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Crypto Taxes Switzerland Guide

Those who deal with cryptocurrencies, NFTs and similar topics usually don't think about taxes first. In Switzerland, we have a special relationship with crypto taxes and some advantages. Nevertheless fall Taxes on cryptocurrencies at some point. There are a few things you should keep in mind, especially if you are Staking or perhaps Liquidity Mining operate.

So that the tax office doesn't spoil your mood, you will learn everything about crypto taxes in Switzerland in this article. You will get tips on how to best proceed and even a Guidebook to the hand. Let's briefly start with a general info and facts about the taxation of cryptocurrencies in Switzerland.

Table of contents

Findings

  • Price gains on cryptocurrencies are tax-free in Switzerland. (Attention restrictions)
  • Exchange losses cannot be claimed for tax purposes
  • Staking, lending and, for example, liquidity mining are considered taxable capital gains.
  • If your income from trading (or say DeFi area) contributes significantly to your living expenses, you run the risk of being classified as a professional trader.
  • A correct crypto declaration will save you a lot of trouble. In this article you will learn how to do it!

When are my cryptocurrencies not taxable?

Crypto taxes on exchange gains in Switzerland:

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Example 1: You buy ETH worth CHF 1,000. Subsequently, the Ethereum price rises and you sell your Ether for CHF 1,500. The price gain of CHF 500 is not charged for tax purposes in Switzerland. In summary: There is no need to pay tax on crypto gains in Switzerland.

Only your assets now increase by CHF 500, which is why the wealth tax may apply.

Crypto taxes on exchange losses in Switzerland:

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Example 2: You buy ETH worth CHF 1,000. Subsequently, the Ethereum rate falls and you sell your Ether for CHF 800. You cannot claim the loss of CHF 200 for tax purposes, i.e. you cannot deduct it for tax purposes. In summary: Taxing crypto losses is therefore not possible throughout Switzerland.

Do I pay taxes if I bought one cryptocurrency with another?

Ultimately, what counts in Switzerland is what assets you have at the end of the year. It doesn't matter if you buy another coin with one coin, if it increases or decreases in value, if you buy another coin with it ... (you can repeat this as often as you like). The price movements don't matter and also with which coin you bought which coin. Relevant are in the end your realizations and how they influence your wealth.

Anyone who trades a lot and in larger sums should be careful not to be classified as a professional trader. More about this later.

Document everything as clearly as possible for yourself (and the tax authorities), then there will be no problems in the end.

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When are my cryptocurrencies taxable?

Do I pay taxes on income from crypto staking?

In the crypto Staking is active income, which is why it is considered taxable investment income.

Lending and Liquidity Mining Taxation in Switzerland

Just as with staking, lending or Liquidity Mining taxed. The income must be declared as capital gains. Since this is not so easy with some decentralized exchanges, it is worthwhile to document your fiat movements cleanly.

If you transfer CHF 10,000 to a DeFi platform to do liquidity mining there, document when and how much you have invested in which assets. At the latest when you want to buy something from the proceeds, you will otherwise have to explain yourself.

How do I declare my cryptocurrencies in the Swiss tax return?

Cryptocurrencies are assessable movable property from a tax perspective. Thus, assets in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum are subject to property tax. The value is measured at the year-end rate on December 31 of each year.

Capital gains from trading are tax-free in Switzerland. Conversely, realized losses cannot be claimed for tax purposes either.

Disclosure of cryptocurrencies in the tax return

You can declare your cryptocurrencies on your tax return in the form "Securities and Credit Register".

Either select the cryptocurrency directly from the drop-down menu (see video below) or enter it manually.

You can manually enter any cryptocurrency as follows: Enter the code "UE remaining balance" in the first column and enter the balance, purchase date and purchase rate, as well as other information in the following fields. The year-end rate is either already displayed in the online tax return, or you can get the information from Coinmarketcap.

In the video below I show you the crypto tax entry exemplary for a tax return in the canton of Zurich.

Crypto Tax Tip

Generally, it is recommended to declare all assets on your tax return. Wondering if tax officials will find your secret wallet? Probably not.

But in Switzerland we hardly pay any taxes and even enjoy tax exemption on crypto price gains. The risk should not be worth it to you. Especially if you have a good hand and build up a small fortune with cryptocurrencies, you will want to withdraw and use the money as FIAT money at some point. Then, at the latest, the authorities will ask where the money for your home or Porsche suddenly came from.

Therefore, worry-free: Just declare everything and if your plan works out in the long run, you are on the safe side.

Taxable in Germany? If you want to declare your cryptocurrencies on your tax return in Germany, you can find more information here in the article by Talerbox all necessary info on Crypto taxes in Germany.

Attention: Tax Trap Commercial Trade

So you see that it's no problem if you have a salary of CHF 80,000, for example, and are the proud owner of cryptocurrencies worth CHF 5,000,000.

It becomes critical when you sell the cryptocurrencies and from the sales your Life entertainment to make a living. Or, for example, if you use your crypto assets in staking or other DeFi offers and thus generate an income that significantly finances your livelihood.

So, there are no specific crypto trading taxes Switzerland-wide, but you can consider the following criteria as a guide: 

crypto gewerbsmässiger handel schweiz tax trap note how often trade maximum crypto taxes switzerland

Declare DeFi Taxes: Taxing Staking, Lending and Liquidity Mining Correctly

In general: Taxes on crypto staking etc. are due. You can declare your income from staking and co. in your tax return under "Income from movable property" specify

To tax your DeFi income you need a tax report. Your DeFi Exchange provides you with a Tax Report or the possibility for a clear export of all transactions? Super!

However, some decentralized exchanges do not provide this, which is why it is unfortunately not so easy to specify the income from staking, lending, mining and the like. One possibility now would be at Etherscan https://etherscan.io to enter your address and view all transactions there.

It is best to meticulously record every transaction to the DeFi platform. No matter if you use a credit card, bank balance or PayPal credit, write down every transfer. Because it is important to declare the Gain through e.g. staking and not the increase at the Price gain.

Example: If you participate in bitcoin through liquidity mining, for example, and bitcoin goes up in price, you should be able to separate the price gains from the mining income. After all, you won't want to tax both, will you? So it's the price on the day of purchase that counts, not the price at the end of the year. A clean documentation and declaration is therefore the key to saving taxes.

Binance Earn, for example, allows you to export data for a maximum of 3 months into the past. So you should take a close look at your exchange and start thinking now how you can create a clean tax report at the end of the year. With Binance, it would be a good idea to create a reminder in the calendar so that you export and save a DeFi Tax Reporting every 3 months.

A print screen of your holdings as of 12/31 of each year will also help somewhat, should your exchange not provide reporting.

Checklist Crypto Tax Switzerland: Not only to make Crypto versteuern schweizweit easier, but also for more tips on your tax return:

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Download checklist here

Report crypto airdrops on taxes

If you receive cryptocurrencies free of charge through so-called airdrops, you should also declare them for tax purposes. To do so, enter the coins received through airdrops in the Swiss tax return under securities. (Instructions in this article). The relevant date is the claim date, i.e. the date on which you received the coins in your wallet.

Example: You have received coins worth CHF 500 via airdrop and they are worth CHF 8,000 at the end of the year? You declare them at the value of CHF 500 because you received them at this value. If you later sell them at CHF 10,000, you must of course declare this for tax purposes.

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Tax NFTs correctly

NFTs are becoming more and more popular, and so their prices continue to rise. The next tax return, at the latest, will raise the question of how an NFT is taxed.

The fact is, as of today (04.2022) the Taxation of NFTs in Switzerland not yet completely clear. All tax-free? Not so fast. 

Declare your NFTs as cleanly as possible on your taxes so that you have already declared all of them in the event of a subsequent price increase.

It is best to declare your NFT for taxes at the purchase price. (Unless the law will change here). So if you have bought an NFT for e.g. 0.002 ETH, enter it under "other assets" at this rate in your tax return. Enclosures and receipts help the tax office significantly here.

If your NFT is later suddenly worth a hundred times that, it doesn't matter until you sell it. Only when you sell it and realize your profit, does the asset you took count in your Property tax.

Conclusion

Those who are active in the crypto world and diligently Altcoins collects, has a lot to do when it comes to taxes. Since we hardly pay taxes in Switzerland and it can be beaten more quietly, you should better declare all assets correctly. If you have general questions about cryptos and blockchain in general, be sure to check out the big Crypto Guide on. And here you can find one that suits you Crypto app!

Do you have any other experiences and tips that help others here with their crypto - tax return? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Sources:

Notice:

No guarantee of accuracy. This article is not a recommendation or advice. Please always check your local current tax laws. 

FAQ

Yes, if you buy a cryptocurrency worth CHF 100 on January 10, for example. In December, your investment is already worth CHF 1,000,000?congratulations! If you sell now, the Price gain completely tax-free in Switzerland.

However, now that you are a millionaire, you fall into the Property tax - until your assets are used up 😉

Especially from lotteries, airdrops and other sources, countless coins in small amounts quickly accumulate in some wallets. Ideally, you should of course declare them all individually. Providers like CryptoTrader can help you here. 

If there is no other way and the amounts are negligible, at least declare the total of your holdings. A statement and receipts or screenshots will show the tax authorities the situation. It is better to declare roughly than not at all. Attention, this is not a recommendation! 

17 responses

  1. Hello Eric
    I have a question regarding automatic rebalancing. If I use a rebalancing bot with low thresholds and so many rebalancing transactions are carried out, does this increase the risk of being categorised as a professional securities trader or is this unproblematic?
    Thank you and best regards

    Reply

    1. Hello Flavio,
      Unfortunately, I can't give you a well-founded answer to this question. Personally, I would be rather cautious ... but there are several criteria for being categorised as a professional securities trader.

      Reply

  2. Hello, Eric,

    How do crypto ETPs and ETCs behave from a tax perspective? Are they treated like normal cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH etc.) or like ETFs/shares and you have to pay tax on the dividends?

    Greetings

    Marco

    Reply

    1. Hello Marco
      Unfortunately, I am not a tax expert. As far as I know, crypto ETPs and ETCs are treated in the same way as ETFs for tax purposes in Switzerland.
      So declare in assets, distributions are taxable in income, capital gains are tax-free for private investors. There may still be differences between ETPs with and without a delivery option - if anyone is familiar with this, please share!

      No tax advice.

      Reply

  3. Hello, Eric,

    In 2022, I bought shares in Microsoft and Apple worth 1,000 and failed to declare this on my tax return. Now, in 2023, I have also purchased cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum worth approx. 3000. Should I now declare everything in my tax return and note the forgotten amount in the comments?

    Reply

    1. Hello Sämi,
      I'm not allowed to give you any definitive advice here. But what I would do in your case: I would call the tax office and explain the situation.
      Experience has shown that a friendly and uncomplicated solution will be suggested to you here 🙂

      Reply

  4. Hello, Eric,
    If I have bought Bitcoin worth 1000, the price has risen and my Bitcoin account is now worth 1500, but I remain invested and do not sell again, what amount do I now have to declare in my tax return and what is taxed?
    LG

    Reply

    1. Hello Aurelian
      Thank you for your question!
      As with shares, the tax value as at 31 December is relevant in the tax return. To do this, you enter the year-end price (the tax tool will help you) of the assets at the end of the year.

      Reply

  5. Hello everybody
    Does anyone know how to enter coins that do not appear in the drop-down menu of the tax return? As shown in the video, I can select cryptocurrency in Zurich and there is a small selection of coins in the drop-down menu. However, my coins are not listed there and there is no possibility to write anything in the field itself... there is also no security number for the coins... .
    The video tutorial only shows the case that the crypto also appears on the drop-down menu...

    Thanks for your help
    Lg

    Reply

    1. Hello Stella,
      You can enter these coins under "Other assets". Describe the coins there with their official name and ideally include all receipts and statements. Then it should work.
      Otherwise, you can ask the tax office.

      Reply

  6. Hello everybody
    Thank you for all your tips.
    I have the following questions:
    Is Cryptotrader now CoinLedger?
    Do you also know Delta Investment Tracker?
    Do both apps lead to the same goal in terms of overview for me and the tax return?
    Kind regards!

    Reply

  7. Hello Eric
    Thank you very much for the post. I still need to file my taxes by the end of August. I don't have a receipt (Binance) and can just submit a screenshot with the capital statement as of 12/31/21 according to the municipality. How do I get to this screenshot, where can I enter the date there?

    Reply

  8. Do I understand this correctly? If, for example, I bought tokens worth 10,000Chf on 11.04.22 and these tokens are worth 40,000,000Chf on 12.10.22, then I can have the 40,000,000Chf paid out as fiat money by the exchange on 12.10.22 without this counting as commercial trading and therefore not having to pay income tax? Because of the 6 months.

    What if I bought tokens for 10'000Chf on 11.04.22 and exchanged them for BUSD (stablecoin) on 15.05.22 and thus generated a profit? I would repeat this again and again with different tokens until the 10'000Chf have become 1'000'000CHF. On 12.10.22 I would have the exchange pay out the 1'000'000CHF in fiat money. So 6 months later. Does this then count as commercial trading?

    Reply

    1. If you suddenly made 40 million francs, these will probably drastically finance your (new, presumably higher) living expenses. Or you already have much more than 40 million and this sum does not change your life dramatically?
      If you don't need the money for your new lifestyle (how to live with 40 million...), you're probably in the grey area.
      I think with these sums, the tax office will then look more closely 😉 Accordingly, I would also consult an expert in this case, the small change is then available.

      Reply

  9. It becomes unpleasant with cryptos that have integrated staking in their wallets (e.g. Cardano, Solana). There is no annual taxing functionality and staking rewards are automatically clocked again.

    Reply

    1. Hi Lars, at my broker I stake Cardano and receive there a tax report where exactly is listed how many Staking Rewards I have received in a year. This is exactly the information I need for the tax return. In combination with the tax value/rate of the cryptocurrency at the end of the year, this should be sufficient.
      In my experience, it therefore depends less on the currency than on the provider used.

      Best regards 🙂

      Reply
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