Hi all,
Is there any requirement to report your crypto holdings in the yearly CH tax form ?
i.e. buying, gains or selling crypto, I was told that there was not, but i’d like to get a 2nd opinion.
Cheers
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Initially crypto currencies were not considered proper assets, but that has changed years ago.
So yes, at least established currencies/tokens have to be declared as other assets, valued at officially published rates for wealth tax purposes.
Gains are considered tax free capital gains unless you would be deemed a professional trader.
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Thank you, really appreciate the advice!
From what I understand from the Federal Tax Administration’s website, this only covers the price of BTC through a fund and not purchasing BTC with fiat through a crypto exchange as I can’t see the price of BTC listed directly. Of course, it’s possible to goto coinmarketcap and go back in time to the date of purchase although there are many variables there, i.e. difference exchanges have price variances and some exchanges have closed down.
Please let me know if i’ve misunderstood.
Do not look under the title section. Given BTC is recognized as currency, it is consequently listed as currency. See “Devisen” and choose 31.12.2019 valuation, to see that the tax authority values it at around 6’950 CHF per BTC. This official rate will also be available in the official tax software.
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In Private Tax they have added the category “Kryptowährungen” so you can list them in the “Wertschriftenverzeichnis”. I recommend listing your Crpytoholdings should you ever consider exchanging it to fiat.
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Hello, thank you for your advice. I understand that crypto gains are tax free (if I keep the crypto and I am not a professional trader). But what if I exchange part of the crypto gains to chf? Are these chf also tax free, considered only an asset and not an income (no income tax) ? Thank you in advance for your help.
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All private capital gains are tax free. Even if you are a professional trader, only realized capital gains are taxed. Unrealized capital gains are never (income) taxed in CH.
So yes, assuming you’re no professional trader, realized crypto gains are only going to be taxed as assets with a tiny bit of wealth tax.
In practice, you’ll declare more total assets end of this year. If your income minus assumed cost of living don’t explain your increase in assets, the tax authority will ask you to explain the discrepancy. Depending on your explanation, they might ask for further paper proof and will ultimately judge if your Crypto activities are those of a private individual or a professional trader and tax you accordingly.
I’d just send them this news article and see how they react 
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In practice, you’ll declare more total assets end of this year. If your income minus assumed cost of living don’t explain your increase in assets, the tax authority will ask you to explain the discrepancy. Depending on your explanation, they might ask for further paper proof and will ultimately judge if your Crypto activities are those of a private individual or a professional trader and tax you accordingly.
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I will be taking some profits during this year periodically.(I invested in the period of November-January)
I will keep some of the gains in stablecoins on the exchange(not based in Switzerland) and some I will actually take out in FIAT and put on my Swiss bank account.
Regarding taxes and considering your comment. Can I just ignore saying anything about my small gains to the tax authorities and then during the next declaration, if they ask me additional questions about any extra income, I can mention it to them then?
Or would it be wise to Always contact the tax authorities and let them know, everytime you take out some gains and turn them into CHF?
COINBASE in Forbes today: Bitcoin’s Guardian Angel: Inside Coinbase Billionaire Brian Armstrong’s Plan To Make Crypto Safe For All
You can think of it as different currencies in your bank account(s) - and exchanging between them.
I don’t think you’re obliged to report your transaction.
Though you do have to declare your balances at the end of the year.
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Hey San_Fransisco, still delivering good answers I see.
“Though you do have to declare your balances at the end of the year.”
Are you refering to regular tax declaration?
Let’s say I have 2 Swiss banks with bank accounts on them, and also two exchanges ( not located in Switzerland) where crypto is stored, and then a hardware wallet where some crypto is stored as well.
You mean that I only would have to declare the actual CHF Fiat on my bank accounts, but not the cryptocurrencies that I have stored on the crypto exchanges or in the hardware wallet?
You have to declare all your wealth, doesn’t matter if it’s mostly in crypto or nft or paintings or anything else.
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Cryptocurrencies are not securities that you’d have to report your transactions for.
You’d declare them just like any other currency you’re holding in your bank account. Or a commodity, maybe the gold in your safe at home. BTC, ETH or XRP are on the ESTV currency list, just like any other of them.
You just have to pay a few per mille wealth tax on it and that’s it.
Sure, you could, of course, just not declare and evade taxes.
Though that would be illegal and wasn’t the question, was it?
No, I don’t wan’t to evade anything. I’m asking just because of that reason, I want to make sure I’m paying the taxes for when it’s needed. But I don’t know the process when it comes to cryptocurrencies. I might sell a lot of cryptocurrencies soon and want to be prepared for what steps I need to take when I do so.
The sale is basically irrelevant.
The question is whether you correctly declared your cryptocurrencies on your previous tax return(s).
Tax authorities have published the guidance for a couple of years now (see here, for example).
(Again, there’s an exception for professional traders, who have to pay taxes on their capital gains - just as if you do currency trading for a living)
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That is exactly what I would do. Don’t mention anything until they ask (but of course do list your Crypto assets as of year-end 2020 in your 2020 tax return). If they do ask for 2021 due to high increase in wealth, simply state that yes, you have made some gains from Crypto investments. If they believe you are a professional trader, do explain why you are not (asset allocation/rebalancing, i.e. selling Crypto even less than 6 months after buying them is perfectly reasonable as a non-professional if they have increased significantly in value/share of portfolio). In general, risk of being classified as professional trader is vastly overstated in this forum, happens very, very rarely.
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Thank you for this input.
Hi, I have a crypto.com account. I can list my few crypto holdings in the tax return, but do you know if there is an account summary (like a end of year statement) that I can attach to my tax return as proof?
Thanks
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