Foreign assets: what must be taxed in Switzerland?

All persons who are resident in Switzerland for tax purposes – i.e. who live here – must declare their worldwide assets. This includes:

• Bank accounts abroad
• Securities and funds abroad
• Life insurance policies with a savings component
• Real estate
• Investments, custody accounts or other assets abroad.

Double taxation agreements prevent the same income and assets from being taxed twice. Nevertheless, assets must be declared in Switzerland.

As data from the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) is used by the tax authorities, more and more foreign assets are coming to light. The consequences of undeclared assets are:

• Back taxes for the years concerned max. 10 years retroactively.
• Fines for tax evasion, often 100% of the evaded tax.