@xorfish indeed, this is what they did according to my understanding. I’ve run your numbers in the Google sheet (case F) and the result is the same as per your calculation.
The issue with my situation is that until last year I had quite high mortgage interests (mortgage from 2010). Moreover, the value of US securities was a small part of my net worth.
I’ll try to re-run the simulation with my 2020 numbers (lower mortgage and increase of US securities) to see if I’m entitled to receive something back…
1 Like
Hi,
In the document you linked : DA-1 process the following point is important
Wer die Anrechnung ausländischer Quellensteuern nicht beantragt oder darauf gemäss den Artikeln 3–7 keinen Anspruch hat, kann verlangen, dass bei der Veranlagung zu den schweizerischen Steuern vom Einkommen die im Vertragsstaat in Übereinstimmung mit dem Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen erhobenen Steuern vom Bruttobetrag der Erträge abgezogen werden.
As a result I believe if the request is denied you should still be able to ask the tax authority to reduce your taxable amount of the amount you paid abroad to implement the prevention of double taxation.
1 Like
hi @HoiZame yes, I think this is possible but this would just entitle to a reduction of taxes based on one’s tax bracket (i.e. a % of the withheld amount and not the full withheld amount)
Yes, better than nothing but in my situation at the time (declaration 2018) the withheld amount was 135 and my bracket 18% -> I could have saved ca. 24 CHFs
I think what is important to highlight here is that we often advocate in favor of the US funds also for the possibility to fully recover the 15% through DA-1 (as simple as that ! 
) while it’s not necessarily the case.
Nevertheless US funds have also other advantages (less spread, lower transaction costs etc) so they may be worth it even without taking into account the 15% refund…
You also might get a partial refund. In the above example you would still get 1.15k(77%) of the 1.5k withholding taxes back if your marginal tax rate is 15%.
Hi People, thanks for the insight. I’ve looked in the forum and haven’t found an answer to my question.
I’ve understood that for US securities held by a US fund, we can get 15% refund through DA-1 (as long as you’ve filled out the W-8 form).
Until now, I’ve invested only in VWRL CHF, for the low TER und avoidance of FX risk,
On the long-term, all things remaining equal, would I be better off keeping the VWRL, not facing FX risk or going for a US based fund (VT should be an equivalent to VWRL if I’m not mistaken ?) and then get the 15% refund, but facing FX risk.
Btw, the 15% of my dividends received from US securities already went above the minimum of 50 CHF.
Thanks in advance for your insight and the helpful infos.
There are no FX risk difference between VWRL and VT, for the rest please have a look at IE vs US domiciled funds (VWRL vs VT)
1 Like
Thanks a lot for the swift reply.
You can scratch the “for US securities”. It doesn’t make a difference what securities the fund holds: 15% will be withheld on the fund’s distributions to you (and possibly be refunded), regardless of its holdings.
Thanks, I got confused on the different level.
I received my 2018 and 2019 tax assessment confirmation from Basel Stadt and my request for DA-1 refund has been denied. No specific reason given, except that the provided details (annual broker dividend summaries and US tax forms, I think 1042-S) are inadmissible.
While the amount in question is not very significant (297 CHF), I am concerned about this and would like to request if anyone has received a similar feedback from BS and if so, what was the approach taken to counter this? Thanks for your feedback.
The best is to ask the tax office why (call them or send a letter). It’s different in each canton.
It’s possible that your marginal tax rate is lower than 15%. Or sometimes, they also do mistakes.
1 Like
Thanks! My marginal tax rate is approx. 37% so that could not have been a factor. I will call and send them an email and post here if they reply.
1 Like
I got mine accepted in BS (around 177 WHT).
I don’t recall sending the 1042-S, but might be my poor memory.
1 Like
Btw to double check (since it’s a common mistake), you asked for the correct amount? Eg didn’t check the depot schweiz box if your broker is foreign (additional withholding usa)
Also no bond funds (they don’t get withheld the same).
1 Like
Could you please elaborate on the “Depot Schweiz” checkbox? I checked and I left it on last year when doing my taxes through Private Tax (basically didn’t notice it).
This year I’m trying to do them online and I notice that if I leave it on for VT, I get the same amount in both columns: “Pauschale Anrechnung” and “Rückbehalt USA”.
However, if I untick it, the amount in the “Rückbehalt USA” disappears and I don’t really understand why.
I’m using Interactive Brokers in the UK, do I have to leave the checkbox unticked? Does it mean the tax office will basically not refund the US-related withholding tax?
Congratulations, you may have (successfully?) cheated the tax authority last year.
Only applies to domestic “brokers”, basically.
IBKR doesn’t withhold the additional “Rückbehalt USA” - hence you shouldn’t apply for a refund of it.
2 Likes
Actually not, I found the form they sent me back last year and they spotted the mistake 
But thanks for the explanation!
Same for me in Zug, tried to fill the DA-1 with IBKR only as broker but they rejected the claims 
3 Likes
I received my 2020 tax assessment confirmation from Basel Land and my request for DA-1 refund has also been denied. No specific reason given, except that the provided details (annual broker dividend summaries and US tax forms, 1042-S) are inadmissible.
Do you two have significant wealth-related income deductions such as mortgage interest or margin loan interest? Or is this really about insufficient evidence? The formula according to Kt. ZH is
Ertragsminderung = A x B : C
A: Schuldzinsen und Unkosten
B: Steuerwert DBA-Titel
C: Wert Total Aktiven
And then
Maximalbetrag = (Bruttoertrag - Ertragsminderung) x Anrechnungstarif
“Anrechnungstarif” is your average (not marginal) income tax rate.
In Kt. ZH they send you a “Berechnungsblatt Pauschale Steueranrechnung” with all these values if their calculation differs from your DA-1 request, which makes it easy to comprehend.