GTC
General Terms and Conditions of Fineac Treuhand Ӏ Tax Ӏ Audit
1. Scope of application
These General Terms and Conditions ("GTC") apply to all current and future services which Fineac Treuhand Ӏ Tax Ӏ Audit ("Trustee") offers to its clients ("Client"). The order confirmation and these GTC form the contractual basis for the provision of services by the Trustee to the Client. The parties may make provisions deviating from these GTC in the order confirmation.
2. Basis of the business relationships
The subject matter of the contract shall be the activities agreed in the order confirmation in the individual case and to be carried out by the trustee. The trustee cannot provide any warranty or guarantee for the occurrence of certain economic events or consequences, even if it provides the client with advice. For this reason, the trustee cannot make any binding statements in the form of expectations, forecasts or recommendations regarding the occurrence of certain results, irrespective of the provision of certain work results.
Insofar as deadlines are not expressly agreed as binding assurances, they shall be regarded as general targets.
Expert opinions, statements, presentations and the like are only binding once they have been legally signed. Verbal information, interim reports and preliminary work results, the draft nature of which is expressly stated or arises from the circumstances, may deviate significantly from the final result and are therefore not binding.
The trustee may use suitable third parties to provide the services; these are also subject to the duty of confidentiality pursuant to section 6.
Subsequently agreed changes to services may result in an adjustment of the fee.
3. Client participation
All information and documents required for the proper provision of the services shall be provided by the customer to the trustee in good time and without being requested to do so. The trustee may assume that the documents and information provided are correct and complete.
Documents and information provided are not checked by the trustee for accuracy and legality.
The Trustee shall not verify the accuracy and legality of the documents and information provided.
4. Digital information exchange
The parties may use electronic solutions (e-mail, communication platform, cloud services and similar) for the processing of their services and for communication. During electronic transmission and storage, data may be intercepted, destroyed, manipulated or otherwise adversely affected and may be lost for other reasons or arrive late or incomplete. Each party is therefore responsible for taking appropriate precautions to ensure error-free transmission, receipt and storage and to identify elements that are defective in terms of content or technology.
The trustee shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that its data processing systems and the client data are located in Switzerland or a secure third country and that the data is adequately protected against loss and theft. The trustee is free to procure appropriate services from professional third-party providers.
The trustee may provide the client with third-party software. The conditions are based exclusively on the information provided by the software provider. However, the trustee shall ensure that the software is maintained and updated in accordance with the provider's specifications. The customer acknowledges that the third-party provider may gain access to his data as part of the maintenance.
The trustee may charge a usage fee for its IT services or pass on third-party fees.
If the trustee transmits data to third parties or authorities on behalf of the client via electronic portals or in a similar manner, the client shall remain responsible for the content of this data.
In all these applications, the trustee is responsible for the careful fulfillment of its obligations and compliance with Swiss legal requirements. However, it cannot assume any responsibility for the absolute protection of data and data transmission.
5. Property rights and rights of use
All copyrights and rights of use to all documents, products or other work results created by the fiduciary as well as the know-how developed or used in the process shall remain with the fiduciary. The trustee shall grant the customer a non-exclusive and non-transferable right of use for an unlimited period of time for the exclusive personal use of the documents, products and other work results provided to him, including the associated know-how.
The passing on of documents, products and other work results or parts thereof as well as individual technical statements by the customer to third parties is only permitted with the prior express written consent of the trustee or if the right to pass on arises from the circumstances.
The customer may only use the documents provided to him by the trustee, in particular the binding reports, in their unaltered state or, if he is authorized to do so, pass them on. The same shall apply to products and other work results insofar as their purpose does not consist of further processing by the customer.
Reference to the existing contractual relationship between the parties, in particular in the context of advertising or as a reference, is only permitted with the mutual consent of both parties.
6. Confidentiality
The trustee is obliged to maintain secrecy about all confidential information of which he becomes aware in the course of the client relationship.
Excepted from this is the disclosure of confidential information if the customer has given authorization for the necessary protection of the trustee's legitimate interests, insofar as the respective third parties are subject to an equivalent obligation of confidentiality, as well as by court or official order. The obligation to maintain confidentiality shall survive the termination of the contractual relationship. This obligation shall not prevent the trustee from executing the same or similar orders for other clients.
7. Fees, expenses, and terms of payment
The fee shall be set out in the order confirmation. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the fee shall be based on the applicable hourly rates of the fiduciary and the actual time spent. Cost estimates are based on an assessment of the work that will necessarily be required in the future as part of the assignment and are subject to the client fulfilling his obligation to cooperate. The starting point for such estimates is the data provided by the client. Consequently, such cost estimates are not binding for the definitive calculation of the fee. Cost estimates and other details of fees or expenses are exclusive of VAT.
Necessary subsequent changes to the content of the service or changes requested by the client shall lead to an appropriate adjustment of the fee. The trustee may demand reasonable advances on fees or expenses and issue interim invoices for services rendered and expenses incurred. He may make the provision of further services dependent on the full payment of the amounts claimed.
Expenses (e.g. travel expenses, hotel costs, courier services, chargeable IT services, archive costs, etc.), third-party invoices and other third-party fees will be invoiced at actual cost. To cover the small administrative costs incurred in connection with our services, we charge a flat rate of 3% of the total amount. This flat fee covers, among other things, costs for the use of technology, compliance and regulatory requirements, as well as standard office supplies such as photocopies, domestic postage and secure mail. This small fee allows us to continue to provide you with a smooth and efficient service.
Fee invoices and invoices for expenses are due for payment after expiry of the payment deadline on the fee invoice.
8. Liability
The trustee is responsible for the diligent fulfillment of the mandate in compliance with the requirements of the profession.
The trustee shall be liable for damages arising from its services to the extent prescribed by law, namely in the event of unlawful intent or gross negligence. To the extent permitted by law, liability for negligent breach of his obligation shall be limited to a maximum of twice the annual fee for the order concerned.
If the client's conduct is partly responsible for the damage incurred, the trustee shall be released from liability. In particular, incomplete, contradictory or delayed information and documents as well as information or documents that have not been passed on shall be deemed to be contributory negligence.
9. Warranty of the Trustee
If the production of a work within the meaning of Art. 363 CO has been agreed, the customer shall be entitled to have any defects rectified by the trustee. If the rectification fails, the customer may demand a reduction in price or withdrawal from the contract. Insofar as claims for damages exist beyond this, the limitation of liability pursuant to clause 8 shall apply.
10. Termination of the contract and the consequences thereof
The contract may be terminated by either party in writing at any time with immediate effect or on the expiry of a specific date.
In the event of termination, the services rendered up to the time of termination of the contract shall be remunerated by the customer. The services rendered shall be paid by the customer on the basis of the actual time spent and the applicable fee rates plus the expenses incurred.
If a termination takes place at an inopportune time, the terminating party undertakes to compensate the other party for the damage it suffers as a result of the termination of the contractual relationship at an inopportune time.
In the event of termination due to a breach of contract by one party, the terminating party must compensate the terminating party for the damage incurred as a result of the termination.
11. Documents and data
Upon termination of the contractual relationship, the trustee shall provide the customer with its documents and data in a form to be agreed. The corresponding services of the trustee are subject to a charge. The trustee is entitled, but not obliged, to retain copies of the client's documents and data for the purpose of documenting the services provided.
The client is responsible for the retention of documents and data and for compliance with the statutory provisions. The trustee shall ensure that it retains its documents and data for ten years.
12. General provisions
These GTC may be amended by the trustee at any time. If the customer does not reject the new GTC within a period of 60 days after notification, they shall be deemed to have been approved.
The GTC are subject to Swiss law.
The parties agree that the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes shall be the registered office of the trustee.
The place of performance is the registered office of the trustee.
GTC Version 2025.01