Your DA-1 was refused: what to do next (2025)

Key takeaways

• Check the reason before you accept it. Some refusals are correct; some rest on a misreading.
• Correct reasons include the CHF 100 floor, missing evidence, income declared net instead of gross, and any of the three separate limits the ordinance sets.
• A reduced credit is usually not a mistake. Your debt interest and asset-management costs come off the foreign income before the cap is worked out, and that alone can remove most of it.
• A credit is refused outright where the source country took no tax, or took one you can reclaim in full. That is the ordinary outcome for an Irish-domiciled ETF, and it is not worth arguing.
• A refusal that says the treaty does not apply to fund distributions is wrong on the text. Article 10(2)(b) of the Switzerland–US treaty sets 15%, and names US funds explicitly.
• If the refusal came inside an assessment, your window to object is 30 days from whichever document carried it. The right to make the claim at all runs for three years from the end of the tax period.

A refusal is not the last step. Some are only an evidence problem, and sending what was missing settles them.

First: is the refusal correct?

Work through these before writing anything. Several refusals are simply right, and arguing them wastes the 30 days.

Reason given	Correct?	Where it comes from
Total non-recoverable foreign tax CHF 100 or less	Yes. The credit is granted only once the total exceeds CHF 100	SR 672.201 Art. 7, Bagatellfälle (minor cases)
The source country took no tax, or one you can reclaim in full	Yes. The credit exists only for foreign tax that is actually levied and actually non-recoverable	SR 672.201 Art. 1(2); leaflet DA-M §4
Income declared net of the foreign tax	Yes. Income for which the credit is claimed must be declared without deducting the foreign tax	SR 672.201 Art. 3(2)
The income is not subject to Swiss income tax	Yes. The credit only exists against Swiss tax that is actually payable on that income	SR 672.201 Art. 3(1)
Credit capped at the Swiss tax due on that income	Yes. That is the MaximalbetragMaximalbetragMaximum amountFRmontant maximalITimporto massimoThe ceiling on a DA-1 foreign tax credit. Three limits build it: your debt interest and asset-management costs come off the foreign income first, then the credit cannot exceed the Swiss tax on that income, nor your total Swiss income tax for the year.Where you see itNot a box you fill in. It is why a credit decision pays back less than the foreign tax you claimed.Open in the glossary → (maximum amount)	SR 672.201 Art. 8(2)
Credit cut down by your deductions	Yes. Debt interest, other costs and tax-effective deductions come off the income first	SR 672.201 Art. 11(1)
Credit capped at your total Swiss income tax for the year	Yes. A second, separate ceiling	SR 672.201 Art. 9(5)
No evidence of the tax withheld	Yes, for now. Send the documents and it usually resolves	ESTV form DA-1, closing note
30% withheld because no W-8BEN was on file	Yes, for the part above the treaty rate. That part is reclaimable from the US, so it is not "non-recoverable"	SR 672.201 Art. 8(2)
Wrong year, or income declared in a different year	Yes. The claim runs by the due date of the dividend	ESTV form DA-1, note 1
The treaty "does not apply to mutual funds"	No. See below	Treaty Art. 10(2)(b)
Additional US retention claimed on a non-Swiss broker	Yes. The retention is only ever levied by a Swiss intermediary, so a foreign account has none to reclaim	SR 672.933.61 Art. 11
No reason given at all	No. A decision that does not fully grant the claim must carry a short statement of reasons	SR 672.201 Art. 17(2)

SR 672.201 is the federal ordinance on crediting foreign withholding taxes (Verordnung über die Anrechnung ausländischer Quellensteuern); SR 672.933.61 is the ordinance implementing the Switzerland–US double taxation agreement. Both are linked in full under Sources.

Why a correct claim still comes back smaller

Three separate limits apply, one after the other, and only the second is widely known. A reader who checks that one, finds nothing wrong, and concludes the office made a mistake will spend the 30 days on the wrong argument.

1. Your deductions come off the income first. Debt interest, other costs and tax-effective deductions reduce the foreign income before the cap is worked out. The federal leaflet's own example takes a gross dividend of CHF 2,410, subtracts CHF 1,383.15 of apportioned debt interest and CHF 248.75 of asset-management costs, and credits a claim of CHF 361.50 at CHF 140.10. Nothing in that filing was wrong. It is why Zurich's form 430 opens by asking for your debt interest, total assets and asset-management costs. A Zurich reader with a mortgage should expect it.
2. The credit cannot exceed the Swiss tax on that income. The Maximalbetrag.
3. The credit cannot exceed your total Swiss income tax for the year. A part-year resident, or anyone whose deductions leave little Swiss tax to set the credit against, is stopped here instead.

When there is no foreign tax to credit

The credit only exists for income that actually bore a source-country tax you cannot get back. Where the source country took nothing, or took something you can reclaim in full, there is nothing to credit however well documented the line is.

That is the ordinary outcome for an Irish-domiciled ETF, whether it accumulates or distributes: nothing is withheld from the fund to you, so a DA-1 line for it has no foreign tax behind it. The same applies to UK dividends. Neither is an error, and neither is worth an objection. The income still gets declared, in the ordinary securities schedule (WertschriftenverzeichnisWertschriftenverzeichnisSecurities scheduleFRétat des titresITelenco dei titoliThe list of everything you own in securities and bank accounts, with year-end values and the income each produced. It is also where you reclaim the 35% anticipatory tax.Where you see itA main section of the tax return itself, in ZHprivateTax.Open in the glossary →) instead.

The refusal worth challenging

If a refusal on a US-domiciled ETF says the Switzerland–US double taxation agreement "does not apply to returns on mutual funds", the treaty text says otherwise.

Article 10(2)(b) caps US tax on dividends at 15 percent of the gross amount for a Swiss-resident beneficial owner. The same paragraph then says: "Subparagraph b) and not subparagraph a) shall apply in the case of dividends paid by a person which is a resident of the United States and which is a Regulated Investment Company." Regulated Investment Company is the US tax classification that a US-domiciled fund or ETF usually has. Commodity and currency products organised as trusts or partnerships are not, and a Real Estate Investment Trust is treated separately in the same paragraph. So the treaty does not ignore funds. It names them, and it puts them at 15%.

Your assessor works in German, so quote the German authentic text rather than the English one: "Auf Dividenden, die von einer in den Vereinigten Staaten ansässigen Regulated Investment Company gezahlt werden, ist Buchstabe b) und nicht Buchstabe a) anzuwenden." It is in SR 0.672.933.61 Art. 10 para. 2, linked under Sources. Two things help:

• Show the withholding, per position. A 1042-S or the broker's dividend report showing 15% taken on a named security is harder to argue with than a legal point on its own.
• Do not mix it up with the additional US retention. The zusätzlicher Steuerrückbehalt USA (additional US retention) exists only where a Swiss intermediary held the securities and took it. In Zurich it is claimed in the same form 430 as the DA-1 credit, not on a separate federal form. On an ordinary foreign-broker account there is nothing to reclaim, and claiming it anyway weakens an otherwise correct position.

If the office repeats the refusal and names a legal basis for it, take advice rather than write again. The amounts are usually small, so weigh the cost of going further against what you would recover.

What to send

Where the refusal is an evidence problem, assemble:

1. Proof of the tax withheld. A 1042-S, or the broker's year-end dividend report showing gross dividend and tax withheld per position and per pay date.
2. The security's identity. ISIN and ticker, so the assessor can look it up.
3. The W-8BEN position. Evidence the treaty rate was applied, which is visible from the withholding being 15% rather than 30%.
4. Your own summary. One page listing each position, gross dividend, tax withheld, and the total. An assessor is not obliged to rebuild your figures from raw statements, and one who has to is more likely to refuse.

Send it to the office that issued the decision, quoting the reference and the tax year. A phone call first often establishes what they are actually missing, which is faster than guessing.

Accept: these refusals are correct

• Total non-recoverable foreign tax of CHF 100 or less
• No source-country tax, or one you can reclaim in full
• Income declared net instead of gross
• Credit reduced by your own debt interest and costs

Reply: these are worth the effort

• The treaty "does not apply to mutual funds"
• A refusal that names no reason at all
• No evidence; send the documents and it usually resolves
• Additional US retention on a Swiss intermediary

You have 30 days. Spend them on a CHF 100 refusal and you no longer have them for one worth arguing.

The clock

Three different deadlines apply, and people mix them up.

Thirty days to object. The credit decision may be combined with your assessment or arrive on its own, so the 30 days run from notification of whichever document carried the refusal. The window is short and it does not pause while you gather documents. In Zurich the objection is an EinspracheEinspracheObjectionFRréclamationITreclamoA formal challenge to an assessment decision, due within 30 days of notification. Miss it and the assessment becomes final in almost all cases.Where you see itThe deadline is printed on the assessment decision itself.Open in the glossary →, and the assessment it attaches to is the VeranlagungsverfügungVeranlagungsverfügungAssessment decisionFRdécision de taxationITdecisione di tassazioneThe canton's binding decision on what you owe, which may differ from what you filed. Receiving it starts your 30-day objection window.Where you see itArrives by post, often a year or more after you file.Open in the glossary → (assessment decision).

Thirty days to ask for the difference. A canton may work out the maximum amount on its own tariff rather than the federal method. If you can show the federal method would have given you more, you can claim the difference in writing, within 30 days of notification of the credit decision or of the definitive assessment if that comes later. This is a separate right from the objection, and almost nobody uses it.

Three years to make the claim at all. The right lapses three years after the end of the tax period in which the dividends fell due. So a claim you never made for 2025 can still be made until the end of 2028, even though the objection window on any single decision is 30 days.

If you cannot assemble everything in time, file the objection anyway with what you have and say the rest is following. Missing the window is far worse than filing an incomplete one. A late objection is still entertained where you were genuinely prevented from filing, by illness, absence from the country or service, and you file within 30 days of the impediment ending. Otherwise, reopening a closed decision needs RevisionRevisionReopening a final assessmentFRrévision (d'une décision de taxation)ITrevisione (di una decisione di tassazione)The only route once an assessment is legally final and the 30-day objection window has closed. The grounds are narrow, and it is excluded where the error came from your own lack of care.Where you see itA request to the tax office, long after the assessment.Open in the glossary → (reopening a final decision), whose grounds are narrow and which is excluded where the problem came from your own lack of care.

One thing to know before you send it: an objection reopens the assessment rather than the single line you are disputing, and the office may set all the tax factors afresh, including against you. It must hear you first. For a DA-1 credit that is rarely a real risk, but it is worth a moment's thought if you already know something else in that year was wrong.

1. 1Dividend falls dueduring 2025
2. 2File the DA-1 with your 2025 returnthe claim lapses three years after the end of the tax period, so by 31 December 2028
3. 3Credit decision arrives, refused or reducedwith the assessment, or on its own
4. 4Object in writing30 days from notification of whichever document carried it
5. 5Ask for the difference on the tariff method30 days, and only where the canton used its own tariff

More on that in what the silence means.

Common mistakes

• Reading a reduced credit as a refusal. Your debt interest and asset-management costs come off the income first, and that alone can remove most of it.
• Arguing a CHF 100 refusal. The threshold is fixed. There is no discretion in it. Ask for net taxation instead, which is the fallback the rules provide.
• Putting an Irish-domiciled ETF on the DA-1. Nothing was withheld, so there is nothing to credit. It belongs in the ordinary securities schedule.
• Declaring the dividends net. The credit is only granted on income declared and taxed at the full gross amount.
• Claiming the additional US retention on a foreign broker. It only exists where a Swiss intermediary took it, and getting it wrong undermines your credible points.
• Trying to reclaim the extra 15% from a missing W-8BEN. That part is not recoverable through a DA-1. Fix the form for future years.
• Sending raw broker statements. A hundred pages with no summary invites another refusal.
• Letting the 30 days pass while assembling evidence. File, then supplement.

Common questions

Why was my DA-1 rejected?

Most often because the total non-recoverable foreign tax was CHF 100 or less, because the source country took no tax you can still claim, because no evidence of the withheld tax was attached, or because the dividends were declared net rather than gross. Read the stated reason. It usually names which. A credit that came back smaller rather than refused is a different matter: that is normally your own deductions being subtracted from the income first.

My tax office says the treaty does not cover ETFs. Is that right?

No. Article 10(2)(b) of the Switzerland–US treaty sets 15% on dividends. It states expressly that this rate, not the 5% company rate, applies to dividends paid by a US Regulated Investment Company, which is what a US-domiciled fund or ETF usually is. Quote the article, in German, and attach the withholding evidence per position.

Why did my Irish-domiciled ETF get nothing?

Because no foreign tax was withheld from the fund to you, so there is nothing to credit. The credit exists only for source-country tax that was actually levied and cannot be reclaimed. The income still gets declared, in the ordinary securities schedule rather than on the DA-1.

What happens if my claim is CHF 100 or less?

No credit is granted. The rule is that the total must exceed CHF 100, so exactly CHF 100 gets nothing. But you can ask instead to be taxed on the income after deducting the foreign tax. That is net taxation, the fallback the federal leaflet sets out for anyone who cannot claim or does not claim the credit. It is worth less than a credit, but it is not worth nothing. The threshold applies to the credit only: the additional US retention has no minimum, so if a Swiss intermediary took one, reclaim it regardless.

Can I get back the 30% if I had no W-8BEN?

Not through a DA-1. The treaty rate is 15%, and the credit works from that. The excess is reclaimable from the US, not from Switzerland. File the W-8BEN with your broker so future dividends are withheld correctly.

How long do I have to challenge a refusal?

Thirty days from notification of whichever document carried the refusal, since the credit decision may come with your assessment or on its own. If evidence is still coming, object within the window and supplement afterwards. A claim you never filed at all is a separate matter. That right lasts three years from the end of the tax period.

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This article is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Treaty questions turn on specific facts. 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 — form DA-1, tax period 2025 (Antrag auf Anrechnung ausländischer Quellensteuern, application for the crediting of foreign withholding taxes); note 4 carries the CHF 100 rule — estv.admin.ch
2. Federal ordinance on crediting foreign withholding taxes, SR 672.201 — Art. 1(2) and Art. 3(1) (only income actually taxed at source and actually taxed in Switzerland), Art. 3(2) (gross declaration), Art. 7 (CHF 100 minor-case threshold), Art. 8(2) (cap at the Swiss tax), Art. 9(3)–(5) (cantonal tariff, the 30-day right to the difference, the total-income-tax ceiling), Art. 11(1) (deductions come off the income first), Art. 14(2) (three-year deadline), Art. 17(2) (a refusal must state reasons), Art. 18 and Art. 22 (remedies and revision follow VStG Art. 53–56 and 59–60) — fedlex.admin.ch
3. ESTV — leaflet DA-M on crediting foreign withholding taxes; §4 lists the grounds for exclusion and the net-taxation fallback, §5 the total-income-tax ceiling, and the annex works the deduction example through — estv.admin.ch
4. Switzerland–United States double taxation agreement, Article 10(2)(b) — the 15% dividend rate and the Regulated Investment Company sentence. English text of the convention — irs.gov; German authentic text, SR 0.672.933.61 — fedlex.admin.ch
5. ESTV — leaflet S-02.142 (March 2001, still the current edition at this address) on the additional US retention through Swiss Qualified Intermediaries, implementing SR 672.933.61 Art. 11 — estv.admin.ch
6. Canton Zurich — guidance notes to forms DA-1, DA-2 and DA-3, tax period 2025: gross declaration, the CHF 100 rule, the absence of any minimum for the additional US retention, and the three-year deadline — zh.ch
7. DBG Art. 132 — objection within 30 days; Art. 133(3) — a late objection where you were prevented from filing; Art. 135(1) — the office may reset all factors, after hearing you; Art. 147 — grounds for Revision — fedlex.admin.ch

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