This is the first year my husband and I are about to do our tax declaration.
My grandmother left me a piece of land in Croatia as Erbvorbezug. I understand having to declare it in the tax declaration form but I don’t know how much it is worth. Would I need to call in somebody to estimate its value? Do I also need to get a form stating I own it or is it only enough to put it on the list?
Regarding cash, I still have my Irish bank account with some savings on it. Is it enough to simply list the amount in the form or do I have to provide a statement as well? To have new statements generated in my bank in Ireland, I have to make a request in written and send it by post, hence the question.
1) I would enter the land at a very low price. We have no idea of size or value, but say CHF25,000. If the tax people query this, then you can think of paying for a valuation.
2) Again, you can try just entering the balance as at 31 December 2021. I doubt you will be able to supply anything more than a statement (presume you have online banking) for that date if the Irish tax year (like the UK) is not Jan 1 to Dec 31...
1. Accounting numbers should be supported. As a suggestion, determine the current market price for land in the area based on M2 or hectare. Then multiply by the size of your land, and then multiply this market value by 70% to yield a tax value. Also, a line item with a brief description of location and size should be sufficient.
2. A line item listing the bank name, bank account type, bank account number, value and any interest for the year should be sufficient. If opened during the year, the date of opening needs to be included. Under normal circumstances, there should be no need to include the year-end statement but retain it for your records.
The land is located on a beautiful spot, two minutes from the sea, but it is still considered agricultural which means that the price per square meter should not be higher than 3-5 CHF which amounts to approx. 11.000-17.000 CHF.
I would have three questions regarding this:
1. Do I need to put down the value (11.000 CHF) or some other amount such as the tax value as mentioned below?
" determine the current market price for land in the area based on M2 or hectare. Then multiply by the size of your land, and then multiply this market value by 70% to yield a tax value."
Is this an official formula accepted by tax offices in Switzerland?
2. What impact will this have on my earnings? Will I be taxed differently? I found some information regarding wealth tax but find it rather confusing. I live in Zurich and am married.
I'm assuming the land is non income generating. Therefore the only difference to your taxation will be the wealth tax calculation. This will be added to your total wealth and if less than +-chf 300,000 will be nil.
Up to about CHF 1.3 m it will be 15 / 000 (mille) so on a million you'd pay CHF1,500 (maybe less as it starts at CHF300,000 and the next band up to +- CHF700,000 is 10/mille - but I don't know how Zurich calculates it).
Hope it helps but check the precise amounts as it varies from canton to canton.
It is still counting toward your wealth tax regardless of double tax avoidance treaties. Check this out for more info (one of the sources from the top of mind. I found other sources stating the same): https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/automat...-know/43079718
Not sure for Croatia, but for UK I found an online estate agent who would do a valuation without seeing the property (you enter some details, and it gives you an estimated value).
Worked quite well, as I tried 3-4 different sites and then picked the most suitable one.
The asset value needs to supported. If you have a property tax value from Croatia, I would suggest using it. If you do not, I would suggest determining the market value per M2 or hectare, based on a sale/ listing of a nearby property in the past several years. Then perform the calculation below:
Determine the current market price for land in the area based on M2 or hectare. Then multiply by the size of your land, and then multiply this market value by 70% to yield a tax value.
Zurich tax offices will normally accept a 70% value of market value as a tax value of foreign real property.
The value of foreign real property is used to set the asset tax rate for Swiss real property and financial assets you and your spouse own. However, the value of the foreign real property is removed through a Steuerausscheidung ("tax division") and it is not taxed by the Swiss.
Your assets and your spouse's assets are to be included in the tax filing.
Please keep in mind that the tax rate on assets is pro mille and is low. The impact of Fr. 11'000 to 17'000 additional assets on the asset tax rate is minimal.