Declaring foreign securities on your Zurich tax return: DA-1 (2025)

Key takeaways

• US dividends are withheld at 30% by default. With a W-8BENW-8BENCertificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial OwnerThe form a NON-US person gives a broker to certify they are not American and to claim a treaty rate. If you are a US citizen or green-card holder, this is the wrong form for you.Where you see itThe same tax-residency section of a broker's onboarding, offered alongside the W-9.Open in the glossary → on file the treaty rate is 15%, which is what you claim back in Switzerland.
• You claim it with the DA-1DA-1Foreign withholding tax claim formFRformulaire DA-1 (imputation d'impôts étrangers prélevés à la source)ITmodulo DA-1 (computo di imposte alla fonte)The form that claims back the foreign tax already withheld on your foreign dividends and interest. It is filed with the securities schedule, and only once your total non-recoverable foreign tax passes CHF 100.Where you see itA separate sheet attached to the Wertschriftenverzeichnis in the tax software.Open in the glossary →, but only once your total non-recoverable foreign tax passes CHF 100, and only if you declared the dividends gross.
• In Zurich, list positions individually. A single total underreports an accumulating ETFETFExchange-traded fundA fund that trades on an exchange like a single share. For Swiss tax the wrapper matters less than what it does with income: a fund that pays dividends out and one that reinvests them are taxed on the same income, but only one of them hands you the cash.Where you see itOn your broker statement, and in the price list the tax office values it from.Open in the glossary →, whose income is taxed from the ESTVESTVThe Federal Tax AdministrationFRAFCEidgenössische Steuerverwaltung: the federal tax authority. It publishes the forms, leaflets and price lists the cantons and your tax software work from, but it is not the office that assesses you: that is your canton.Where you see itNamed as the publisher on federal forms, leaflets and the Kursliste.Open in the glossary → price list even though no cash reaches your account.
• An Irish-domiciled ETF gives you no DA-1 claim: the US tax is withheld from the fund rather than from you, so there is nothing at your level to credit. You still declare the position and its income.
• Attach the DA-1 documents under the securities documents slot rather than as a separate upload, and check its page limit before you assemble them.

Line by line, or one total

Practice differs by canton. Some offices accept a single total with a statement attached; others want every position listed.

In Zurich, list positions individually. The 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 →) is built around one row per holding, and a lump figure gives the assessor nothing to check against.

There is also a correctness reason:

A single total underreports accumulating ETFs. An accumulating fund reinvests its income instead of paying it out, so no cash lands in your account. Federal law taxes it anyway, at the moment the income is credited to the reinvestment account. The figure comes from the ESTV price list (KurslisteKurslisteOfficial price list (ICTax)FRliste des cours (ICTax)ITlistino dei corsi (ICTax)The federal tax administration's year-end valuations for securities, published at ictax.admin.ch. For accumulating funds it is the only place the deemed income exists.Where you see itLooked up per security when the value is not on your statement.Open in the glossary →, at www.ictax.admin.ch), never from your broker statement. Declare the position value alone and you have omitted taxable income without noticing.

Distributing funds do not have this problem: the dividend appears in your account and in your export.

Related: a refused DA-1, employee shares and options, crypto, and what changes if you are American.

Declaring VT, VOO and VTI

An Irish-domiciled ETF gives you no DA-1 claim. VWRL, IWDA and their siblings are domiciled in Ireland, and the US tax on the American shares they hold is withheld from the fund, not from you. It never reaches your statement and it is not yours to reclaim: the treaty relief happens inside the fund. A DA-1 credits foreign tax withheld at your own level (SR 672.201 Art. 8 para. 2), so there is no line to claim. You still declare the position and its income in the securities schedule. That is the trade-off against a US-domiciled fund, where the withholding is taken from you and the DA-1 gets it back.

Into the securities schedule. Zurich's Wertschriftenverzeichnis (form 340) has two sections: A for holdings that had the 35% anticipatory tax deducted, B for those that did not. Section B names "foreign securities of every kind", so US positions go there. Each row wants the Valoren-Nr. (Swiss security number), quantity, description, currency, any purchase or sale, the 31 December tax value and the gross income.

How do you reclaim the 15% with a DA-1?

Two different taxes are called "withholding". They work differently. Swiss anticipatory tax that you never declare is forfeited, though an oversight can still be corrected before the assessment is final.

	Swiss anticipatory tax (Verrechnungssteuer)	Foreign withholding tax
Rate	35%	15% on US dividends with a W-8BEN (30% without)
Taken by	Switzerland, on Swiss dividends and interest	The source country, on its own dividends
How you get it back	Declare the income in your securities schedule	File a DA-1 with your return
Minimum to claim	None	Non-recoverable foreign tax must exceed CHF 100 in total
Deadline	3 years from the end of the calendar year	3 years from the end of the tax period
You get back	All of it	Up to the Swiss tax on the same income

The DA-1 goes in with your cantonal return as the Antrag auf Anrechnung ausländischer Quellensteuern (application to credit foreign withholding taxes). Older posts call it the flat-rate tax credit: same form, renamed when the ordinance was rewritten in 2020.

Three rules decide whether you get anything:

• Declare gross, not net. Declare the income in full. Enter the dividend after deducting US tax and the entitlement is gone.
• The credit is capped at the Swiss tax on that income. Two things shrink it before that cap is worked out. The foreign income is first reduced by debt interest, other costs and tax-effective deductions (SR 672.201 Art. 11 para. 1), so a mortgage lowers the credit. And the cap can never exceed your total Swiss income tax for the year (SR 672.201 Art. 9 para. 5): with no Swiss tax to set it against there is no credit, not a cash refund. What does survive is either offset against your bill or paid out.
• At CHF 100 or below, no credit is granted. You may instead ask to be taxed on the income after deducting the foreign tax.

Held at IBKR, not a Swiss QI

• USD 1,000 dividend, W-8BEN on file
• USD 150 withheld in the US
• Claim the 150 in the ordinary DA-1 section
• Leave R-US 164R-US 164Additional US withholding claimFRretenue supplémentaire d'impôt USA (formulaire R-US 164)ITtrattenuta supplementare d'imposta USA (modulo R-US 164)Claims back the extra tax a Swiss bank withholds on US dividends and interest, on top of the 15% the US keeps under the treaty. Only a Swiss paying agent with Qualified Intermediary status levies it.Where you see itIn Zurich you enter it on the DA-1 sheet, and it is not a rival form.Open in the glossary → empty

Held at a Swiss QI bank

• USD 1,000 dividend, W-8BEN on file
• USD 150 withheld in the US, and a further USD 150 held back in Switzerland
• Claim the first 150 in the ordinary section
• Reclaim the second 150 in full through R-US 164

Getting it into ZHprivateTax

A Swiss bank's eCH-0196 statement is a PDF with an embedded barcode: drop it in and the fields fill themselves. IBKR does not produce one, and the barcode holds a limited amount of data, so a long position list may not fit. Prefer a structured file import where the app offers one.

When ZHprivateTax cannot find a security

The app looks up securities against the online price list (Kursliste), and a foreign holding is not always in it under the identifier you have. Turn the online lookup off and enter the position manually. The option sits beside the search field. Supply the identifier, quantity and value from www.ictax.admin.ch or your broker statement.

Where the DA-1 supporting documents go

Attach them under the securities documents slot (Weitere BelegeBelegeSupporting documentsFRpièces justificativesITgiustificativiThe statements and certificates that back up what you entered. Zurich requires a defined list with the return (salary certificate, 3a attestation, and a form for each deduction you claim) and can ask for anything else years later.Where you see itAn upload area in the cantonal app, and a list at the end of the instructions.Open in the glossary → für Wertschriften), not as a separate DA-1 upload. Since tax period 2022 Zurich no longer wants the DA-1 and its receipts submitted separately on paper: the form and all its statements go in with the return.

That slot has an upload limit, reported as ten pages, so check before you assemble. A year of IBKR dividend confirmations plus a second broker can exceed it. Attach a consolidated year-end statement rather than one confirmation per payment, or send the remainder to the municipal tax office quoting your reference. Ask the office rather than leaving pages out.

Common questions

How long do I have to file a DA-1?

Three years from the end of the tax period in which the dividends fell due, so end of 2028 for 2025. The Swiss anticipatory tax refund runs its own three years, counted from the end of the calendar year.

Can I import an IBKR file into ZHprivateTax?

Not directly. It imports a Swiss bank's barcoded eCH-0196 statement, which IBKR does not produce. Either convert your Flex Query into one, or enter the positions by hand.

Sources

The sources below support the tax figures and rules discussed in this guide. Follow the links to check the original guidance and its scope.

1. Canton Zurich — securities schedule 2025 (form 340, Wertschriften- und Guthabenverzeichnis): sections A and B, and the line Übertrag ab Formular DA-1 — zh.ch
2. Canton Zurich — guidance notes to forms DA-1, DA-2 and DA-3, tax period 2025: gross declaration, the CHF 100 rule, the three-year deadline, and the additional US retention — zh.ch
3. ESTV — form DA-1, tax period 2025 (605.040.03d), Antrag auf Anrechnung ausländischer Quellensteuern — estv.admin.ch
4. Federal ordinance on crediting foreign withholding taxes, SR 672.201 — Art. 7 (CHF 100), Art. 8(2) (the maximum amount), Art. 9 para. 5 (the maximum may not exceed your total Swiss income tax for the year), Art. 11 para. 1 (the foreign income is reduced by debt interest, other costs and tax-effective deductions before the maximum is worked out), Art. 14(2) (three years), Art. 19 (paid out or set off) — fedlex.admin.ch
5. ESTV — leaflet DA-MDA-MThe leaflet explaining the DA-1 claimThe Federal Tax Administration's leaflet on crediting foreign withholding tax. Where the DA-1 is the form you fill in, this is the document that says when the credit is refused, how the ceiling is calculated, and what happens instead.Where you see itCited as the authority when a DA-1 claim is reduced or refused.Open in the glossary →; §3 requires gross declaration, §4 sets out the exclusions and the net-taxation fallback — estv.admin.ch
6. Switzerland–United States double taxation agreement, Article 10(2)(b) — the 15% dividend rate, applied expressly to a US Regulated Investment Company (US Treasury/IRS text of the convention) — irs.gov
7. ESTV — leaflet S-02.142: the additional US retention through Swiss Qualified Intermediaries, 15% of the gross dividend where 85% of gross is received — estv.admin.ch
8. VStGVStGThe withholding tax actFRLIAITLIPVerrechnungssteuergesetz: the act behind the 35% Swiss withholding tax on dividends and interest, and behind your right to reclaim it by declaring the income.Where you see itIn citations as VStG Art. 13 or similar, wherever the 35% rate is quoted.Open in the glossary → Art. 13 (the 35% rate), Art. 23 (forfeiture if not declared) and Art. 32 (three-year refund deadline) — fedlex.admin.ch
9. ESTV — Kreisschreiben Nr. 25, Besteuerung kollektiver Kapitalanlagen und ihrer Anleger: distributed and accumulated fund income is taxable, and the figures that count are published in the Kursliste — estv.admin.ch
10. ESTV — price lists (Kurslisten, ICTax), where per-security income and tax values are looked up — estv.admin.ch
11. ESTV — cryptocurrencies, working paper Arbeitspapier Kryptowährungen — estv.admin.ch
12. IRS — Form W-8BEN, certificate of foreign status for withholding — irs.gov