I (resident in Kanton Zurich, non CH citizen) received gift from my father (non CH/EU citizen and non CH/EU resident) last year. It was his personal funds. Landed directly into my bank account in Switzerland. How do I declare that in Zurich Tax declaration?
Also, would I be taxed? As per this document I think I would not be taxed on receiving this gift.
PS: my bank asked me the source of funds both verbally and on paper to be signed and declared which I did last year ( the amount was sufficient to trigger anti money laundering procedures in the bank side)
There is a section called Gifts in income section in Zurich taxation. You can declare it there. Gifts from parents should be tax free in ZH.
Other than the bank transfer, do you also have other document like GIFT DEED or something ? IF yes, then you can attach it. Otherwise make sure you attach copy of bank transaction.
It would be good to share what finally happens in this case. It can be a good learning for everyone for how to proceed in such cases.
Even before looking at the relationship between the donor and the receiver, the gift tax liability in canton ZH exists only if the donor is resident in the canton or the donation is a real estate property located in the canton. A non-Swiss-resident gifting you cash does not produce any Swiss tax liability. If there would’ve been a tax liability you would’ve needed to file a special gift tax declaration.
In your normal yearly tax declaration there is a section to declare inheritances and gifts - you will need to add the gift you received from your father there. It is basically a mere FYI to the tax office to explain the increase in wealth
In my understanding it depends on the relationship (parents, siblings, friends), it’s not always tax free.
There are tables you can consult for limits and taxed amounts.
Aren’t there “2 sides” to that taxation (giving and receiving side)?
Maybe rez is referring to the gifter not having to pay taxes if they are outside of CH?
I’ve been looking at regulations some time ago, and remember I purposely limited the amount incoming from my sibling (outside of CH) to 10k because of “reasons”.
Maybe I interpreted their writings wrongly.
If a friend gives you 25k (or any amount) CHF and he is located outside of Switzerland there is no Swiss tax liability (for anyone). There might or might not be tax liability for you or your friend from other countries (the country your friend is resident in, your and your friend citizenship countries, the country the cash was moved from/to, etc.).
Not sure why, I guess Switzerland does not consider money earned by someone else in another country to be relevant - and leave it to the donor’s country to tax it if appropriate. In general there is no Swiss federal gift or inheritance tax, they are left to Cantons to levy if they want. You can see the ZH rules here for example (you find the relevant part in the first pharagraph), but I think no canton taxes gifts outside of this rule (donor in the canton or the donation is the real estate in the canton).
If the gift falls under the scope of Swiss taxes then sure, you need to check the relationship and the amount, and it might be tax free. But this is not the case here, in this case there is just no tax liability to begin with.
ZH rules (and I admit that I am not 100% sure about all other cantons, but I think it is the same) say that for the inheritance/gift tax liability in ZH canton to exist one of the two things must be true:
The deceased/donor is resident in canton ZH
The inheritance/donation is a real estate property in canton ZH
None of these are true in this case, so ZH canton does not care
I remembered the rules differently too. But @rez is right:
Nach bundesgerichtlicher Doppelbesteuerungspraxis ist zur Erhebung der Erbschaftssteuer auf dem beweglichen Vermögen grundsätzlich derjenige Kanton berechtigt, in welchem der Erblasser seinen letzten Wohnsitz hatte. Grundstücke, die vererbt werden, sind im Kanton zu versteuern, in dem sie liegen.
I also received a small donation (<5000 CHF) this year, so now I wonder how I should declare it. I found Ziffer 50 in the PDF form for this purpose (Schenkungen). However, I am not able to find a way to fill this field in ZHprivateTax.
Does anybody know how to declare small donations via ZHprivateTax? Thanks.
Did the donor live in ZH? Because I think the form might be only for this case (and should actually be filled/sent at most 3 months after the gift, it’s separate from the regular tax filing).
If the donor is not from ZH, just mention it as a note?
Good point, the donor lived in another canton so, no reason to submit the form. Thanks for pointing this out.
But, on the other hand, I still cannot find how to file it in ZHprivateTax. I think next year I’ll send an email to ask the technical support (usually they are pretty responsive) and if they cannot help me, I’ll just add a note.
You might need to submit a form in the other canton tho. (And if it’s like Zürich you might want to ask for leniency for the late filing, which hopefully they grant if no tax is due anyway)
There’s nothing to declare, you can just mention it as a comment to explain tbe wealth increase if it’s significant.
You might need to submit a form in the other canton tho. (And if it’s like Zürich you might want to ask for leniency for the late filing, which hopefully they grant if no tax is due anyway)
We are still within the 90 days limit. However, I do not understand why should I submit a form to another canton… Anyway, I will give a call to their tax administration.
There’s nothing to declare, you can just mention it as a comment to explain tbe wealth increase if it’s significant.
The amount is too small for it to be taxable even if it was donated within Canton Zurich. However, from the Wegleitung, it is not extremely clear whether it should be declared even if it is not taxable:
”Hier sind alle Schenkungen, Erbvorbezüge und Vermögensanfälle von Todes wegen … anzugeben, die im Jahre 2024 stattgefunden haben.”
— Wegleitung zur Steuererklärung, Ziffer 50”
I would be willing to do so, I just have to figure out how to do it in ZHprivateTax…
Because it’s the canton of the donor that taxes it.
Ok, I checked the demo, in “persönliches” menu, you can add that (similar to how you’d select receiving pension/IV/etc). (But I think you still need the actual separate Steuererklärung for the canton of donor)
Btw for small sums, might not need to declare (like you don’t declare Xmas/bday gifts, but the amount might depend on jurisprudence and not sure what that is).
Thanks, I now see it. I was looking for it under Vermögen…
Btw for small sums, might not need to declare (like you don’t declare Xmas/bday gifts, but the amount might depend on jurisprudence and not sure what that is).
I absolutely agree, normally I would not declare such a small sum. But given that this donation results from a deceased person, and it is fully documented in writing, I am inclined to add it in the declaration anyway.
Because it’s the canton of the donor that taxes it.
As I said, I will contact their tax authorities. Thanks for pointing this out.
There are two different things at play here: the gift tax declaration and your normal yearly tax declaration.
As @nabalzbhf mentioned since the donor (although this seems to be an inheritance since the donor is dead? either way, it’s the same thing normally) lives in another canton then it’s a matter of that canton to maybe tax this gift/donation. You should check the rules of that canton and you might need to file the gift tax declaration in that canton (for example, if the donor is resident in ZH then the ZH gift tax declaration must be filed even when 0 taxes are due - so check that canton specifically). No ZH gift tax declaration is needed because this gift by definition is out of scope of ZH tax authority
For your normal yearly tax declaration instead in ZH, when you file it next year for 2025 (assuming the donation happened this year) there will be a section for donations/inheritances received through the year - and you will add it there. This will serve as a mere FYI to the ZH tax office to explain the increase in wealth.
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