My father passed away late last year (he never lived in Switzerland), so I need to declare my share on my 2023 Swiss Tax return. (extension granted until end of this month). Just two problems:
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The ZH PrivatTax online form requires details of the deceased, but does not permit me to give overseas address, etc.
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I still do not have a formal statement of my entitlement
Is it okay to simply give basic details in the comment section instead? As far as I know nothing is subject to Swiss Inheritance or income tax (just wealth tax if anything). The local taxes on the estate are going to be bad enough.
There’s no inheritance taxation for the children in Kt ZH. Talk to the tax office what to do about the sudden wealth increase, how to explain it.
I haven’t received anything yet, I don’t know exactly how much, but I am still supposed to declare it as the death occurred in 2023. That is my dilemna.
At this stage I have simply put something in the comment section, so I am being transparent. Will see what comes back.
Write it in the comment section with the amount and form e.g. if just cash. That way they can see how much it is, which account it is in etc. and then don’t need to ask you further questions.
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I suggest you check that. We’re waiting for an estate (my wife’s father) to be finally settled in a few months’ time when the house finally sells, until such time as which we would not be able to even make a decent guess at the total inheritance value. As such we will declare it in the year we receive it, not the year he died (2022). Would be completely ludicrous to do it any other way (not that that would necessarily stop them).
While I am in Vaud I had no issues declaring an inheritance in the year I received it, not the year my mother died.
[quote=“Phil_MCR, post:4, topic:139227, full:true”]
Thanks. I might give my local tax office a call or visit.
No you are not supposed to declare anything yet because you’re not yet the owner of this property/inheritance. We are in the same situation and have asked.
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That’s why I suggest to talk to the tax office, they’re the experts.
If you have not received your inheritance, then you have nothing to declare.
Declare it when you actually have in your bank account. The only liability is likely to be wealth tax…
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Which you’ll be paying in both countries…?
Nope. I’m not a tax resident of my homeland anymore, so no wealth or income tax there… Unfortunately that has capital gains tax implications…so effectively a de-facto inheritance tax.
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Wrong. Whether received or not it forms part of your wealth as of the date of death (or on the 31 December thereafter anyway). The tax consequence will mainly be on wealth tax, I’m not sure about any tax on estate income after date of death.
On the SG tax form there is a box to fill if you are entitled to an undistributed inheritance, guess that could be the same for ZH? In any event, you will probably pay wealth tax based on the estimated inheritance with a correction to actual when known.
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You better check that. I had to pay in my home country despite not being resident there.
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Be careful if this is a UK inheritance. UK inheritance is taxed on the estate of the deceased (which is typically in the UK) and not on the one inheriting.
Don’t worry, I have. There is CGT on the estate, but not income or wealth. but see below.
No, it’s Australia, and yes it is very similar to UK. Because I am a non-tax resident it has made tax implications for the estate more complicated…my CGT gets paid through the estate and then deducted from my entitlement.
Hi there,
Based on my practical experience, Swiss end will not tax the income since it has been taxed at the foreign source. The total will be added to your wealth tax obligations.
You will however experience a “timing effect” - specifically Switzerland judges your wealth to have increased at the time of death, but you only actually get the money when it is released to you in the foreign country.
What works is to only declare the wealth in Switzerland when you actually get it, and also be clear about the date of the death abroad. The Swiss tax will then give you a retrospective wealth bill to the death date for your new wealth (that you did not in fact have!). Have experienced this with both a 1 year and 2 year gap for two separate inheritances. No stress if you are transparent, and no double income tax, only wealth.
NN
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Every Canton is different. In Vaud they wanted me to declare the money I received on the tax forms for the year I received it.
You mean they didn’t ask or care when the death occurred? It’s been my assumption that this will be the case here in Valais too, will be tested out this year or next when everything finally gets sorted.
I suppose I can see a scrap of logic, that any cash portion of the estate could be in an account earning interest over that period, But TBH I’ve never really understood why the wealth tax is a thing at all. Seems screwy to me, if I have several hundred thousand francs sitting there doing nothing why should the government be entitled to a portion of it every year, no matter how small?
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