Inheritance tax in Switzerland

An inheritance tax is in Switzerland in all cantons - except the cantons of Schwyz and Obwalden  - levied. With the exception of the canton of Lucerne , a largely parallel gift tax is also levied. The cantonal regulations for inheritance and gift taxes are very different.

Cantonal jurisdiction

In the absence of explicit federal responsibility, the collection of inheritance and gift tax lies exclusively with the cantons, some of which also allow municipalities to have additional jurisdiction, such as in Graubünden , Lucerne , Friborg and Vaud in general (for example in the cities of Chur , Lucerne , Friborg and Lausanne ). In other cantons, the communes have a proportionate share in the tax revenue. In the past, there have been political initiatives to introduce federal responsibility, also to standardize the very different inheritance tax systems, but so far have not been able to prevail.

Come up

In 2014, the total income from inheritance and gift tax amounted to 1,177 million Swiss francs, 1,074 million of which came from the cantons and 103 million from the communes. This was 1.7% of the total tax revenue of the cantons and communes and 0.9% of Switzerland.

Inheritance tax or inheritance tax

In terms of the legal system, an inheritance tax can be designed as an inheritance tax or inheritance tax. In the case of an inheritance tax, the tax relates directly to the estate without referring to the personal circumstances of the heirs, especially the family relationships with the testator. In the case of inheritance tax, on the other hand, the tax is based on the inheritance acquired by the heir and his personal circumstances. Until recently, several cantons followed the inheritance tax system, which is associated with less administrative effort, as occurs above all in the Anglo-Saxon legal system; now only the cantons of Solothurn and Graubünden use it , where the municipalities can levy inheritance tax. In addition to a general estate tax of 8 to 17 per thousand, Solothurn also levies an inheritance tax from which spouses and descendants are exempt. Graubünden, on the other hand, has broken through the inheritance tax system by exempting spouses and descendants there.

Gift tax

With the exception of Lucerne, gift tax is levied by all cantons that levy inheritance tax based on principles that are essentially the same as inheritance tax. In the canton of Lucerne, however, gifts that were given to an heir by the testator five years before the death of the testator are added to the heir's taxable portion of the inheritance. In some cases, tax rates that differ slightly from inheritance tax are used in the cantons of Basel-Stadt , Geneva and Graubünden. In the cantons of Basel-Landschaft , Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Graubünden, Neuchâtel and Valais , inheritance tax exemptions differ in some cases. The tax arises when the gift is made.

Personal tax liability

All cantons have exempted the surviving spouse from inheritance and gift tax liability (with the exception of Solothurn with regard to the estate tax). Due to the equality of the "registered partners" with spouses under the Partnership Act , they are also exempt from tax. Descendants (children and grandchildren) are also exempt from tax , with the exception of the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden , Lucerne (around half of the municipalities there tax the descendants), Neuchâtel , Solothurn (with regard to the estate tax) and Vaud . Parents are exempt from taxes in the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Friborg , Geneva , Obwalden , Ticino , Uri , Wallis and Zug . Obwalden does not tax siblings either. The exemption from taxation in the canton of Geneva does not apply if the testator or donor was or is taxed according to expenditure. Then there is a tax of between 2 and 12%.

Life partner

Life partners (also cohabiting partners ) are to be distinguished from spouses and partners registered under the Partnership Act. For them, the cantonal provisions provide for a wide variety of definitions regarding the length of time they need to live together and their need for help. In Graubünden, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Zug, they are treated as equivalent to spouses, in other cantons to parents or siblings, or they are taxed with a separate rate and, finally, as unrelated.

Tax brackets

In addition to the tax-free group of spouses and their registered partners, the cantons mainly form tax classes for descendants, parents (grandparents), siblings and other persons. Life partners (cohabiting partners) are sometimes treated separately. All other relatives are assigned to the last class, which also includes strangers. In most cases, different tax rates apply to the tax brackets and, insofar as they are granted, different allowances.

Tax rates of the cantons

Most cantons use progressive tax rates within the tax brackets , and some also use fixed rates. In this respect, only Graubünden and Solothurn use fixed tax rates in all tax classes with regard to the estate tax. The applicable tax rates can be found in the inheritance tax table in the cantons of Switzerland . Spouses and registered partners are not included as they are exempt from inheritance tax in all cantons (with the exception of the estate tax in Solothurn).

Inheritance tax in the cantons of Switzerland

Canton	Descendants (children, grandchildren)	parents	siblings	Other	Life partner
Aargau	0	0	6-23%	12-32%	4-9%
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	0	0	22%	up to 32%	12%
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1 %	4%	6%	20%	like others
Basel-Country	0	0	15%	up to 30%	like siblings
Basel city	0	5-11%	7.5-16.5%	up to 49.5%	like siblings
Bern	0	6-15%	6-15%	up to 40%	6-15%
Freiburg	0	0	6-10%	30-50%	like others
Geneva	0	0	6-11%	up to 26%	like others
Glarus	0	2.5-6.25%	4-10%	up to 25%	like siblings
Grisons	0	1-4%	1-4%	1-4%	1-4%
law	0	7%	14%	7-35%	like siblings
Lucerne	0-2% (Council tax)	6-12%	6-12%	up to 40%	6-12%
Neuchâtel	3%	3%	15%	up to 45%	20%
Nidwalden	0	0	5%	to 15 %	0
Obwalden	0	0	0	0	0
Schaffhausen	0	2-8%	4-16%	up to 40%	like others
Schwyz	0	0	0	0	0
Solothurn	0 + 8–17 per mille tax	2–5% + 8–17 per mille tax	4–10% + 8–17 per mille tax	up to 30% + 8-17 per mille tax	like others + 8–17 per mille tax
St. Gallen	0	10%	20%	up to 30%	like others
Ticino	0	0	5.95-15.5%	up to 41%	like others
Thurgau	0	2-7%	4-14%	up to 28%	like others
Uri	0	0	4-10%	up to 30%	like others
Vaud	2.26-3.5%	2.64 - 7.5%	5.28-12.5%	up to 25%	like others
Valais	0	0	10%	up to 25%	like others
train	0	0	4-8%	until 20 %	0
Zurich	0	2-6%	6-18%	up to 36%	like others

Municipal tax rates

In the cantons of Friborg, Graubünden, Lucerne and Vaud, the municipalities can also levy a municipal tax on inheritances and (with the exception of Lucerne) on gifts. This is done as follows:

• Graubünden: The parental tribe and the cohabiting partner up to 5%, all other beneficiaries up to 25%.
• Lucerne: Proportional rate of up to 1%, plus a surcharge depending on the amount of property accrued as provided for in the cantonal tax.
• Friborg and Vaud: The municipalities may levy centimes additionnels up to the amount of the cantonal tax .

Allowances

The inheritance tax systems of the cantons make very inconsistent use of tax exemptions, as the groups are treated very differently. An overview can be found in the following table of inheritance tax allowances in the cantons of Switzerland .

Inheritance tax exemptions (in Swiss Francs ) in the Swiss cantons

Canton	Descendants (children, grandchildren)	parents	siblings	third	Life partner
Aargau	-	0	0	0	0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	-	-	5,000	5,000	10,000
Appenzell Innerrhoden	300,000	20,000	5,000	5,000	like third parties
Basel-Country	-	0	0	0	0
Basel city	-	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000
Bern	-	12,000	12,000	0	12,000
Freiburg	-	-	5,000	5,000	5,000
Geneva	-	-	500	500	500
Glarus	-	50,000	10,000	0	10,000
Grisons	-	100,000	7,000	7,000	7,000
law	-	0	0	0	0
Lucerne	-	0	0	0	2,000
Neuchâtel	50,000	50,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Nidwalden	-	20,000	20,000	0	20,000
Obwalden	-	-	-	5,000	-
Schaffhausen	-	30,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Schwyz	-	-	-	-	-
Solothurn	-	0	0	0	0
St. Gallen	-	25,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Ticino	-	-	0	0	0
Thurgau	-	20,000	0	0	0
Uri	-	-	0	0	0
Vaud	250,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Valais	-	-	10,000	10,000	10,000
train	-	-	5,000	0	-
Zurich	-	200,000	15,000	0	50,000

In addition, the cantons provide for other subject-related allowances, such as for people in need of support, salaried employees and servants, for bequests and customary occasional gifts, and for marriage property.

In most cantons, household effects are exempt from inheritance tax, but not in the cantons of Aargau, Bern, Geneva, Jura, Ticino, Vaud and Zurich.

Corporate succession

In various European countries such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, business succession benefits have been introduced in recent years in order not to jeopardize the existence of the business and jobs as a result of inheritance or gift tax burdens. Among others, the Canton of Zurich has introduced a corresponding inheritance tax regulation. There, a tax deduction of up to 80 percent is granted if the business assets are primarily used for the self-employed activity of the purchaser and the purchaser will continue the business for at least ten years.

rating

In principle, the market value is decisive for the tax calculation, although some cantons also set up their own valuation rules. For securities traded on the stock exchange, the market value at the time of asset acquisition is decisive, for other securities the estimated value, whereby the cantons agree to establish a uniform valuation practice. Land is predominantly valued according to the market value or the capitalized earnings value or a combination of both valuations. In most cases, the cantons adopt the values ​​specified in the wealth tax return, some cantons also use other valuation standards.

Debt deduction

To determine the relevant net assets, the third party liabilities to existing liabilities are deducted. Without restrictions, all personal debts of the testator that existed at the time of death (and that are not statute-barred), even if they were not yet due, are taken into account. In principle, this also applies to the costs incurred on the occasion of inheritance, such as burial, although some cantons limit the deduction.

Responsibilities and procedures

The tax is levied by the canton in which the testator or donor was domiciled, and in the case of transferred real estate, by the canton in which it was located. The entire estate is subject to tax, including world wealth, if the testator had his general tax residence in the canton where the tax was levied. In the case of limited tax liability, only the parts of the estate located there are subject to tax.

Statute of limitations

The assessment statute of limitations (limitation of the right to initiate assessment proceedings) is five years in most cantons, ten years in some cantons, 15 years in Ticino and up to 20 years in Friborg. In the case of tax evasion and other violations, the right to initiate subsequent taxation proceedings and / or criminal proceedings expires, usually in ten years, in Glarus in 15 years. The legally assessed inheritance tax expires in five years.

Double taxation

Cantonal double taxation

Since Art. 127 Para. 3 of the Federal Constitution expressly prohibits double taxation by the cantons, these are already required by federal law to delimit the right to tax in the case of inheritance across cantons. This happens because real estate is only taxed according to the law of the canton in which it is located, movable property and rights according to the principle of origin, i.e. according to the (last) place of residence of the testator or donor. A so-called tax elimination takes place between the cantons involved, taking into account the estate values ​​assigned to each canton.

International double taxation

However, the prohibition of double taxation does not apply to international tax cases, so that double taxation can certainly occur here. It is a matter of cantonal law to offset a tax already paid abroad against parts of the estate located there that are also taxable under cantonal tax law. At the federal level, however, the cantons have also signed binding double taxation agreements in the area of ​​inheritance tax (not including gift tax), including with Austria, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. There is also an inheritance tax law double taxation agreement with Germany dated November 30, 1978, which goes back to an agreement from the 1930s. The agreements basically assign the taxable portion of the estate to one or the other state. The German-Swiss double taxation agreement also extends the German right of subsequent taxation, which can continue to exist for five years after moving away from Germany, to ten years under certain conditions, unless the move to Switzerland was for the purpose of taking up employment or because of a Marriage. Swiss citizens are not affected by the extension.

Popular initiative on inheritance tax reform

On February 15, 2013, the federal popular initiative “Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)” was submitted. In the vote on June 14, 2015, it was rejected by all the stands and 71% of those who voted.

According to this initiative, the federal government would have been responsible for inheritance tax; the cantons would only have implemented it. In contrast to the current cantonal regulations, direct descendants would also have been taxed at a uniform tax rate of 20% with an exemption of CHF 2 million. 2/3 of the income from federal inheritance tax would have gone to the AHV (pension insurance), 1/3 would have been received by the cantons. The tax would have been levied retrospectively from January 1, 2012. Due to this last provision, many wealthy people had bequeathed large parts of their assets to their children as gifts at the end of 2011.

Parliament recommended rejecting the 2014 popular initiative. Business associations such as economiesuisse , left-wing parties and private donors around the Meili brothers fought against this.

See also

• Inheritance tax in the member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area
• Inheritance tax in Germany
• Inheritance tax in Austria

literature

• Magnus Hindersmann and Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International inheritance tax law and estate planning. Vol. 12).

Web links

• Page no longer available , search in web archives: The inheritance and gift taxes 2009 ( Swiss Federal Tax Administration )
• Page no longer available , search in web archives: Inheritance and gift taxes 2007 (Swiss Federal Tax Administration)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Documentation and Tax Information Team, Federal Tax Administration: Inheritance and gift taxes. (PDF) Switzerland. Steueerkonferenz SSK, December 2016, p. 2 , accessed on February 16, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Magnus Hindersmann, Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International Inheritance Tax Law and Estate Planning. Vol. 12), pp. 19 ff;
   Rainer Künzle: Inheritance tax quo vadis?
3. ↑ Magnus Hindersmann and Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International Inheritance Tax Law and Estate Planning. Vol. 12), p. 26.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Canton of Obwalden: inheritance tax
5. ^ Rainer Künzle: Inheritance tax quo vadis? .
6. ↑ Own table created on the basis of: Magnus Hindersmann and Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International inheritance tax law and estate planning. Vol. 12); Rainer Künzle: Inheritance tax quo vadis? ; Credit Suisse: Overview of cantonal inheritance and gift taxes ( Memento of the original dated December 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , As of January 1, 2016; [Switzerland. Tax Conference: Inheritance and Gift Taxes 2009] 
7. ^ Canton of Aargau: inheritance and gift tax
8. ↑ Inheritance and gift tax ( memento of the original dated November 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Information on inheritance and gift taxes
10. ↑ Gift and inheritance tax
11. ^ Canton of Bern: inheritance and gift tax
12. ^ Canton of Friborg: inheritance tax
13. ↑ Taxes Lucerne: Inheritance taxes and gift taxes ( Memento from August 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
14. ^ Cantonal tax office: inheritance and gift tax
15. ^ Canton of Schaffhausen: inheritance and gift tax
16. ↑ Estate tax, extract from the law ( memento of the original dated November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 42 kB)  
17. ^ Canton of St. Gallen: inheritance tax ; Canton of St. Gallen: gift tax
18. ↑ Tax Administration: Inheritance ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
19. ^ Canton of Zug: inheritance
20. ↑ Leaflet on the assessment of inheritance and gift tax
21. ↑ On the basis of: Magnus Hindersmann and Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International inheritance tax law and estate planning. Vol. 12); Rainer Künzle: Inheritance tax quo vadis? ; Credit Suisse: Overview of inheritance and gift taxes, as of Jan. 1, 2016
22. ↑ Appel, Jost / Appel, Urte, International Verorben - Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, 2011, p. 178
23. ↑ BDI / vbw / Deloitte series on inheritance tax reform, edition VI, September 24, 2007 International comparison / competition for locations, taxes and financial policy, p. 13 ( PDF  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )  
24. ↑ Magnus Hindersmann and Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International Inheritance Tax Law and Estate Planning. Vol. 12), p. 92 ff.
25. ↑ Magnus Hindersmann and Michael Myßen: The inheritance and gift taxes of the Swiss cantons. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-504-62412-5 ( International Inheritance Tax Law and Estate Planning. Vol. 12), p. 56.
26. ↑ Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Swiss Confederation to avoid double taxation in the area of ​​estate and inheritance taxes  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
27. ↑ Federal popular initiative "Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)"
28. ↑ Marcel Amrein: Just under 29 percent say yes. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . June 14, 2015.
29. ↑ Millions in inheritances are taxed for our AHV (inheritance tax reform). Popular initiative. In: Federal Assembly website .
30. ^ Gebrüder Meili: 500,000 francs for inheritance tax yes ( Memento from February 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: Petar Marjanovic's website.

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