I was an expatriate for 4 years in Switzerland and I was repatriated to a non EU country back in 2021. While repatriating, I have decided not to close my swiss bank account (for personal reasons) by not declaring my repatriation to the bank. So I still own it and I keep paying monthşy charges to the bank. My wife has been selling some jewelry since then - for which she accepted payments by bank transfer & TWINT to this bank account. Annual sales has reached appx 20K CHF for last year. As a non swiss resident, are we subject to any tax with this way doing business? There is potential to grow the business further but I want to understand this from a tax perspective. Reading few pages on the matter, as a non swiss resident it seems that earnings made through this business model is not subject to income taxes.Is my understanding correct? If not, what should I do? Or if there is a ceiling for the total payments we may accept in our bank account, what is that limit?
Dears,
Ask a tax consultant.
If you don’t operate thE account according to the terms and conditions agreed with the bank, you can expect at some point that the bank will freeze the accounts and report it to the authorities for suspected MLA. I recall a very old thread from someone who got themselves into this mess.
Especially if you no longer live in Switzerland and forgot to tell them, that can set off a nice amount of red flags.
Step 1. Remove all your money from the account and close it.
Step 2. Set up a new account that doesn't contravene the rules/law
Step 3. Worry about taxation issues.
When you get to step 3, let us know and we'll be sure to give you advice.
The country where a bank account is located normally doesn't affect tax liability at all. You or your wife may or may not owe taxes on these sales but whether that account is at a Swiss or an EU bank doesn't matter. Which country you may owe taxes to depends on the details of these sales and your tax residency.
As already mentioned by others, not informing your bank about your move can definitely cause issues. Fix this as soon as possible. Some but not all Swiss banks allow non-residents to remain a customer (there may be significant extra fees, though). Swiss banks will inform the country of your tax residence about your account (AEOI).