Capital gains tax when moving abroad

Taxes
1

I discussed with an PostFinance advisor about the eTrading contract. There it is mentioned you are not allowed to hold an eTrading account if you "permanently’ move abroad Switzerland or no longer hold a B or C permit.
Also, PF will sell all your securities if you fail to do so yourself before departing Switzerland ( of course whey PF becomes aware of this )

The 0% capital gains tax for investments here is great.
I have this question about relocating to another country:

If I relocate to France or Greece for example, is it wise ( legal ) to sell all owned ETFs while still in Switzerland and rebuy after establishing in the new place of residence ?
Hence if France has capital gains tax, the amount the portfolio has grown in Switzerland will not be affected, as I will sell before exiting the country.

Is this the correct approach from a legal and tax efficient perspective or are there other options?
Thank you,

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2

Yes, it is the best and easiest solution

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3

And probably much cheaper than transferring positions.

BTW, most local brokers will handle a lot of paperwork for you concerning the capital tax gain, which is not possible with IBKR (they will have the information, but not in the nice format of the local tax authority).

4

What about the other way around?

You have an investment account in France or somewhere in the European Union and there are high Capital gains taxes, say over 25% ,30%

Questions:
What is the best option to withdraw if there is no urgency?
Would the following tax avoidance scenario work from a legal point of view?
Are there better options maybe?

Scenario:
You relocate to a low tax country (Switzerland, Gibraltar, United Emirates etc) and withdraw a large amount after becoming a tax resident there. ( In some countries you might need at least 6 months to do so)
Afterwards, leave that low tax country, maybe back to the same EU country or another place and reinvest your capital once again.

5

Many countries have exit taxes to cover that (but usually with a high-ish threshold, 800k EUR for France).

So yes, it’s generally fine, assuming you follow the dual taxation rules and potential exit taxes. Note: going back to the same country shortly after might make things more complicated, I’d assume all countries have a general provision for setups that look like pure tax avoidance with no other reason (and they might claim your center of life never changed given how short a time it was).

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