Again, thanks so much. Now I have to fire up my investment spreadsheets and redo my “are US ETFs worth it” calculations.
Yes, the ratio of the tax value of DA-1 assets to the total taxable assets is what’s used to distribute deductions (Steuerwert DBA-Titel : Wert Total Aktiven).
Seems correct to me, assuming 16.5% is the tax rate and there are no other taxable assets.
The 16.5% was just example from the comment above. Thanks for clarifying the calculation
Correct for deducted interests, not correct for asset management costs that were used in the example above.
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At least for the tax year 2019 in ZH, both types of deductions were handled the same way as “Schuldzinsen u. Unkosten”. It’s possible something changed since then or not all cantons do it the same way, though.
Right, it used to be. Just checked my old documents.
2019 was a long time ago 
It was changed (or rather specified) with the law on tax reform and AHV financing (STAF; 18.031) in 2019, effective since 2020.
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Same as my experience from tax declarations in ZH from 2020-2023.
Good morning,
probably stupid question, excuse my ignorance.
Let’s say I receive 850 CHF of dividend from VT (1000 CHF gross - 15% L2TW) and that I have a marginal tax rate of 20%, to calculate the actual taxation on the dividend this calculation is correct:
1000 CHF are declared and taxed at 20% (marginal tax rate) = 1000*0.2= 200 CHF
The following year (if I fill out the DA-1 form) they deduct 15% of the L2TW from my total taxes so I get back 150 CHF.
Total lost in taxes = 200-150 = 50 CHF
Net dividend yield:
850 CHF received - 50 CHF taxes = 800 CHF
Total taxes on net dividend received = 50/850*100= 5.88%
So in my spreadsheet to consider the net dividend yield I enter -5.88% on net received.
While reasoning on the gross dividend the total taxes correspond to your marginal tax rate = 1000 CHF * 0.2 = 200 CHF, because the 15% of L2TW is recovered.
Did I interpret everything correctly or did I miss something?
That looks right, but that’s a fairly odd way to look it it Normally the denominator is always the gross dividend.
Thanks, my goal was to make sure that the only taxes paid on the dividend are actually those related to the marginal rate and no others.
From the pespective of a Swiss investor, which is the best funds domicile for a fund holding European stocks, Switzerland, Ireland, US or doesn’t it really matter which one?
Here is some info
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Hi,
I bought a Japanese ETF last year (TOPIX, JP3048120004). Did you manage to get the 5% back from the Japanese tax office? (the difference between the 10% of the treaty and the 15% WHT). I am considering to apply for it if it is feasible, although I didn’t manage to find the right form in their website.
Unfortunately not. Basically, I got stuck and then it slipped my mind. It starts with where to send it to, which isn’t the JP tax office but the payer or clearing agent iirc. Other (official) pages then mention a local tax office in the context of non-residents again.
My broker offers some services on tax vouchers or relief, but explicitly excluded Japan from that.
I’d have to search the forms again, it was a bit of a mess to find the right ones.
Please share if you have new or different information.
Oh, that’s a shame! I think that the tax authorities make it so complicated on purpose so that most people don’t apply for it.
Other countries make it also quite hard to get the excessive WHT back.
If I have some time, I’ll try to look at it and share it if I’m successful!
I think Switzerland makes it reasonably easy.
For locals, sure, but that’s not a reclaim. JP residents would also need to handle specific forms, get a resident confirmation and ensure formal consistency.
But yes, at least the instructions are more simple and it’s clear where they’d have to send it to 
And it’s likely more established for foreign retail investors.
Maybe it’s straightforward, after all and I just missed the point.
So Crunchy, any hint is welcome 
Yes, it is. Swiss withholding tax and US withholding tax (though DA-1) is a reclaim.
In any case, having spent two years in Japan, I feel for you. Their bureaucracy is extremely efficient, once you have spent several hours figuring our their understanding of efficiency
That’s a nice way of seeing it
The DA-1, I’d consider more of a credit. Either way, our DA-1 reclaim is a different process, with less documents required from what a foreign investor of CH stocks needs to go through to reclaim overpaid CH taxes in CH (not his resident country).
For example, also CH would ask for a tax voucher from a foreign broker. Once they charge a fee for that (if they offer it in the first place), you already prevent all the smaller investors, the effort to fill the paperwork aside. For DA-1, we put in some numbers, add some standard PDF report and that’s it
Actually I can confirm that for a foreign investor, reclaiming the swiss WHT is not easy.
My mother lives abroad and has stocks of Swiss companies. CH withholds 35% of the dividends, a quite high WHT, whereas per treaty with the residence country it should just be 15%.
To get this 20% back from the CH tax office, it is not enough to send the bank documentation stating how much was withhold. You have to ask to your broker for a special document certifying that they really paid this WHT to the CH tax office. I’ve read several comments stating that the brokers charge a high fee for this document, so in the end I didn’t tell my mother to ask for it, as the netto gain would maybe not be worth it…
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