Crypto on your Swiss tax return (2025)

Key takeaways

• What you hold is wealth. Declare your balance at 31 December at its year-end value in Swiss francs, like a bank account.
• Selling is normally tax-free. If you manage your own private wealth, a gain on a sale is a tax-free private capital gain. A loss is not deductible.
• Earned tokens are income. Staking, mining and airdrop rewards are taxable in the year you receive them, at their value on receipt.
• Small holdings still get declared. There is no minimum below which crypto stops being wealth.
• No Swiss tax statement exists for a self-custodied wallet. Proving the balance is your job. Cantons ask for a wallet statement showing the position at the end of the tax period, and Zurich says so explicitly in its filing guide.

The federal framework is the ESTV working paper on cryptocurrencies, dated 14 December 2021, and it applies in all 26 cantons. The principles are federal; the fields you type into are cantonal. In most cantons crypto goes in the securities and credit balances list (Wertschriften- und Guthabenverzeichnis / état des titres), the same form as your shares and bank accounts. See declaring foreign securities in Zurich for a worked example.

Holding, selling and earning are taxed differently

Almost every crypto tax question in Switzerland resolves once you separate these three.

What happened	Taxed as	When
You hold coins	Wealth (VermögenssteuerVermögenssteuerWealth taxFRimpôt sur la fortuneITimposta sulla sostanzaAn annual cantonal tax on your net worth at 31 December. Switzerland taxes wealth even though private capital gains are generally tax-free.Where you see itCalculated from the totals in your securities schedule.Open in the glossary →)	Balance at 31 December, every year
You sold at a profit	Normally not taxed, as a private capital gain	n/a
You sold at a loss	Not deductible	n/a
You earned staking or mining rewards	Income	The year you received them, at value on receipt
You received an airdrop	Income	Same
You spent crypto on something	Normally not taxed	n/a

One distinction causes most of the confusion. A rise in the price of a coin you already hold is tax-free. New tokens arriving in your wallet are income. Both make your balance larger, but only the second is income. In the federal working paper, staking rewards and airdrops are income from movable assets (DBG Art. 20 para 1) valued at the moment they arrive; mining rewards are income under DBG Art. 16 para 1.

Payment tokens carry no anticipatory tax (VerrechnungssteuerVerrechnungssteuerSwiss anticipatory taxFRimpôt anticipéITimposta preventivaA 35% tax withheld on Swiss dividends and interest. It is a deposit, not a cost: declare the income on your return and you get all of it back.Where you see itOn Swiss bank and broker statements, next to each dividend or interest payment.Open in the glossary →, the 35% Swiss withholding tax a bank deducts and you reclaim through your return). They are not a taxable object under VStG Art. 4 para 1, so there is nothing to reclaim on your return.

What value do you use?

Year-end value in Swiss francs. Where you get it depends on the coin. The source is federal, so the answer is the same wherever you file; Zurich restates it in its own guide to the 2025 return.

• Common coins. The ESTV publishes a year-end tax rate for Bitcoin and other widely held cryptocurrencies at ictax.admin.ch. The official figure is the one the tax office expects. The list is filled in through the year, so if your coin is not there yet when you file, use the platform rate below and state which source you used rather than waiting.
• Other coins. Use the year-end closing rate of the most commonly used trading platform for that currency. Record which platform and which timestamp.
• A coin with no determinable rate at all. The federal working paper says to declare the original purchase price, converted into Swiss francs.

Zurich also names the evidence: a statement from your wallet (Kontoauszug der digitalen Brieftasche) showing the position at the end of the tax period.

Use the same source and the same method every year. Changing exchange from year to year to get a lower value is what prompts the tax office to ask.

When trading counts as professional

Private capital gains are tax-free unless your activity counts as professional securities trading (gewerbsmässiger WertschriftenhandelGewerbsmässiger WertschriftenhandelProfessional securities dealingBeing reclassified from private investor to professional trader, which makes your capital gains taxable income and adds social contributions. Triggered by trading patterns, not by a choice you make.Where you see itNever on a form — it is a decision the tax office reaches about you.Open in the glossary →). If it does, your gains become taxable income and social-security contributions can follow.

Taxed

• The value you hold at 31 December, as wealth
• Staking rewards, as income when received
• Mining income
• Airdrops, at their value when received

Not taxed

• Selling at a profit, as a private investor
• Buying, holding or moving between your own wallets
• An unrealised gain, however large
• A loss, which is not deductible either

This changes if the tax office treats you as a professional trader. Frequent short-term trading, especially with borrowed money, is what leads to that.

ESTV circular no. 36 sets five tests. The tax authorities treat you as a private investor whenever all five are met at the same time, and the crypto working paper says to apply the same tests to payment tokens by analogy:

1. You held what you sold for at least 6 months.
2. Your buying and selling in the year totals no more than 5 times your securities and cash holdings at the start of the period.
3. Your realised gains are under 50% of your net income.
4. The investments are not debt-financed, or their taxable income exceeds the related debt interest.
5. Any derivatives only hedge positions you already hold.

Failing one test does not make you a professional trader. It means this protection no longer applies and the tax office judges your situation on its full circumstances. The boundary is not precise and the extra tax can be large, so if you trade often, ask your cantonal tax office or an adviser rather than assuming you are exempt.

Proving what a self-custody wallet held

No tool does this for you. A Swiss bank issues a tax statement; a hardware wallet does not. Keep, per wallet and per exchange:

• The 31 December balance for each coin, on a wallet statement.
• The value you used, the source and the timestamp.
• The transaction history for the year.
• Dates and values for tokens received from staking, mining or airdrops, since those are income at receipt.

Crypto tax software does not produce a Swiss tax statement. Koinly, Blockpit and similar tools reconcile transactions and produce a gains or valuation report, which is useful for your own records. None of them emits a Swiss eCH-0196 statement, and their export integrations point at German tax software rather than Swiss cantonal tools. You still type the year-end figures into your return yourself.

Common mistakes

• Declaring only what you sold. Holding is the taxable event for wealth tax. If you sold nothing all year, you still declare the balance.
• Treating staking rewards as a rise in price. Rewards are income when you receive them; a rise in price is not.
• Skipping small balances. There is no threshold. A few hundred francs on an exchange is still wealth.
• Using a mid-January value. The wealth-tax date is 31 December, not the day you checked your wallet.
• Assuming an undeclared balance stays undeclared. Automatic international reporting for crypto assets is not in force in Switzerland yet: the legal basis does not apply in 2026 and cannot be implemented before 1 January 2027 at the earliest. That is a delay, not an exemption. Where wealth or income was left out, the tax office can open a supplementary-tax procedure (NachsteuerNachsteuerSupplementary taxFRrappel d'impôtITricupero d'impostaTax the canton can collect later when income or wealth was not declared, going back up to ten years after the tax period, plus interest.Where you see itOnly if the tax office opens proceedings — it is not part of a normal filing.Open in the glossary →, back tax) for up to 10 years after the end of the tax period (DBG Art. 152 para 1; StHG Art. 53 para 2).

Common questions

Do I pay tax on crypto profits in Switzerland?

Normally no. If you manage your own private wealth, a gain on selling crypto is a tax-free private capital gain, the same treatment as shares. You do pay wealth tax on the balance you hold at 31 December. The exception is trading heavy enough to count as professional.

Are staking rewards taxable?

Yes, as income from movable assets in the year you receive them, valued at the market price on receipt. This is separate from wealth tax on the resulting balance, so the same tokens appear in two places: as income when they arrive, and as wealth at year end.

Do I have to declare a small crypto balance?

Yes. There is no minimum below which crypto stops being wealth. A small balance costs almost nothing in tax and leaves no question about whether your return is complete.

How do I declare crypto held on a hardware wallet?

The same way as any other holding: the 31 December balance per coin, converted to Swiss francs, in the securities and credit balances list. No bank statement exists, so the wallet statement is your evidence.

Which value do I use if my coin is not on the official list?

Zurich's guide says to use the year-end closing rate of the most commonly used trading platform for that currency, with a wallet statement at the end of the tax period as evidence. If no rate can be determined at all, the federal working paper says to declare the original purchase price in Swiss francs.

How PaperTax helps

Upload your documents and PaperTax reads them, then walks you through your own cantonal tax app one document at a time. It tells you what to type and where, in English. It does not file for you. How it works.

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This article is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. The line between private wealth management and professional trading depends on your full circumstances. PaperTax helps you complete your own official cantonal tax return. It does not file on your behalf. For advice on your own situation, consult a qualified Swiss tax professional or your cantonal tax office.

Sources

Every figure in this guide is checked against these. Each link goes to the issuing document itself, not to a homepage or to somebody else's summary of it.

1. ESTV — working paper on cryptocurrencies and ICOs/ITOs (Arbeitspapier Kryptowährungen), 14 December 2021: wealth tax at market value at the end of the tax period, purchase-price fallback, mining and staking and airdrops as income, no anticipatory tax — estv.admin.ch
2. ESTV — ICTax, the federal price list with year-end tax values — ictax.admin.ch
3. ESTV — Kreisschreiben Nr. 36, Gewerbsmässiger Wertschriftenhandel, 27 July 2012, section 3: the five cumulative safe-harbour tests — estv.admin.ch
4. Canton Zurich — Wegleitung zur Steuererklärung 2025, notes to the securities and credit balances list: ESTV year-end rate for common coins, the most commonly used platform for the rest, wallet statement as evidence — zh.ch
5. StHG (SR 642.14) Art. 13, 14 and 17 — wealth tax on total net wealth, valued at market value, measured at the end of the tax period — fedlex.admin.ch
6. DBG (SR 642.11) Art. 16 para 3 (private capital gains are tax-free), Art. 20 para 1 (income from movable assets), Art. 152 para 1 (10 years to open a supplementary-tax procedure) — fedlex.admin.ch
7. SIF — automatic exchange of information on crypto assets: the legal basis does not apply in 2026 and cannot be implemented before 1 January 2027 at the earliest — sif.admin.ch

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