Just to be sure. We are talking about cases where Ictax has info but ZH tax doesn’t. Right?
I had a case where ZH tax & Ictax both had tax value numbers but earnings for 2024 were just not available (ishares SSAC)
I submitted the report without the earnings and I assume the software will automatically calculate it whenever they want to review the return. Did I do it correctly?
for credit cards do any of you declare these? i have a standing order to pay off balance each month, but i guess there could be a balance over the year end. i never bothered to get a tax statement etc. from the CC provider.
For me, the credit card invoice is simply an open invoice like any other invoice.
I wouldn’t declare my rent anywhere if I pay it on January 1 instead of December 31. Or if I have a car and pay the fuel on a three-monthly invoice. I mean, maybe I could deduct that somewhere as a debt to my advantage… I don’t know. But quite honestly, if the tax authorities were interested in such small things, then 99% of all citizens would be doing their taxes wrong today.
(if by credit cards you mean debit cards like Neon, Yuh, Revolut etc, yes I declare those. Even if they have CHF 0 on them. But I assume you mean real credit cards)
I automatically get a tax document for my main credit card where the balance is stated (and the interest but that’s 0 in my case). As I already have that document, I declare it as debt, reducing my wealth tax by a few francs.
Oh, but it is different. When and how you pay your bills - nobody cares, but a credit card balance outstanding on 31.12 is a deductible debt as good as your 10 years mortgage. We also get statements from all credit card providers and we declare these balances as debt.
Hey all
I had some personal issues so I’m late to the tax submitting party. I have two questions:
last year I had a relative transfer some money (50kEUR) into my accounts (from abroad) that I then transferred to Will-be because of the better interest rates for EUR. I’ve added this to the Securities statement (well it was actually automatically imported/processed). This money for all purposes is not mine and ofc I want to pay all taxes that I must (dividends). However can I declare these 50k as debt so that I do not pay wealth tax on this? Hopefully this won’t cause any problems. If it does I will also be getting some heritage money this year so if it’s easier I can “swap” that for this.
How does one handle stock options from a startup (as the main job). So far I haven’t declared anything for that because they are not exercised and the company is still far from going public so it’s not like I would even be able to sell them if I were to exercise them. Has anyone here gone through the same process?
Thanks
Edit: Came up with another question. Do you guys report those bank accounts with the house rental deposits?
If this is a loan you need to declare with proper documentation. You can’t call something a loan and then never pay it back .
Loan have specific terms with details of lender , interest, timeline etc
Yes. It’s part of your wealth
I will pay it back. but since it’s between family there isn’t really documentation.
To be honest I’m less worried about whatever wealth taxes I will pay on that amount (ZH canton) and more if I should “declare it as a loan” in order to justify where the money came from which is the truth.
Well. I think you need to classify it as gift and not loan.
„Loan“ needs documentation or else it can lead to money laundering discussions.
I doubt that Tax office would accept this transaction as loan just because you have „intention“ to pay it back without paying any interest and without any documentation
I’ll have a look this week with more time.
It seems that I “got lucky” since the money came from my mom and I’m in canton Zurich so from what I searched there is no tax to pay so even if I have to declare it as a gift it shouldn’t be a problem. I guess that money will disappear from my account this year but they probably don’t care as much for that then (maybe I just took a really good vacation 
)
In hindsight I should have researched this beforehand
Do you have a source for that? Afaik there’s no obligation to have a written record in Switzerland, a loan can be made just orally (similar to a contract).
(Of course a written record is recommended, but you should be fine just declaring the loan as is, esp if as OP says it’s truly a loan)
Eg: Crédit privé : infos & demande sans engagement | credaris.ch
In Switzerland it’s actually the canton of the donor that matters to decide what gift taxes will apply, even though it’s normally the recipient who pays it. As far as I know, gift recipients don’t pay gift taxes in Switzerland if the gift was from a person living abroad. The other country could potentially tax the gift, though. (For real estate, typically the tax laws at the location of the property apply).
However, it seems like it’s not really a gift. Declaring it as a loan seems reasonable as you will pay it back. I don’t remember under what circumstances tax authorities accept 0% loans, though. If the plan is to pay your mom the money back including the interest you’ll get from willbe, I suggest to also declare that interest rate for your loan. You can then deduct that debt interest payment and the net effect to your taxes should be zero (and you truly don’t benefit from this if you pass the interest along).
I don’t know where your mom lives but it may be possible that she has to declare the loan as well.
That said, I don’t really understand why this transfer was done in the first place. Is willbe so much better than bank accounts available to your mom?
Well I don’t have a source but on what basis a chunk of money can be called loan vs gift unless someone specifically mentions that somewhere.
I think tax office might not ask written proof of document but a statement from OP will itself become a written proof of document because OP will need to mention that who gave the money, when it’s going back etc. if amount is small, they would let it go, if it’s not they will ask for more info.
You declare it as a loan. It is not your money and you’ll be paying it back.
In your case, it is (apart from being legally correct) actually much easier to just declare it as a loan: no questions of undisclosed revenue streams, no wealth tax to be paid, and (in the year you pay it back) no questions where the 50k on that account went.
If you get the loan from a Swiss resident, make sure the other person declares it as well, else they might me accused of (wealth) tax evasion.
It’s what you declare that matters. If it’s a loan then it will stay on your declaration as such, if it’s a gift it’s a one off.
(If the loan suddenly disappears, with no corresponding wealth change, they’ll ask questions)
Just to add, a loan doesn’t require there to be an interest payment. I used to have an interest free loan and that was never an issue with the tax authorities. What is important that both sides declare it properly. Although not mandatory afaik , I find it useful to have something written. It’s simple enough and doesn’t cost you anything and will clearly state things.
Is the authorities come back asking for documentation that it is indeed a loan, is it really such a big deal? OP can just back-date a document signed between them and their mother
I would be careful going this route, because if you declare that money as a gift and then send it back - now you effectively made a gift to your mother and that is a taxable event in ZH (granted that 50k is under the threshold, but your mother would be still obliged to file ZH gift tax declaration, in theory)
As far as I understand, these would be taxed only when/if you exercise them, because they are not “Freie börsenkotierte Mitarbeiteroptionen”, see Merkblatt des kantonalen Steueramtes über die Besteuerung von Mitarbeiterbeteiligungen | Kanton Zürich
And iirc if not done smartly (I think you can get a tax ruling before setting up the startup?, too late for that though if that wasn’t done), this means you’ll pay income tax on all the capital gains which is really what you would want to avoid for a startup.