Do I need to declare the deposit I have given my landlord as an asset? It is deposited in a special account that I cannot access until I cancel my rental agreement.
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Yes you do. Even though it is in a special account, that account is in your name and the money is part of your taxable wealth.
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Yes, you declare it as an asset and as a liability at the same time. So the effect on your net assets (i.e. assets minus liabilities) is 0 and you won’t pay any wealth tax from this deposit.
No, that’s no correct… It’s an asset as others said.
You mixed it up with a mortgage. Rent deposit account is just a blocked (saving) account.
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Indeed, you are right, I didn’t read the question correctly. I thought the author is the landlord and he received the rental deposit from his tenant – in that case, he would record the rental deposit as a loan (i.e. +asset, +liability).
If he is the tenant, he will record the rental deposit just as an asset.
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I also don’t think that’s correct: the rental deposit is in the name of the tenant, it shouldn’t show up for the landlord (neither asset nor liability).
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No, the rental deposit doesn’t appear at all on the tax declaration of the landlord. It’s a blocked savings account of the tenant.
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I have never declared mine simply because I never thought about it the first time I did a tax return.
The worst that could happen is that one day they ask me but I doubt they will since it would be a rounding in my taxes
There could also be an accounting argument whether the deposit is really recovereable, it depends on each tenant. For that reason I also don’t count it in my personal NW accounting
IMO this is not a very good reason not to declare it now.
No, they can fine you for not filling in your tax declaration correctly.
Why should it not be possible to reclaim it? Unless you decide to stop paying your rent or there are major repairs due when you move out that are imposed on you, you will get back the full amount.
A cash deposit (the balance of a security deposit account, for example) has to be declared along with other wealth. Most Swiss banks will send you a paper annual account statement for your tax return. If you do not get one, then you will have to download it via online banking or ask them to send you one.
I do agree though, that it is easy to overlook. You can simply declare it now in your 2022 tax return, and sumbit a form declaring it in arrears. If it has any impact on your wealth taxes, the tax office will bill you for the difference along with your tax bill. Unless you have a huge rent, the difference will be absolutely negligible.
If you use a security deposit insurance (e.g. Swiss Caution), on the other hand, the insurance benefit does not count as a cash deposit.
Surprisingly this rental deposit never appear in the yearly tax statement of my cantonal bank.
Every year I received a tax statement for interest to declare on my cash and saving account but never the rental deposit.
Interesting behaviour from your bank.
Mine arrives just like the ones from all the other bank accounts.
Yes, for this reason. Example: we lost a key so they will ask us to pay for the locks to be changed.
In theory you are probably correct, but the impact on my tax bill even if I was to declare the whole rental deposit would be less than 50 CHF.
Per the letter of the law I am supposed to declare jewelry and cash in my wallet as well but I did not as they are not material. In the other direction could also claim outstanding balance on credit card and taxes owed.