Thanks. It seems I’ve received around 10 chf of income in stock dividends in 2020 before I sold them. I didn’t declare those. Am I in trouble and should I declare these dividends now in my 2021 tax return?
You can’t declare it in the wrong tax year. You would have to file a correction of the earlier tax declaration but a simple correction is only possible before the final tax assessment, so it’s probably too late now. For a total of CHF 10 income that you forgot to declare, I wouldn’t worry at all. Taxable income is rounded down to the next CHF 100, so it might not even affect the final tax calculation.
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I have my own a company where I’m also employed. Last year my company gave me a personal loan, should I and how do I enter it into my private tax return?
Is it maybe better to “convert” this loan into dividend distributions? I live in ZH canton. Thanks.
I use a laptop daily at work that I have paid for myself which was also used to study for a professional exam. Have any of you tried to declare that as Berufsorientierte Aus- und Weiterbildungskosten?
Guys, these questions are so specific you can just ask the canton/commune where you do your tax return.
First of all, this might be handled differently dependend on the canton, and secondly we are not a tax advisor forum.
Especially the first question has so many variables, that I would definitely look for a tax advisor (and since you say you are employed by your own company, it means you are probably at least a GmbH and so you actually should have some professional bookkeeping going on).
In Switzerland, specific questions can be asked to the canton/commune and you get a mostly good reply in a matter of a few days, and at least you have some assurance it is right.
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You’re definitly right, I thought maybe someone already tried 
Sorry to mess up the posts.
Where in the ZH PrivateTax online software do I enter that I own share capital in my own company?
I’m asking these questions because my (first) accountant is pretty useless and I will be replacing her for next year for sure.
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In the Wertschriftenverzeichnis AFAIK
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Like other shares in the WV, however, you have to mark it as ‘Qualifizierte Beteiligung’, which will get you the reduced dividend taxes.
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Under “Art” do I enter “Genossenschaftsanteil”?
There is no way to mark it as ‘Qualifizierte Beteiligung’ in ZH PrivateTax but there is a section at the bottom of WV called ‘Qualifizierte Beteiligung’ where I can enter the amount in CHF. Should I enter here the total share capital of my company?
It really does depend on your canton and it tax administration‘s interpretation of the law (as a quick look into their various „Wegleitungen“ guidances will confirm).
As a general rule, they will most probably decline that deduction entirely - or at least assume that you‘re also using your computer for personal use (in addition to, in your case, professional use) and reduce your intended deduction by, say, 50%. It’s not normal to purchase computers and exclusively use them for educational purposes as a single individual. Some cantons seem unwilling to recognise IT equipment/computers for deduction entirely.
Assume, on the other hand, your exam or curriculum explicitly made use of (for example) a particular computer-aided design or modelling software. You bought, for that purpose, a laptop with a professional workstation graphics chip that has specifically been certified for that software. If you include explanation and evidence with your tax return, then you may more likely have a point with your tax office…
Under “Vermögen” there is a section called “Geschäfts- und Korporationsanteile”. Google translates this to “Business and Corporation Shares”.
What goes in this section then if I have to enter my share capital in WV?
Thanks for the answer! I didn’t file it in the end. I figured if anything it would have to be declared as Berufsauslagen and since I already did the Pauschale there, I didn’t try to deduct it.
I assume the legal form of your company is either a GmbH or an Aktiengesellschaft. Choose GmbH-Anteil or Aktie.
In the “Wertschrift erfassen” form there is a + next to “Angaben zum Wertpapier”. Click on that to make the “Qualifizierte Beteiligung” checkbox visible. The field at the bottom of WV should then be filled out automatically (if there were any dividends).
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Thank you so much, Jay! I guess you know your taxes…
After entering my share capital, I get this warning:
"Der Anfangsbestand und die Veränderungen der erfassten Zu- und Abgänge ergeben nicht den Endbestand gemäss “Stückzahl” bzw. “Nennwert”.
Bitte prüfen Sie die Werte bzw. korrigieren Sie Ihre Angaben.
Bei “Ignorieren” wird diese Position (Nennwert/Stückzahl) trotz Abweichung gespeichert."
This is something about opening and closing positions not being declared? I have the ‘ignore’ and ‘correct’ buttons available…
You need to add an entry to “Zu- & Abgänge” to document when and how you obtained the shares. I would assume Art/Grund should be “Kauf” in your case.
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Thanks, Jay! What about the date of “Kauf”? Should I enter the date my company was officially registered in 2020? Or do I enter 1.1.2021 since it’s 2021 declaration? I assume the former but better to ask somebody smarter than me
Ah, so you forgot to declare your own company shares in the 2020 tax return as well (I thought you only forgot to declare the stocks with the tiny dividend before you sold them).
You can’t enter dates outside the tax year. The correct declaration in the 2021 tax return is to specify “Endbestand Vorjahr/Anfangsbestand Steuerjahr”. Add a “Kauf” entry only if there were additional shares you obtained in 2021. The tax authorities will be able to see that this was missing in your 2020 tax return, however, I don’t know what exactly will happen. I definitely wouldn’t add an entry with an incorrect date as that may be considered tax fraud, which is much worse than forgetting to declare something. Also, the official registration date is anyway in public records.
In absence of a trusted tax professional or attorney, it may make sense to be proactive and ask the tax authorities in your city what you should do. A “straflose Selbstanzeige” would presumably be an option, however, maybe there are other options.
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No, that was declared in the 2020 tax return but there are no Zugang dates there… so maybe I leave the zugang date empty in the 2021 tax declaration as well…
Hi all. Quick question regarding:
Do I understand it correctly that only when the income tax from dividends is higher than CHF 100 should we fill out the DA-1? I only started investing last year and got dividends from VT only once - the amount of dividends was slightly over CHF 100, but the tax from that was actually less than CHF 20. Should I then declare the IBKR positions in the “Wertschriftenverzeichnis” rather than in “DA-1 Wertschriftenverzeichnis”?
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