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HolderTax / Switzerland / Rules / Wealth tax
Rule explainer · Switzerland · Schedule lines 05–06

The wealth tax: tax-free does not mean declaration-free

The tax-free capital gain has a quiet twin: every coin held counts toward taxable wealth on 31 December — self-custody included, with not a single sale required. Swiss crypto tax is not a tax on selling. It is a tax on holding.

Working draft · rule mechanics pending review by an authorised professional · not advice on your declaration

The mechanics

Cryptoassets are movable property and subject to the cantonal wealth tax. What counts is the holding at the end of the tax period — 31 December — valued at the Federal Tax Administration's official year-end rates (available via ICTax). For tokens without an FTA rate, the market value from a reliable platform, or failing that the purchase price; keep the chosen source consistent. Rates are cantonal and progressive — from a few hundredths of a percent to nearly one percent, with allowances varying by canton and marital status. What counts is residence at year-end.

Declaration happens in the register of securities and assets — every position, whether it ever produced a yield or not. On top come the yields themselves: staking, mining, lending and airdrops are taxable income at their CHF value on receipt. That separation is the heart of the Swiss return: holdings into wealth, receipts into income, price gains — as a private holder — nowhere.

The tax office does not demand you tax your gains. It demands to know your wealth. Confuse the two and stay silent, and you turn a zero tax into a proceeding.

Why full declaration is the cheapest strategy

The temptation is obvious: if the gains are tax-free anyway, what does omission cost? Three things. First, the wealth tax itself — still owed, and it returns in back-tax proceedings with interest and a fine, up to ten years. Second, tomorrow's evidence: holdings declared in 2026 are the best proof that the 2029 sale was a tax-free private gain on old stock — holdings never declared turn the same sale into an explanation problem. Third, the data: crypto AEOI is coming, EU platforms are already collecting, and a discrepancy between a report and the register is the classic trigger for proceedings.

What to do

  1. Photograph the holdings on 31 December. All wallets and platforms, quantities, a screenshot or export — fifteen minutes at year-end saves the April reconstruction.
  2. Value at FTA rates, fill gaps consistently. ICTax first; for exotics pick one source and stay with it.
  3. Keep receipts separate. Date, quantity, CHF value on receipt — that is the income side, and it is the side that grows over the years in staking portfolios.
  4. Heal missed years through the one-time door. Never-declared holdings belong in a penalty-free voluntary disclosure — before the first data wave reports the discrepancy.
The trader lineThe classification that turns the holding tax into an income tax.→ The penalty-free disclosureThe route for never-declared holdings.→

Rates, allowances and formalities are cantonal. This page explains the mechanics; it replaces no advice, and reading it creates no professional relationship.