Declare sale of property abroad?

Taxes
1

Hello,
I’ve sold a property (abroad) early last year. Now, I will need to fill out a tax report but it is unclear to me if I would have to declare such sale.

I’ve heard that, for instance, with stocks we are usually not taxed on capital gains but still have to declare all transactions occurred in the respective tax year. I wonder if the same would apply to real estate abroad.

Any comments from people with some experience in these two areas (stocks, properties) would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Ivo

2

You should read the double tax treaty between Switzerland and your other country. Normally, with DTAA in place, the capital gains for real estate are taxed where the asset is located (I.e other country).

With regards to tax declaration. I think in assets section you have a possibility to declare the sale date. Assuming you have declared it over the years and is present in your assets ( Liegenschaften under Vermögen). This would be important because authorities can track that your capital value on other sections went up due to sale of this property)

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3

In Switzerland the principle is that real estate is taxed where it is located. No Swiss taxes to pay on capital gain on a property abroad nor on the rent. However the value of the property and rent are used to calculate your tax rate.

If you submitted a tax return 2 years ago you should have declared them. When you submit the tax return for 2023 you should declare rent for the period you owned it and show 0 value for 31.12.23. Perhaps they will ask for a comment about sale date

There are no capital gains on stocks for non-professional investors. Some people list all the transactions. In my tax return I attach a statement from my broker, I do not list all the transactions and I never had a question about it.

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4

Hello,

Thanks for taking the time and sharing a bit from your knowledge/experience.

I was considering filling out the declaration by myself, but yesterday I was playing around with the tax system software and it doesn’t seem to be as easy as I thought. Some aspects are not that obvious to me (even before getting to the stocks/properties question).
I think I will resort to a professional to help me out with this (at least in the first few years - this year will be my first time).

Cheers
Ivo