For US citizens and residents living in Switzerland
Your US tax return, prepared simply from Switzerland
Upload salary certificates, bank statements and tax assessments. BackTax reads your documents in your browser, proposes the amounts, converts to USD and prepares your 1040, FEIE and FBAR worksheets. You validate every value.
What BackTax does
Documents and OCR
PDF, images, CSV. Scans are read in your browser; BackTax proposes amount, currency, year and employer, with the source page.
Income ledger
Salaries, interest, dividends, rent: every income is linked to its document and tax year.
CHF → USD at the IRS yearly average
Documented conversion with the yearly average rate published by the IRS for the closed year; never the average of an unfinished year.
1040, FEIE (2555), FTC worksheets
Deterministic, versioned 2025 calculations: brackets, standard deduction, FEIE stacking; foreign taxes paid (1116) are documented for review by a professional.
FBAR inventory
Foreign accounts, yearly maxima, Treasury year-end rates, rounded up to the dollar: you see whether the USD 10,000 threshold is exceeded.
Residency periods
Presence in Switzerland and trips to the US, for the FEIE checks.
Firms
A firm manages several taxpayers, each in a separate dossier.
Human validation
Nothing is saved without your confirmation. Complex cases are flagged for a professional.
Finalization
Preparation is free; printing, downloads and exports of the prepared return after finalization. Before, a watermarked preview hides the key amounts.
4 languages
Français, Deutsch, Italiano, English.
Privacy: what BackTax actually does
Each statement below matches a verifiable function of the software.
- Your data is hosted in Switzerland, at Infomaniak.
- Reading scanned PDFs (OCR) happens in your browser: your documents are not sent to a third-party OCR service. The optional OCR server is the operator's own server.
- Your documents are stored in a private area, outside the public part of the site, and are only accessible to your account.
- Backups are encrypted (AES-256-GCM); the decryption key is kept off the hosting.
- Passwords are never stored in clear text: only a hash is kept.
- After too many password attempts, the account is temporarily locked, whatever connection is used.
- Sensitive actions (passwords, rights, finalization, administration) are recorded in an audit log.
- No value read from a document is saved without your confirmation.
- No advertising trackers and no third-party scripts on the site; your data is not sold.
- You can download your own documents at any time, and export your prepared return once finalized.
- You can delete your account yourself; billing records, the terms acceptance and the security log are kept for 10 years (legal obligation) under an anonymised identifier.
- Connections are encrypted (HTTPS) and the browser is told to always use HTTPS.
Recommended browsers (OCR) : Works best on: Chrome / Chromium ≥ 141 (≈ 1.2 s/page), Microsoft Edge ≥ 156 (≈ 1.2 s/page), Firefox ≥ 158 (≈ 1.3 s/page), WebKit (WebKitGTK, Linux) ≥ 2.52 (≈ 1.7 s/page). Safari (macOS, iPhone, iPad) and mobile browsers: not tested on a real device. WebKit was tested on Linux (Safari’s engine, not Safari itself). OCR help and full measurement table
Fictional example: Alex Muster
Fictional exampleAlex Muster is an invented person: a US citizen living in Lausanne, employed by a fictional company, with a Swiss bank account, a pillar 3a account and a small US brokerage account. All amounts are fictional and computed by BackTax’s real calculators; the exchange rate is a demonstration rate.
1. Upload
Alex uploads the 2025 salary certificate.
2. OCR proposals
The document is read in the browser: gross salary CHF 118,000, employer, year 2025.
3. Validation
Alex compares with the PDF and confirms the amount.
4. USD conversion
CHF 118,000 × 1.13 (demonstration rate) = USD 133,340.
5. FEIE and FTC
FEIE exclusion of USD 130,000 (2025 limit); the Swiss taxes paid are documented for a professional’s review (foreign tax credit).
6. FBAR check
Swiss account maxima at the Treasury rate: USD 62,477, above USD 10,000: an FBAR is due.
7. Preview before finalization
Before finalization, key amounts are hidden and the preview carries a watermark.
Pricing
Pricing coming soon. Preparation stays free; only finalization will be paid.
Frequently asked questions
Does BackTax file my return with the IRS?
No. BackTax prepares your dossier and worksheets. It transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN and is not an e-file service.
Is BackTax a tax advisor?
No. BackTax is a preparation tool. You remain responsible for your return; complex situations (companies, trusts, foreign funds, catch-up filings) must be reviewed by a professional.
Do my documents leave Switzerland?
OCR reading happens in your browser. Your documents are stored in Switzerland and are not sent to a third-party OCR service.
What happens when a tax rule changes?
BackTax watches official sources. Until a change is reviewed, calculations for the affected year are suspended rather than wrong.