Wealth Tax in Switzerland - seeking clarification

Member since 27 October 2010

midwestusaMember27 October 2010 11:38:37

Does anyone have information on Wealth Tax that an expat has to pay, in Switzerland, on worldwide assets that they own ? I understand that we have to pay about 1% of asset value, annually, as wealth tax, even if that assets is located or was earned outside fo switzerland. This came as a shock to us,last week.

Specifically, we seek information on what assets are included in determining "wealth", and what assets are not necessary to declare for this purpose ? For example, in my previous workplace, we did not have a pension plan; instead, the company gave us shares of company stock, that we are supposed to use to create our retirement income ( via selling or using dividends). Does the market value of such stocks become a part of our assets, for the purpose of determining wealth tax ? If teh company had a pension plan, instead, it would have set aside assets to use as a source of revenue to pay my pension once I retired - but that asset would not be considered as assets that I own, for wealth tax purpose.

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FeeAcer ViP

Member since 06 August 2009

FeeAcerViP27 October 2010 12:22:09

6172

Hello and welcome to Expat.com midwestusa!

I hope some of the active members of the forum will soon come forward with accurate responses to your questions.

Have a nice day further
Arlette

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blou ViP

Member since 04 May 2009

blouViP27 October 2010 14:02:18

349

as far as I remember the rate is not that high, more around 1 per 1000 (depending of canton), which for a pension plan of 500k will give something like 500CHF a year, and is already some money.

Pension plans, I am not sure would have been recognised, but that need some digging in the tax agreements between countries.
So yes, you have to declare the stocks you have and the market value will be taken into account to evaluate your wealth.