Equity crowdfunding - tax declaration

Taxes
1

Hello,
last year I “invested” some fun money via equity crowdfunding into a small UK company (I know, I know…).
Now that the tax declaration approaches I realize that I don’t know how these kind of investments can be declared. In my case it’s peanuts (we’re talking about 1k) and they probably won’t care, but I’d like to understand.

I’ve found out in the tax guide of canton Neuchatel that each canton keeps and updates a register with the tax value of Swiss-based private companies. The canton communicates every year this value back to the companies which in turn communicate it to their shareholders.

However there’re no instructions concerning foreign private companies. Does anybody have any experience with this?

2

Hello s-g,

Does the crowdfunding company provide any update regarding the value of your investment ? If yes, I will try 1st to report this value in the tax return for simplification purposes.

For nonlisted shares, the tax authorities use the Circulaire 28 to determine the value of the shares.

If they want to apply the Circulaire, they will ask for the standard financial statements (P&L, balance sheet etc).

3

Thanks for the input @Guillaume_GVA.
The crowdfunding company doesn’t provide any updated value.
This I suspect it’s fairly standard behavior for equity crowdfunding without secondary market, it’s hard to pinpoint the value of shares in a non-traded company until it goes public or it is acquired by another company.

That circulaire is quite intricate, but from what I understand it’s really focused on Swiss-based companies.
For example it says that the burden of the calculations is on the tax office of the canton where the company is based…at least it’s not on the taxpayer :sweat_smile:

4

You are correct, but the same valuation rules will apply for foreign stocks too.

1. Les Instructions ont pour objectif l’estimation uniforme en Suisse, pour l’impôt sur la fortune, des titres nationaux et étrangers qui ne sont négociés dans aucune bourse. Elles servent à l’harmonisation fiscale intercantonale.

Indeed, that’s the good news for us, Swiss taxpayers :slight_smile:

Swiss unlisted shares - valuation done by the tax office where the company is registered.
Foreign unlisted shares - valuation done by the investor’s tax office.

You only have to provide the documentation. They will take care of the valuation for you. You have the possibility to challenge it if you do not agree with the result.

Unless your investment becomes the next unicorn in the years to come, I doubt that the tax authorities will spend time on this Circulaire for CHF 1’000 invested.

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