Switzerland · Valuation
Tax value on 31 December
A single date decides your wealth tax. Which price applies is not up to you, and for tokens without an ESTV price there is an order you need to know.
The reference date is 31 December
For wealth tax, what counts is what you held on 31 December of the tax year, not the average over the year and not the balance when you fill in the return.
What you sell in January is still in this return. What you bought on 30 December is too.
The price comes from the ESTV, not from you
The Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) publishes year-end prices for the common cryptocurrencies in its price list ICTax. Where a token is listed there, that value is the one for wealth tax.
That is a relief, not a restriction: you have nothing to prove and nothing to explain. A price of your own choosing from any exchange raises exactly the question you do not want to answer.
Tokens without an ESTV price: the order
This is where it gets practical, because the price list is far from covering every token. The ESTV working paper sets an order:
- First choice: the year-end price of the trading platform where you buy and sell the token. Note which platform you used; for the next return it should be the same.
- If no price can be found: the cost, that is, the amount in francs you paid for the token.
What expressly does not exist is a third option: leaving it out. A token without a listed price tends to vanish from the statement altogether, and that is exactly the case that turns awkward later, because the other side can see it.
Holdings that are regularly forgotten
- Locked and delegated coins. What counts is whom the holding belongs to, not whether it was available on the reference date. A lock-up changes nothing.
- Balances on exchanges. What sits in an exchange account is part of your wealth, even if you do not think of it as a wallet.
- Tiny balances and dust. Insignificant one by one, not in sum across many wallets. There is no threshold below which you may leave something out.
- Wallets you no longer use. An address you have not thought of in years is still yours.
What the tax value is not
The tax value on 31 December has nothing to do with gains. Whether your holding rose or fell in value plays no role for wealth tax: the holding is taxed, not the change.
Realised price gains are tax-free in private assets, and losses accordingly not deductible. Why is in the overview.
Frequently asked questions
- Which price applies for wealth tax?
- The year-end price the ESTV publishes in its ICTax price list. For cryptocurrencies listed there, that value counts; a conversion of your own only leads to questions.
- What about tokens without an ESTV price?
- The year-end price of the trading platform where you buy and sell the token counts. If no price can be found at all, the token goes in at its cost in francs, that is, what you paid for it.
- Do locked or delegated coins count as wealth?
- Yes. What counts is whom the holding belongs to, not whether it is available. Delegated staking, lock-ups and balances on an exchange all belong in the statement.
- How high is wealth tax on crypto?
- There is no separate rate for crypto. The holding is added to the rest of your wealth and taxed at the rate of your canton and municipality; cantons have different allowances.
Sources
Where this value goes in the return: Entering crypto in your tax return