this is my first year filing taxes having some US investments.
I understood that US 15% taxes on dividends should be 100% reimboursed by Switzerland when filing DA-1 form but it seems that's not the case for me.
In the document I just received I got back only the amount of my marginal tax rate (basically the taxed I paid twice), which is lower than 15%.
Is this normal? Am I missing something? Doesn't the US-CH tax treaty says that we should only pay taxes in one country?
"5. Creditable Foreign Withholding Taxes
- Principle
Provided that the foreign withholding taxes do not exceed the maximum amount or the total income or profit tax due, they are fully credited.
The purpose of the maximum amount is to ensure that a taxpayer resident in Switzerland who receives income subject to withholding tax from abroad cannot credit a higher amount against income or profit taxes due in Switzerland than Swiss taxes are due on the corresponding income. The taxes levied by the Confederation, the cantons, the municipalities and the parishes (only for legal entities) are collectively considered as the "Swiss tax". Accordingly, there are no reductions in the tax credit for Swiss residents who are not subject to full taxation in all the tax jurisdictions within Switzerland that affect them. In these cases, however, the reduced maximum amount (see section 7 below) limits the possibility of crediting the tax.
6. How is the amount of credit for foreign withholding taxes determined?
The amount of credit for foreign withholding taxes is, subject to the following limitation, equal to the sum of the foreign withholding taxes that have been levied in the Contracting States in the course of a calendar year (due year) on the dividends, interest, royalties, service income and pensions in accordance with the applicable double taxation treaty and that cannot be reclaimed under the double taxation treaty. However, if the Swiss taxes due on the income taxed in the Contracting States are lower, only the lower amount (maximum amount, see item 7 below) will be refunded.
7. How is the maximum amount calculated?
The following statements refer to income due after December 31, 2019.
a) Calculation for natural persons
The calculation of the maximum amount is based on the tax rates applied in the calculation of the income taxes due for the due year. In this context, the maximum amount is calculated separately for federal taxes on the one hand and for cantonal and municipal taxes on the other. However, it may not be higher than the sum of the Swiss income taxes in the due year. Surcharges for church taxes are not taken into account. The cantons may provide their own rates for calculating the maximum amount.
The debt interest incurred in the same year, the other expenses and the tax-effective deductions directly or indirectly related to the generation of the income must be deducted proportionately from the declared gross income (see the following explanations in subparagraph c).
In the case of income from business assets, the maximum amount is calculated as for legal entities, but without taking church taxes into account."
Starting from this information sheet notes I found the actual law.