ETFs and Shares in Your Swiss Tax Return: Documents Your Preparer Needs

Your portfolio needs both an asset value and an income record

For a Swiss resident completing an ordinary tax return, ETFs and shares generally belong in the securities schedule, whether the broker is in Switzerland or abroad. For a full calendar tax year, your preparer needs the holdings at 31 December and the income arising during the year. Zug's official securities guidance explains this distinction and the declaration of domestic and foreign accounts.

A portfolio screenshot rarely covers both. It may show today's value, omit closed positions or display dividends only after tax. Start with the broker's annual documents. If you arrived in or left Switzerland during the year, add your exact move dates so the relevant period can be checked.

The documents to send your tax preparer

Gather a complete set for every bank, investment app and broker you used during the tax year, including accounts you closed.

• Swiss tax statement, if available: the full Steuerauszug or eSteuerauszug, including all pages and any corrected version.
• Year-end portfolio statement: security names, ISINs or Swiss security numbers, quantities, currencies and values at 31 December.
• Annual income report: dividends, fund distributions and account interest, with payment dates and gross amounts before withholding tax.
• Withholding-tax detail: the country, tax type and amount withheld for each payment, plus later refunds or corrections.
• Transaction history: purchases, sales, transfers and dividend reinvestments throughout the year. A spreadsheet export can help where there are many entries.
• Cash-account balances: year-end balances and interest for each currency held with the broker, including cash waiting to be invested.
• Special-event documents: statements for a merger, share split, fund closure, inheritance, gift or employee-share transfer that affected the account.

Use filenames that identify the provider and year. Keep the original PDFs and export the transaction file without deleting rows. You can add a short note pointing out anything unusual instead of trying to decide its tax treatment yourself.

A Swiss tax statement saves work, but check its coverage

A Swiss eSteuerauszug is designed for tax reporting and can be imported into supported cantonal software. Zurich's guidance on the eSteuerauszug describes this process. Send the original file so its data can be used.

Before handing it over, check the account number and reporting period. Does it cover both your savings account and investment account? Did you also open a second brokerage account? Is there a revised statement? A statement from one institution cannot answer these questions for the rest of your finances.

With a foreign broker, send the annual activity report and supporting income and holdings reports. A summary created for another country's tax return may classify amounts differently or use a different reporting period. Treat it as supporting evidence rather than a ready-made Swiss calculation.

Accumulating ETFs can have taxable income without a cash payment

An accumulating ETF reinvests income within the fund. That does not automatically remove the Swiss income-tax entry. The Federal Tax Administration's Circular 25 on collective investment schemes distinguishes taxable investment income from separately identified capital gains and covers both distributed and retained income.

Your preparer can look up the relevant fund and tax year in ICTax, the official Swiss securities database. The exact ISIN matters: accumulating and distributing share classes of a similarly named ETF are different securities.

Send your purchase and sale dates as well as the year-end quantity. Do not simply enter zero income because the broker shows no cash dividend, and do not treat the entire increase in the ETF price as income. If Swiss tax information is missing, provide the fund's annual report or tax documents for review.

Include positions you sold or transferred during the year

Suppose you received a dividend in May and sold the shares in August. Those shares will be absent from the December holdings list, but the year's income record still matters. This is why the official reporting guidance covers income throughout the tax year as well as year-end assets.

If you moved investments from one broker to another, send statements from both and identify the transfer date. Otherwise a reviewer may struggle to tell whether the movement was a sale, a new purchase or the same holding changing custodian. Include the closing statement for an old account even if its final balance was zero.

Private capital gains are a separate question

Gains from selling securities held as private assets are generally tax-free. This is not a blanket rule for every trading activity: gains from professional securities dealing can be taxable. The assessment considers the circumstances, including turnover, financing and use of derivatives. The Federal Tax Administration's Circular 36 sets out the distinction.

Flag frequent trading, margin borrowing or options activity when you provide your documents. Failing one of the circular's preliminary criteria does not by itself establish professional trading; it calls for consideration of the overall facts. Avoid labelling all broker-reported gains as either taxable or exempt before that review.

Show withholding tax separately from dividends

Send gross dividends and the tax deducted separately. Proper declaration is relevant to a Swiss withholding-tax refund, subject to eligibility. Foreign withholding tax needs a separate review: depending on the treaty and your circumstances, a foreign reclaim or a Swiss credit such as DA-1 may be relevant. The cantonal guidance on Swiss and foreign withholding tax explains these different routes.

A deduction appearing on your broker statement does not guarantee that all of it can be recovered. Provide the detail so your preparer can identify what was withheld and assess the applicable procedure.

Two common investment-document questions

I held my ETF all year and never sold. What should I send?

Send the year-end holdings and annual income or tax statement. Include the exact ISIN even for an accumulating ETF: no sale and no cash distribution do not necessarily mean there is no taxable income.

Should I convert every foreign-currency amount myself?

Send the original-currency reports first. Your preparer can use the relevant Swiss tax values and exchange rates consistently. If you have already converted figures, keep the original amounts and explain which dates and rates you used.

Official sources

Checked on 29 September 2026. This checklist concerns Swiss ordinary tax returns for personal investments.

• Canton Zug: securities, accounts and exchange rates
• Federal Tax Administration: ICTax
• Federal Tax Administration: Circular 25, collective investment schemes
• Federal Tax Administration: Circular 36, securities dealing
• Canton Zurich: securities statements and withholding taxes