME executive;
- Franco-Swiss cross-border situation, tax residence, tax at source;
- ruling to be negotiated with the cantonal tax administration or the AFC;
- voluntary disclosure and regularisation.
Unlike a fiduciary, a lawyer is bound by professional secrecy and can represent you up to the Federal Supreme Court. Many of our clients keep their fiduciary for the accounting and entrust us with strategy and defence.
Fiduciary services
The services of a fiduciary in Geneva, and our legal relay.
What a Geneva fiduciary handles day to day, and the point at which the tax lawyer steps in alongside it. COTAX does not keep accounts and does not offer domiciliation: these tasks remain with your fiduciary.
Bookkeeping
Your fiduciary
Recording of entries and general accounting for Geneva SMEs, self-employed professionals and companies.
Our legal relay
Legal analysis of sensitive transactions: hidden profit distributions (benefits in money's worth), shareholder loans, intra-group transactions.
Year-end closing and financial statements
Your fiduciary
Annual closing, balance sheet and income statement, notes to the accounts.
Our legal relay
Securing provisions, depreciation and reserves in light of AFC practice, before the tax return is filed.
Payroll and social insurance
Your fiduciary
Payslips, AVS (old-age insurance) and LPP (occupational pension) statements, tax at source for employees.
Our legal relay
Salary or dividends for the executive, incentive plans, status of cross-border workers and quasi-residents.
VAT returns
Your fiduciary
Quarterly or half-yearly VAT returns, registration in the VAT register.
Our legal relay
VAT audits, tax reassessments, regularisation and objections against a decision of the Federal Tax Administration.
Tax returns
Your fiduciary
Tax returns for individuals, self-employed professionals and companies in Geneva.
Our legal relay
Complex tax returns, tax residence, objections against the assessment and appeals up to the Federal Supreme Court.
Company formation
Your fiduciary
Registration formalities with the commercial register, opening of accounts, setting up the bookkeeping.
Our legal relay
Choice of legal form (Sàrl, SA, holding company), articles of association, capital allocation and tax treatment of the executive.
Domiciliation
Your fiduciary
Company domiciliation and mail handling in Geneva.
Our legal relay
Analysis of the place of effective management and of substance, to secure tax liability in Switzerland and avoid a requalification.
Audit and review
Your fiduciary
Limited or ordinary audit of the annual accounts by a licensed auditor.
Our legal relay
Support during tax audits, supplementary tax, voluntary disclosure and international assistance.
The tax lawyer
Why a tax lawyer goes further than a fiduciary.
A fiduciary produces your accounts and your tax returns. When the issue becomes a legal one, five differences weigh on the outcome of the case.
01
Professional secrecy
Your exchanges with the lawyer are covered by professional secrecy, including on an unregularised situation. A decisive protection before a voluntary disclosure or when facing a request for information.
02
Representation in court
The lawyer represents you from the objection up to the Federal Supreme Court, through the Administrative Court of First Instance and the Geneva Court of Justice.
03
Rulings and negotiation
Preparing and negotiating a ruling with the cantonal tax administration or the AFC: securing the tax treatment of a transaction in advance.
04
A Franco-Swiss reading
Tax treaties, double taxation, administrative assistance: both legal systems are analysed simultaneously, from Annecy and Geneva.
05
Independent advice
Advice free from any commercial interest, focused solely on the security of your situation, in coordination with your fiduciary.
Our expertise
Two client bases, one technical standard.
Our approach
From diagnosis to defence, a method in three stages.
01
Diagnosis
A full tax review of your situation, under French as well as Swiss law, before any recommendation. We identify open risks, running deadlines and the tax optimisation genuinely available, based on the accounts and tax returns prepared by your fiduciary.
02
Structuring
Documented and secure structures: technical memos, sources and case law cited, risks identified.
03
Defence
Handling audits and litigation, from the objection up to the administrative and federal courts.
Our commitments
A practice built on principles, proven by experience.
Three commitments define our relationship with every client: confidentiality, responsiveness and availability. The rest is a matter of method.
- Confidentiality
- The lawyer's professional secrecy protects every exchange, from the first meeting to litigation.
- Responsiveness
- Short tax deadlines require fast answers. We organise ourselves to meet them.
- Availability
- A single, reachable point of contact who knows your file from end to end.
- Technical rigour
- Documented recommendations: technical memos, sources and case law cited, risks identified.
- Cross-border reading
- Tax treaties, double taxation, administrative assistance: both legal systems, simultaneously.
- Independence
- Advice free from any commercial interest, focused solely on the security of your situation.
- Coordination with your fiduciary
- Direct contact with your Geneva fiduciary, so that the legal analysis is reflected in your accounts without delay.
The founding partner
Me Gilles Colin
Partner
Gilles Colin, partner and member of the bar, practises tax law, corporate law and contract law, in advisory work as in litigation. He personally handles every case, from the first meeting to the final decision. The firm works in French, English, Italian and Spanish.
Discover the firm
Find us
A law firm in the heart of Geneva.
Every case is handled personally, from the first meeting to the final decision. We receive clients by appointment only, in Geneva. Present your situation and we will tell you clearly what is at stake and how we can assist you.
- Address
- COTAX SUISSE Sàrl
35, rue des Bains, 1205 Genève - Opening hours
- Lun - Ven · 9h - 12h et 14h - 17h
- Phone
- +41 78 614 76 70
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the most common questions about the role of a fiduciary in Geneva and that of the tax lawyer who takes over.
Another question?
Ask a questionCOTAX is dedicated to tax law: taxation of individuals and families, taxation of companies, SMEs and executives, VAT and indirect taxes, tax litigation and voluntary disclosures. The firm also acts in corporate and contract law.
No, the tax lawyer complements the fiduciary. The fiduciary handles bookkeeping, payroll and routine tax returns. We step in on legal questions, structures, audits and disputes with the Geneva tax administration.
Yes. We regularly work with fiduciaries in Geneva and French-speaking Switzerland. You keep your fiduciary, and we liaise directly with them on your case.
Yes, on the legal and tax side: choice of legal form, articles of association, holding company, capital allocation, tax treatment of the executive. The bookkeeping of the new company remains with a fiduciary.
Yes. With two offices, in Annecy and Geneva, every situation is analysed simultaneously under French and Swiss law: tax treaties, double taxation, administrative assistance and automatic exchange of information.
We receive clients by appointment only, in Geneva or remotely. The first meeting allows you to present your situation, identify the issues at stake and define the appropriate approach: review, structuring or defence.
Yes, our fees are communicated before any work begins, on a fixed-fee or hourly basis depending on the nature of the case.
Absolutely. The lawyer's professional secrecy covers all our exchanges, from the first contact, in advisory work as in litigation.
The firm works in French, English, Italian and Spanish, for a Swiss and international clientele.
A tax question between France and Switzerland?
Present your situation during a confidential appointment. We will answer you precisely, under Swiss as well as French law, in liaison with your fiduciary if you wish.
Law firm in Geneva · 35, rue des Bains, 1205 Genève · Monday to Friday