Foreign income and assets in your Swiss tax return

The account back home still matters

A bank account you barely use, an investment portfolio you left untouched, rent from a property abroad: these are easy to forget when most of your paperwork is now Swiss.

If you are a Swiss tax resident filing an ordinary tax return, foreign income and assets generally belong in the picture. Keeping money outside Switzerland does not, by itself, keep it outside your Swiss return. The way an item is taxed depends on what it is and the rules that apply to you.

This guide covers ordinary personal tax returns. If you moved country during the year, are taxed at source or have a special tax status, check the scope of your filing obligations first.

Official starting point: ch.ch’s guide to Swiss tax returns.

Include bank accounts, investments and payment apps

Make a list before entering any figures. Include current accounts, savings, brokerage accounts and relevant balances held through services such as Revolut or Wise. It is easy to think of an app as a way to pay for lunch and overlook the money held there.

A small balance is not a good reason to leave an account out of the information you gather. For an account closed during the year, keep its closing statement and details of any income it earned. For joint accounts, record the ownership as well as the balance.

For each account or investment, separate these two questions:

What did you own?

The relevant year-end balance or tax value, with the account holder, currency and institution identified.

What did it earn?

Interest, dividends and other reportable income during the year, including any foreign tax withheld.

An account with no interest can still have a reportable asset value. An account with no balance at year-end may still have generated income earlier in the year.

Canton Zug’s guidance on accounts and securities explains the distinction between balances and income, including assets abroad (German).

Use the right figures in Swiss francs

Keep the original statements in their original currency. Then use the tax valuation and exchange-rate guidance for the relevant year when completing the Swiss return.

The rate used for an asset’s year-end value is not necessarily the rate used for income received throughout the year. Do not use today’s exchange rate just because it is the easiest one to find. The Federal Tax Administration’s ICTax lists are a useful starting point.

Foreign property can affect your Swiss tax return

A property abroad generally needs to be declared even when the country where it is located taxes it. Swiss reporting and Swiss taxation are two different questions.

Foreign property and its income are generally allocated abroad for taxation, but can influence the rate applied to your Swiss income and wealth. The treatment of debts, costs and owner-occupied property also needs checking. Do not enter only the rent that reached your bank account and assume the rest is irrelevant.

Gather the ownership details, relevant valuation, mortgage statements, rental income and property expenses. Tell your preparer if you bought, sold or changed how you used the property during the year.

See ch.ch’s property-tax guidance and Zurich’s guidance on foreign property (German). Use your own canton’s instructions for the return.

Remember crypto and income outside your salary

Cryptocurrency holdings are part of the asset review. Keep records from exchanges and wallets rather than relying on the balance shown by one app.

Holding a token, selling it and receiving a staking or mining reward are different events. Rewards can be taxable income even when you have not converted them into cash. The treatment of trading gains depends on whether the activity is private asset management or a business. A general claim that “crypto is tax-free in Switzerland” misses these distinctions.

The Federal Tax Administration’s cryptocurrency guidance covers these distinctions (German).

Also review pension payments, freelance work, royalties and other income received outside your main job. If an amount has already been taxed abroad, keep the foreign tax statement. Treaty relief or a tax credit may be relevant; leaving the income off the return is not the way to claim it.

Do not put every receipt in the same category

Foreign pensions

A recognised foreign pension can be treated differently from an ordinary savings account. The plan rules and any payments matter. Read our guide to foreign pensions in a Swiss tax return before deciding how to treat the balance.

Gifts and inheritances

A genuine gift or inheritance is generally not ordinary taxable income. It can still need to be reported, explain an increase in wealth and raise separate gift or inheritance-tax questions. Keep the supporting documents and check any separate reporting deadline.

Official guidance: inheritance tax and gift tax (German). Cross-border cases depend on the countries and cantons involved.

A final check before you file

Compare your account list with last year’s return. Have you opened or closed anything? Received an inheritance? Started renting out a property? A short note about those changes is often more useful than sending an unexplained pile of statements.

For each asset, have the value, income and supporting documents ready. If a statement is missing or an item is unfamiliar, flag it early. Our Swiss tax return checklist helps you organise the rest of the paperwork.