Tax Declaration: list your deductions!

In SZ you need to upload some form of document to prove the 3% wealth costs otherwise you can’t end your tax declaration in the online version that’s why I took it out. Will try to do it anway next year and just upload my IBKR report with all my ETFs I guess.

Just checked the tax information document of SZ and this was why it requested me to upload some documents to prove my wrongly entered 3%, FML. 3‰ it is thanks for the info :joy:

Not total wealth. You can’t add your bank account to that.

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Exactly, only the invested amount (this excludes for instance cash positions in your broker, like leftover from buying).
At least accountant told me that.

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Working on my 2021 tax declaration (ZH).

I am adding Bundessteuer for 2020 and 2021 as additional debt, which lower a bit my wealth. I remember reading about it on 20min once and found it a great idea. I added them as if they were two mortgages. Anybody can confirm that I am putting them at the right place?

I also paid some income taxes to a EU country where I have a rental property. I should be able to deduct these taxes because there is a treaty with Switzerland. But where is the right place? In the deductions relative to the property, i.e., together with the renovation costs?

I also have an issue with IB: when I try to create report which should include interests accrued over cash (e.g., from USD), all fields are correctly reported, except for the interests. I’ll call them tomorrow, but I wonder if anybody else noticed the same glitch/bug.

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I often answer questions about IB reports, but in this case I don’t understand what you mean.

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You can’t deduct this because the income is not taxable here. The principle is the foreign income is taxed in its location of the property (but is used to determine the tax rate)

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But then renovation costs, even if abroad, can be deducted from the income, right?

Yes. You are deducting it on the real estate section. The net income/costs will be linked to the first page (income statement).

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No they cannot be deducted from your Swiss taxable income

But you should include them in your tax return since they will reduce the rate at which your Swiss income is taxed

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Pretty sure my taxable income was reduced when I deducted such renovation costs abroad in the past (though they did not accept 100% of what I declared).

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I have a property abroad; this is how it has worked for me (ZH):

  • For all houses and appartments (in CH or aborad), there has to be an income. This is either the actual rental income, or Eigenmietwert.
  • From this income, the costs are substracted (these can contain renovations).
  • What remains, is the net income of the property.
    • Note: I don’t know, whether this can be negative.
  • If the property is abroad:
    • The net income of from the property is counted towards the income used to determine the tax rate (“Satzbestimmendes Einkommen”).
    • The net income is not counted towards the taxable income (“Steuerbares Einkommen”), as this income is taxed abroad.
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In my (ZH) experience:

  • the net income CAN be negative
  • even if the property is abroad the negative income is deducted from your taxable income (both for federal and Kanton/gemeinde). You can try it yourself by adding a test large renovation cost when filling your tax return.
  • the tax office might request more info about the required deductions, but in my case, given that the renovations costs amounted to 80% of the purchase price, they simply offered to deduct only half of the costs, assuming it could not just be “value maintaining” renovations

My experience in Geneva is the same as @the_p outlines

My taxes go down if I add a large overseas property expense because a lower tax rate is applied to my taxable income

Here is the guidance from the canton. I assume the same principle should apply to all cantons.

Deepl translation:
" If your property is located:

-in the Canton of Geneva: it is taxed in the same way as your other assets and income, and it is also subject to the additional real estate tax;

-in another canton: its taxable value and its income are used to determine your tax rate for cantonal and municipal taxes (ICC), and its income is added to your taxable income for direct federal tax (IFD) if you are domiciled in Geneva;

-abroad: it is not taxed in Geneva, but its taxable value and income are used to determine your tax rate.

Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)"

I was just finishing tax declarations for us in ZH and my mother in BE. Both are homeowners in a condominium.

I don’t know if this is common knowledge, but you can deduct your Payments into the Renovation fund of your home ownership association in certain cantons, as long as the money is used for maintenance and not increasing value. As the sum can reach the low 4 figures, it’s worth looking into.

BE: German French
ZH: German

Keywords for search:

  • DE - Einlagen in den Erneuerungsfonds
  • FR - Apports/Versements/Contributions au fonds de rénovation de la PPE
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Hi,

I have a question regarding deductions for transport. I exclusively ride by bicycle to work (it’s ~15 km). So far I was deducting only 700 pauschal for bicycles. I’ve seen it is possible to deduct bicycle + ZVV yearly abo.

Now my question - is it legal to deduct both, gray area or just plain illegal? :slight_smile: In case of audit I won’t be able to show ZVV abo.

Only deduct what you actually use.
No ZVV abo, no ZVV abo reduction.
That’s how self-declaration works.

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What if you didn’t spend 700 Fr on biking in a year? :wink:

That’s a pauschal abzug, doesn’t matter if you actually spend 700 or not.

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According to art. 26 para. 1 lit. a LIFD/DBG, business expenses that may be deducted include necessary travel expenses between home and place of work, up to a maximum of CHF 3’000 (for 2022; up to CHF 3’200 for 2023). Art. 5 para. 2 of the FDF Ordinance on the deduction of business expenses incurred by self-employed persons for the purposes of direct federal taxation stipulates that the necessary expenses for the use of public transport (letter a) or the necessary expenses per kilometer driven in a private vehicle are deductible, provided that public transport is not available or that the taxpayer cannot be expected to use it (letter b).

If the deductibility of the use of public transport is more important, you should request it. Of course, you will probably be asked to provide proof of payment of the public transport subscription or tickets. On the other hand, if you use your bike, you can claim up to a maximum of CHF 700 deductible. As far as proof is concerned, you can request a certificate from your employer, for example. On the other hand, you cannot combine the deduction for public transport and the bicycle.