---
title: "Sending money to your family abroad from Switzerland: what the law governs and what you must be able to justify"
url: https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/sending-money-family-abroad-from-switzerland
lang: en
date_modified: 2026-10-27
author: "Brice DELHOME"
---

![A transfer leaves Switzerland for a family home abroad, watched by the ibani mascot](https://www.ibani.com/images/envoyer-argent-famille-etranger-depuis-suisse.png)

# Sending money to your family abroad from Switzerland: what the law governs and what you must be able to justify

 Reading time: 22 minutes | **Updated: 27 October 2026**

By [Brice DELHOME](https://www.ibani.com/en/author/brice-delhome)

📌 In short: you may send money freely, but each transfer must be explainable

-   **Nothing to declare in Switzerland** for an individual who sends money to their family, with some exceptions: a transfer of more than 10,000 francs to Iran if your intermediary is not established in Switzerland, or a gift that is taxable under the law of your canton. The obligations fall on the intermediary that carries out the transfer.
-   **The intermediary verifies your identity** and passes on your name, your account number and your address with every transfer. It must clarify a transfer that is unusual in its amount, frequency or destination: have a payslip and a bank statement ready.
-   **Splitting transfers achieves nothing**: the thresholds are calculated on linked transfers, and unusual splitting attracts attention.
-   **Gifts**: depending on your canton, a gift to your parents may be taxable in Switzerland, and your family's country may also tax what it receives, with very different rules in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Germany.
-   **At the destination**, exchange controls, conversion quotas and sanctions decide what your family actually receives: China, India, Brazil, Tunisia, Iran and Russia each have their own rules.
-   **Cost**: on four of the five corridors from Switzerland surveyed by the World Bank, the exchange margin accounted for between 43% and 54% of the total cost. To Kosovo, the average cost reached 12.87% in the third quarter of 2025.

A Portuguese care assistant living in Lausanne transfers 400 francs a month to her mother in Braga, a Kosovar bricklayer in St. Gallen sends enough to finish the family house, an Indian engineer in Zurich pays for his father's care in Pune: in 2025, immigrants living in Switzerland transferred 9,056 million francs abroad, according to the Swiss National Bank's balance of payments. Sending money to your family is perfectly legal. But every transfer goes through an intermediary subject to the anti-money laundering legislation, may be a gift in the eyes of the tax authorities and arrives in a country that has its own exchange rules. This guide explains what you have to declare, what you must be able to justify, and what your family will actually receive.

## 1\. Do you have to declare the money you send to your family?

**No, as a general rule: no Swiss provision requires an individual to declare a transfer abroad.** The [Federal Act on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1998/892_892_892/fr) (Anti-Money Laundering Act, AMLA, SR 955.0, text in French) is addressed to financial intermediaries, in particular banks, money transfer providers and bureaux de change. It is they who must identify you, clarify unusual transactions and, where there are well-founded suspicions, inform the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS). Under the anti-money laundering legislation, you have nothing to fill in on your side.

Three situations are exceptions or call for particular attention:

-   **A relative resident in Iran**: the [Ordinance of 12 December 2025 on Measures against Iran](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2025/838/fr) (in French) requires any transfer of more than 10,000 francs whose recipient is a person resident in Iran to be declared in writing to SECO within five working days, and to be authorised above 50,000 francs (Art. 21). This step falls to the Swiss intermediary, or to you if your intermediary is not established in Switzerland. The amounts are added together if the transfer is made in several linked transactions. The details are given in section 7.
-   **Cash carried across the border**: Switzerland does not require a spontaneous declaration, but the European Union requires one from 10,000 euros on entering its territory. See section 4.
-   **A taxable gift**: if your canton taxes gifts in the hands of the recipient, cantonal law may require a declaration. See section 5.

Not having to declare does not mean having nothing to justify. The intermediary may ask you where the money comes from and what it is for, and it may refuse a transaction it cannot explain; it must report it to MROS if its suspicions remain well founded. That is the subject of the next two sections.

## 2\. What does the intermediary check, and from what amount?

**Your identity is verified in every case, and every transfer carries your name, your account number and your address all the way to your family's bank.** The figures for the thresholds are set out in the [FINMA Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2015/390/fr) (AMLO-FINMA, SR 955.033.0, text in French), in the version in force on 27 October 2026. They differ depending on whether you use a provider where you have an account or a money transfer counter where you have none.

### Who supervises the intermediary

A company that makes transfers on behalf of third parties or trades in foreign currencies on a professional basis is a financial intermediary (Art. 2(3)(b) and (c) AMLA). A bank is authorised and supervised by FINMA. A non-bank provider, such as a money transfer or currency exchange service, must join a recognised self-regulatory organisation (SRO) (Art. 14 AMLA). FINMA explains that these intermediaries are neither authorised nor supervised by FINMA, but are subject to the supervision of the SROs of which they are members. You can check a provider's affiliation in the list of members published by each SRO.

### The thresholds that apply

| Situation | What the intermediary must do | Legal basis |
| --- | --- | --- |
| You open an account or a lasting business relationship (bank, online currency exchange service) | Verify your identity at the opening, whatever the amount, and identify the beneficial owner | Art. 3 and 4 AMLA |
| One-off transfer at the counter of a money transfer provider, from Switzerland to another country | Verify your identity in every case, from the first franc, and have you declare the beneficial owner of the funds | Art. 52(1) and 62 AMLO-FINMA |
| One-off transfer of 5,000 francs or more, in one or more linked transactions | Treat the transaction as involving higher risk, and therefore clarify it | Art. 73(2) AMLO-FINMA |
| Cash exchange at the counter, without a lasting business relationship | Verify identity from 5,000 francs | Art. 51(1)(a) AMLO-FINMA |
| Any payment order, whatever the amount | Pass on your name, your account number and your address (or your date and place of birth, your customer number or your national identity number), as well as the recipient's name and account number | Art. 10 AMLO-FINMA |

From 12 May to 9 June 2026, FINMA held a consultation (hearing) on a partial revision of the AMLO-FINMA whose date of entry into force is not known as at 27 October 2026: the thresholds above remain the ones that apply.

Article 10 explains a common situation: your family's bank receives your name and address with the transfer, and may block or return a payment whose information is incomplete. Give the recipient's name exactly as it appears on their account, and the full IBAN or account number.

## 3\. When will you have to justify a transfer, and with which documents?

**You will have to justify a transfer when it looks unusual in relation to your profile: a large amount compared with your income, a sudden change in frequency, a high-risk destination.** Article 6 of the AMLA requires the intermediary to clarify the background and purpose of a transaction that appears unusual or involves higher risk. The AMLO-FINMA sets out the criteria: the size of the sums, significant departures from the usual type, volume or frequency of transactions, and the country of destination, in particular a country that the FATF considers high-risk or non-cooperative (Art. 13 and 14). Payments to a country for which the FATF calls for enhanced due diligence are deemed to involve higher risk in all cases (Art. 14(3)).

### What the intermediary may ask you

Article 15(2) of the AMLO-FINMA lists the possible clarifications, including the origin of the assets, the use for which they are intended, the origin of the client's wealth and the occupation pursued. For a family transfer, this means in practice:

-   **the origin of the money**: your latest payslips, a bank statement showing accumulated savings, the deed of sale of a property or the statement of a pension capital withdrawal if the amount is exceptional;
-   **your relationship with the recipient**: a birth certificate, a family certificate or any other document showing the family relationship;
-   **the purpose of the payment**: everyday living costs, medical expenses, study costs, work on the family home, with an invoice or a quote when the amount is large;
-   **your situation**: your residence permit and your employer, if the intermediary does not already know them.

A regular monthly transfer, of an amount consistent with your salary, to the same recipient, is the simplest profile: once explained, it generally raises few questions. It is a break in the pattern that triggers a clarification, for example a transfer of 30,000 francs for a house after years of 300-franc transfers. Let your intermediary know and get the documents ready before the transfer.

### Why splitting transfers is a bad idea

The AMLO-FINMA thresholds cover one or more transactions that appear to be linked. Ten transfers of 900 francs to the same recipient in the same week can be treated as a single transfer of 9,000 francs, and splitting designed to stay below a threshold is precisely the kind of behaviour that intermediaries' monitoring systems must detect (Art. 73(1) AMLO-FINMA for money transfer providers).

### If the transfer is blocked

If the intermediary has well-founded suspicions that its clarifications do not dispel, it must inform MROS (Art. 9 AMLA) and it is prohibited from telling you that it has done so (Art. 10a AMLA). While the report is being analysed, it carries out your instructions as a rule, but those involving substantial assets are executed only in a form that allows them to be traced (Art. 9a AMLA). A refusal without a detailed explanation is therefore not a lack of courtesy: the law limits what the intermediary can tell you. Answering requests for clarification quickly and fully remains the best way to avoid a blocked transfer.

## 4\. Cash, hawala, an unaffiliated intermediary: what are the risks?

**Informal channels look simpler or cheaper, but they expose you to losing the money with no recourse, and the person who runs them commits a criminal offence.**

### Informal hawala-type networks

Handing money to a person in Switzerland so that a correspondent pays the equivalent to your family abroad means using a money transfer service. Anyone who intentionally runs one on a professional basis without being affiliated with an SRO faces a custodial sentence of up to three years or a monetary penalty, and a fine of up to 250,000 francs if they act negligently (Art. 44 of the [Financial Market Supervision Act](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/736/fr), FINMASA, text in French). For you, the risk is above all practical: no usable record of the transaction, no recourse if the money does not arrive.

### Western Union is no longer available at Swiss Post

Since 1 January 2026, the Western Union service has no longer been available in Swiss Post branches; Swiss Post states this on its money transfer page. Cash transfers at the counter remain possible with the agents of money transfer providers, with the identity check described in section 2.

### Carrying cash

-   **In Switzerland**, cash does not have to be declared. But from 10,000 francs, or if there is a suspicion, customs may question you about your identity, the origin and intended use of the money and its beneficial owner (Art. 3 of the [Ordinance on the Control of Cross-Border Cash Transfers](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2009/118/fr), in French). Refusing to answer or giving a false answer is punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 francs, and the money may be provisionally seized.
-   **In the European Union**, anyone entering or leaving EU territory with 10,000 euros or more in cash must declare it, and the threshold is assessed per person. Crossing the border into France, Germany, Italy or Austria means entering the Union: the declaration is due on the European side, even if Switzerland asks for nothing.
-   **To Russia and Belarus**, exporting banknotes in Swiss francs or euros is prohibited, except for the personal use of a traveller going there.

## 5\. Is the money you send a taxable gift in Switzerland?

**It may be: there is no federal gift tax, but most cantons levy one, and for a gift of money it is the canton of domicile of the donor, in other words yours, that has jurisdiction.** The person liable for the tax is the recipient, in this case your family. What follows is based on the Federal Tax Administration's brochure on inheritance and gift taxes for the 2025 tax period, supplemented by the cantonal laws of Vaud and Ticino.

| Recipient | Cantons where the gift is exempt | Cantons where the gift is taxable |
| --- | --- | --- |
| No gift tax | Schwyz, Obwalden and Lucerne tax no gifts, whoever the recipient. |
| Your children | All the cantons that have a gift tax, except Appenzell Innerrhoden, Neuchâtel and Vaud | Appenzell Innerrhoden and Neuchâtel (after a deduction); Vaud above 300,000 francs per child and per calendar year, the tax then applying to the whole amount |
| Your parents | Uri, Nidwalden, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Graubünden, Aargau, Ticino, Valais, Geneva | Zurich, Bern, Glarus, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Innerrhoden, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, generally above an exempt amount (200,000 francs per parent in Zurich, for example) |
| Your brothers and sisters, or a person who is not a relative | None, apart from the three cantons without a gift tax | All the cantons that have a gift tax, subject to the exemption of small amounts |

Recipient status according to the Federal Tax Administration's brochure for 2025; the cantonal rules include progressive rates and surcharges that this table does not reproduce.

### Regular support is not always a gift

Several cantons expressly exempt support paid for the maintenance of a relative. Vaud exempts payments to relatives in the direct line (children, grandchildren, father and mother) that are needed for their education or vocational training, as well as payments made under a duty of assistance. Basel-Stadt exempts payments intended for maintenance and training, Basel-Landschaft those that fulfil a legal maintenance obligation, and Schaffhausen payments to people in need. Vaud also exempts any gift of no more than 10,000 francs per recipient and per calendar year; above that, the tax applies to the whole amount. Other cantons exempt customary gifts up to 5,000 francs (Zurich, Glarus, Zug, Aargau and Thurgau, among others).

A modest monthly transfer may escape tax as a small amount or as maintenance support, but the thresholds vary widely and some cantons, such as Bern or Jura, assess them over five years. For regular support as for a large gift, for example to buy a home, check your situation with your canton's tax administration before the transfer, especially as your family's country may also tax what it receives (section 6).

### And what about your income tax?

Support for a relative who cannot provide for themselves may, on the contrary, reduce your tax. For direct federal tax, Article 35(1)(b) of the [Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1991/1184_1184_1184/fr) (DBG/LIFD, text in French) allows a deduction of 6,800 francs in 2026 for each person wholly or partly unable to work whom you support, provided your support amounts to at least that sum. The deduction is not granted for your spouse, nor for children for whom you already claim the child deduction. The cantons have their own amounts and require proof of need and of the payments: every documented transfer will help you.

## 6\. Does your family have to pay tax on what it receives?

**Perhaps: in many countries, it is the resident recipient who is taxed on the gift received, even if the money comes from Switzerland.** Here are the rules of the five European Union countries from which the largest foreign communities in Switzerland come, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Italy, Germany, Portugal, France, Spain). For any other country, check with its tax administration before a large transfer.

| Recipient's country | Child or parent | Key points |
| --- | --- | --- |
| France | Allowance of 100,000 euros per donor and per recipient, renewable every 15 years; in addition, 31,865 euros for a gift of a sum of money from a donor under 80 to an adult child or grandchild | The recipient must declare the gift, even if no duty is payable, and since 1 January 2026 must do so online. A recipient domiciled in France remains taxable even if the donor lives in Switzerland, provided the recipient has been domiciled in France for at least six of the last ten years. |
| Italy | Tax of 4% on the portion above 1 million euros per recipient in the direct line | Brothers and sisters: 6% above 100,000 euros. Ordinary family support remains very far below these thresholds. |
| Portugal | Spouse, descendants and ascendants exempt from the imposto do selo | For other recipients, 10%; gifts in line with social custom up to 500 euros fall outside the scope of the tax. |
| Spain | Depending on the autonomous community where the recipient lives | Gift tax is payable by the resident recipient, whatever the origin of the money; reductions and allowances vary greatly from one region to another. |
| Germany | Child: allowance of 400,000 euros; parent receiving money from their child: only 20,000 euros | Payments intended for reasonable maintenance or for education are exempt. A German national who has lived in Switzerland for less than five years remains subject to German tax as a donor. Declaration within three months. |

The German case illustrates a common pitfall: the allowance is much lower in the child-to-parent direction (20,000 euros, under tax class II) than in the parent-to-child direction. What protects support for an elderly parent is the exemption for reasonable maintenance, assessed according to the recipient's situation and standard of living. For estates rather than gifts, our guide to [cross-border inheritance](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/cross-border-inheritance-switzerland-which-law-applies) explains which law governs an estate split between Switzerland and France, Germany, Italy, Spain or Portugal (the deceased's last habitual residence decides) and who taxes what.

## 7\. Exchange controls and sanctions: which countries have special rules?

**Swiss law decides whether you can send money; the law of the destination country decides in which currency, at what rate and on what conditions your family receives it.** The cases below are based on texts from central banks, ministries and the Federal Council consulted on 27 October 2026. Exchange rules change often: check them with the recipient's bank before a large transfer.

### Countries where conversion into the local currency is restricted

-   **China**: an individual may receive foreign currency and keep it in a foreign currency account, but its conversion into yuan is subject, according to the latest public answer from the foreign exchange administration (SAFE, March 2024), to an annual quota of 50,000 dollars per person, on presentation of an identity document alone. Above that, the bank requires evidence that the transaction is genuine; for family maintenance, the regulations of the foreign exchange administration (SAFE) cite proof of the family relationship and of income.
-   **India**: the Reserve Bank of India classifies transfers received for family maintenance under code P1301, reserved for remittances from non-resident Indians, and personal gifts under code P1302. Money transfer operators (other than bank transfers) are limited to 2,500 dollars per transfer and 30 transfers per recipient per year, and cash payouts to 50,000 rupees.
-   **Brazil**: foreign currency received from abroad by an individual is subject to the tax on financial transactions (IOF) at a rate of 0.38%.
-   **Tunisia**: the dinar is not freely convertible. Residents' foreign currency accounts are reserved for a closed list of holders and types of income set by the Central Bank of Tunisia (circular 2017-04), which does not include family gifts from abroad. A resident who falls into none of these categories therefore receives the money in dinars, as a rule, at their bank's rate (2017 circular, latest version consulted).
-   **Ethiopia**: since July 2024, the birr has followed a market rate. The recipient is paid in birr at the prevailing rate, or credited in foreign currency if they hold a foreign currency account, and receiving fees may not exceed 1% of the amount transferred (directive FXD/01/2024 of the National Bank of Ethiopia, revised in 2026).
-   **Sri Lanka**: any transfer received through the banking system can be paid into a personal foreign currency account (PFCA), according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka; foreign currency withdrawals from it are limited to travel, up to 10,000 dollars. A new directive on these accounts, published on 3 March 2026, may have changed these rules: have them confirmed by the recipient's bank.

### Countries where the money arrives without forced conversion

-   **Kosovo**: the euro is the currency in use, according to the Central Bank of Kosovo. A transfer in euros arrives as it is, with no exchange on arrival. With 116,865 nationals resident in Switzerland at the end of 2025, Kosovo is the largest foreign nationality from outside the European Union.
-   **Turkey**: residents may freely hold foreign currency, buy and sell it at banks and keep it in foreign currency accounts (Decision No. 32 on the protection of the value of the Turkish currency, Art. 4). Your family is under no obligation to convert.
-   **Ukraine**: under martial law, Resolution No. 18 of the National Bank of Ukraine mainly governs outflows of foreign currency and withdrawals; it does not require an individual to sell the foreign currency they receive. Cash withdrawals in foreign currency are limited to the equivalent of 200,000 hryvnias per day, and transfers initiated with cards issued in Russia or Belarus cannot be credited.

### Countries under sanctions

-   **Iran**: the Swiss ordinance of 12 December 2025, adopted after the UN resolutions were reinstated, requires a written declaration to SECO for any transfer of more than 10,000 francs to a person resident in Iran, and an authorisation from SECO above 50,000 francs (Art. 21). The amounts are added together for linked transactions. Authorisation is not required for foodstuffs, medical care or equipment, or humanitarian needs, but the declaration is still due. Banking relationships with Iranian banks are prohibited (Art. 22), which limits the payment channels available.
-   **Russia**: since 30 October 2025, any transaction with 45 Russian banks has been prohibited. There is no general ban on private transfers to a non-sanctioned bank, but the funds must not reach a listed person, and exporting banknotes in francs or euros is prohibited, except for a traveller's personal use (Art. 15 and 28 of the ordinance on measures connected with the situation in Ukraine). The same banknote bans apply to Belarus.
-   **Syria**: on 20 June 2025, the Federal Council lifted most of the economic sanctions, including the restrictions on certain financial services. What remains is the freezing of the assets of listed persons and entities, linked in particular to the former government, and the ban on making funds available to them. The legal framework no longer blocks a family transfer to a person who is not listed; whether correspondent banks are actually available must still be checked case by case.

For all countries, checking that the recipient does not appear on a sanctions list is first and foremost the intermediary's job, but [SECO's search engine](https://www.seco.admin.ch/fr/recherche-destinataires-sanctions) (in French) is public. Individuals in Switzerland are themselves required to comply with the sanctions in force.

### Another special case: Eritrea

In 2011, the UN Security Council condemned the "diaspora tax" levied by Eritrea on its nationals abroad, and demanded that it stop collecting it through extortion, threats or fraud (Resolution 2023). According to a 2016 report by the Federal Council, this 2% tax was required in particular of people who wished to return. No recent official source specifies how it is collected today. Eritrea is not subject to Swiss sanctions.

## 8\. How much does a transfer cost, and where is the exchange margin hidden?

**The cost of a transfer adds together the fees displayed and the margin taken on the exchange rate; on four of the five corridors from Switzerland surveyed by the World Bank, the margin accounted for between 43% and 54% of the total cost.** The World Bank measures the total cost by comparing the amount received with the interbank rate at the time, and classifies as non-transparent a provider that does not disclose the rate it applies.

### What the World Bank measures

Sending the equivalent of 200 dollars from Switzerland cost an average of 4.11% in 2023, the latest year available for Switzerland, compared with 3.02% from Germany, 2.90% from France, 2.19% from Italy and 2.07% from Portugal. In the third quarter of 2025, the World Bank surveyed five corridors from Switzerland:

| Corridor | Average cost for 200 dollars | of which exchange margin | Average cost for 500 dollars |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Switzerland to Kosovo | 12.87% (banks: 22.77%; money transfer operators: 7.43%) | 3.29% | 7.14% |
| Switzerland to Albania | 7.11% | 3.81% | 5.13% |
| Switzerland to Serbia | 5.62% | 2.92% | 4.00% |
| Switzerland to Sri Lanka | 5.27% | 2.27% | 3.71% |
| Switzerland to Hungary | 3.81% | 1.66% | 2.82% |

Simple average of the offers surveyed by the World Bank on each corridor. To Kosovo, the margin accounts for only a quarter of the cost: it is the fees of the banks surveyed that push up the average. The international community has set itself the goal of bringing this cost below 3% on average by 2030, and to no more than 5% on each corridor (target 10.c of the Sustainable Development Goals). In concrete terms, sending the equivalent of 500 dollars a month to Kosovo at the average cost of 7.14% means paying around 36 dollars per transfer, or more than 400 dollars a year.

### Habits that reduce the bill

-   **Compare the amount received, not the fees**: a "fee-free" transfer can cost more than a transfer with fees if the rate applied is far from the market rate. Work out the gap with the day's rate, as explained in our guide on [how to calculate an exchange rate](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/how-to-calculate-exchange-rate).
-   **Send in euros to the SEPA area**: Switzerland is part of the SEPA area. A transfer in euros to a European IBAN is a SEPA transfer if your Swiss bank participates in the scheme; it is free in e-banking at Zürcher Kantonalbank, for example.
-   **Choose the fee option**: outside SEPA, an international transfer carries an OUR option (you pay all the fees), SHA (shared fees) or BEN (all fees deducted from the amount). At Zürcher Kantonalbank, for example, the OUR option adds 20 francs, and the recipient's bank may still charge crediting fees.
-   **Group your transfers**: the relative cost falls as the amount rises. To Serbia, it drops on average from 5.62% for 200 dollars to 4.00% for 500 dollars.

**💡 Currency exchange with ibani:** [ibani](https://www.ibani.com/en/app) is a Geneva-based financial intermediary affiliated with SO-FIT, a self-regulatory organisation (SRO), and not a bank. You receive a Swiss IBAN in your name, which serves as a pass-through account and not a deposit account: your francs are converted there at the real market rate, plus a margin of 0.40% to 0.15% depending on the amount, then transferred to the destination bank account you specify. ibani converts into twelve currencies (CHF, EUR, USD, GBP, CAD, SGD, HKD, JPY, NOK, NZD, SEK and TRY) and does not pay out cash. To a country whose currency is not one of them, your family receives euros or dollars, and the local conversion follows the rules in section 7. Like any intermediary, ibani verifies your identity and may ask you about the origin of the funds. The day's rate can be followed on our [CHF-EUR converter](https://www.ibani.com/en/currency-converter/chf-to-eur-rate).

## 9\. Key takeaways

Sending money to your family from Switzerland is unrestricted and requires no declaration from the individual, with some exceptions: a transfer of more than 10,000 francs to Iran if your intermediary is not established in Switzerland, or a gift that is taxable under the law of your canton. The checks are carried out by the intermediary: it verifies your identity, passes on your details with every transfer and must clarify any unusual transfer. The best protection is a regular pattern consistent with your income, and supporting documents ready for exceptional transfers.

Three checks before a large transfer: **your canton**, which may tax a gift to your parents or to your brothers and sisters; **your family's country**, which may tax what it receives and set rules on conversion into the local currency; **the total cost**, fees and exchange margin included, measured on the amount your family will actually receive.

## 10\. Frequently asked questions

No, as a general rule. No provision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) or of its ordinances requires an individual to declare a transfer abroad: the obligations to identify, clarify and report fall on the financial intermediary that carries out the transfer. There is one notable exception: a transfer of more than 10,000 francs to a person resident in Iran must be declared to SECO, and above 50,000 francs it must be authorised; this step falls to the sender themselves if their intermediary is not established in Switzerland. A gift may also have to be declared under the law of your canton.

There is no single amount. With a money transfer provider where you have no account, your identity is verified from the first franc sent abroad and the transfer is treated as a higher-risk transaction from 5,000 francs, an amount assessed across several linked transfers (Art. 52 and 73 AMLO-FINMA). With a provider where you have an account, your identity is verified when the account is opened. In both cases, the intermediary must clarify a transaction that is unusual in its amount, frequency or destination: it may then ask you about the origin of the funds, the purpose of the payment and your occupation.

No. The thresholds in the FINMA ordinance apply to one or more transactions that appear to be linked: ten transfers of 900 francs to the same recipient in the same week can be treated as a single transfer of 9,000 francs. Unusual splitting is itself a warning sign that the intermediary must clarify. A regular monthly transfer, of an amount consistent with your salary, is on the other hand the easiest profile to justify.

It depends on your canton of domicile, which has jurisdiction over a gift of money. Schwyz, Obwalden and Lucerne have no gift tax. Gifts to parents are exempt in Geneva, Fribourg, Valais, Aargau, Graubünden and Ticino, among others, but taxable, generally above an exempt amount, in Zurich, Bern, Glarus, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Innerrhoden, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura. Several cantons exempt support paid under a duty of assistance or to a person in need, for example Vaud, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Schaffhausen. It is the recipient who is liable for the tax.

Sometimes, because many countries tax the recipient of a gift, even if the money comes from Switzerland. In France, a parent or a child has an allowance of 100,000 euros per donor over 15 years, and since 1 January 2026 the gift must be declared online, even if no tax is due. In Italy, the direct line is taxed only above 1 million euros. In Portugal, spouses, children and parents are exempt from the imposto do selo. In Germany, a parent who receives money from their child has an allowance of only 20,000 euros, but reasonable maintenance support is exempt. In Spain, the rules depend on the recipient's autonomous community.

Often yes, but with limits specific to each country. To Iran, a transfer of more than 10,000 francs must be declared to SECO, and one of more than 50,000 francs must be authorised. To Russia, any transaction with 45 Russian banks has been prohibited since 30 October 2025, and exporting banknotes in francs or euros is prohibited, except for a traveller's personal use. Switzerland lifted most of its economic sanctions against Syria on 20 June 2025, but it remains prohibited to make funds available to a listed person. In all cases, sending money to a person who appears on a sanctions list is prohibited.

According to the World Bank, sending the equivalent of 200 dollars from Switzerland cost an average of 4.11% in 2023, compared with 3.02% from Germany and 2.90% from France. In the third quarter of 2025, the average cost recorded was 5.62% to Serbia, 7.11% to Albania and 12.87% to Kosovo, where the banks surveyed charged an average of 22.77%. This cost adds together the fees displayed and the margin taken on the exchange rate, which accounted for between 43% and 54% of the total on four of the five corridors surveyed.

Sometimes. For direct federal tax, Article 35 of the DBG/LIFD (Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation) allows a deduction of 6,800 francs in 2026 for each person wholly or partly unable to work whom you support, provided your support amounts to at least that sum. The deduction does not apply to your spouse or to children for whom you already receive the child deduction. The cantons apply their own amounts and require proof of need and of the payments: keep the records of every transfer.

## Official sources

-   [Federal Act of 10 October 1997 on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AMLA, SR 955.0)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1998/892_892_892/fr), as at 1 October 2026: Art. 2(3), 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 9a, 10a and 14 — Fedlex, accessed 27 October 2026 (in French)
-   [Ordinance of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AMLO-FINMA, SR 955.033.0)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2015/390/fr), as at 1 January 2023: Art. 2, 10, 13 to 15, 51, 52, 62 and 73 — Fedlex, accessed 27 October 2026 (in French); [consultation on the partial revision of the AMLO-FINMA](https://www.finma.ch/en/news/2026/05/20260512-mm-anh-gwv-finma/) (12 May 2026) — FINMA
-   [Self-regulatory organisations (SROs)](https://www.finma.ch/en/authorisation/self-regulatory-organisations-sros/) — FINMA, accessed 27 October 2026
-   [Federal Act on the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMASA, SR 956.1)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2008/736/fr), as at 1 April 2025: Art. 44 — Fedlex, accessed 27 October 2026 (in French)
-   [Ordinance on the Control of Cross-Border Cash Transfers (SR 631.052)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2009/118/fr), as at 1 January 2022: Art. 3 to 5 — Fedlex (in French); [Cash, foreign currencies, securities](https://www.bazg.admin.ch/fr/transport-argent-liquide-en-suisse) — Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (in French); [EU cash controls](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/customs/prohibitions-restrictions/eu-cash-controls_en) — European Commission, accessed 27 October 2026
-   [Ordinance of 12 December 2025 on Measures against Iran (SR 946.231.143.6)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2025/838/fr), as at 18 August 2026: Art. 1, 21 and 22; [Ordinance on Measures connected with the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2022/151/fr), as at 21 September 2026: Art. 15 and 28; [Ordinance on Measures against Belarus (SR 946.231.116.9)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2022/172/fr), as at 19 September 2026: Art. 24; [Ordinance on Measures against Syria (SR 946.231.172.7)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2012/394/fr), as at 16 June 2026 — Fedlex, accessed 27 October 2026 (in French)
-   [Federal Council press release of 29 October 2025](https://www.admin.ch/fr/newnsb/kdsi2Frn5Y-xc9mE46C8C) (ban on transactions with 45 Russian banks); [press release of 20 June 2025](https://www.admin.ch/fr/newnsb/IaYrkRP-T0h_iNp_6PUeM) (lifting of the economic sanctions against Syria); [measures against Iran](https://www.seco.admin.ch/fr/mesures-a-l-encontre-iran) and [search for sanctions recipients](https://www.seco.admin.ch/fr/recherche-destinataires-sanctions) — SECO, accessed 27 October 2026 (in French)
-   [Inheritance and gift taxes, tax brochures for the 2025 tax period](https://www.estv2.admin.ch/stp/sm/erbschafts-schenkungssteuer-de-fr.pdf) (26 November 2025) — Federal Tax Administration (in German and French); [article 16 LMSD with commentary](https://www.vd.ch/etat-droit-finances/impots/impots-pour-les-individus/les-impots-les-differents-types-dimpots/autres-impots/successions-et-donations/la-loi/articles-de-la-loi-commentes/article-16-lmsd) — Canton of Vaud (in French); [Bollettino ufficiale n. 26/2024](https://www4.ti.ch/fileadmin/DFE/DC/DOC-TRIBUTARIA/2024/Bollettino_ufficiale_26-_2024.pdf) (Art. 154 LT) — Canton of Ticino (in Italian), accessed 27 October 2026
-   [Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DBG/LIFD, SR 642.11)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1991/1184_1184_1184/fr), as at 2 September 2026: Art. 35(1)(b) — Fedlex (in French); [circular on bracket creep for the 2026 tax year](https://www.estv.admin.ch/dam/de/sd-web/vFK3ntWLQ4s4/2-215-D-2025-d.pdf) (11 September 2025) — Federal Tax Administration (in German), accessed 27 October 2026
-   France: [gift duties according to the relationship with the donor](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F14203) — Service-Public; [don manuel](https://www.impots.gouv.fr/particulier/don-manuel) — impots.gouv.fr; [BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-10-30](https://bofip.impots.gouv.fr/bofip/3543-PGP.html/identifiant=BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-10-30-20120912) — BOFiP. Italy: [imposta di donazione, aliquote](https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/schede/pagamenti/imposta-di-donazione/aliquote) — Agenzia delle Entrate. Portugal: [Código do Imposto do Selo, Art. 6](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/selo/Pages/selo6.aspx) and [Art. 1](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/selo/Pages/selo1.aspx) — Portal das Finanças. Spain: [Ley 29/1987](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1987-28141) and [Ley 22/2009](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2009-20375) — BOE. Germany: [ErbStG § 13](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/erbstg_1974/__13.html), [§ 15](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/erbstg_1974/__15.html), [§ 16](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/erbstg_1974/__16.html), [§ 2](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/erbstg_1974/__2.html) and [§ 30](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/erbstg_1974/__30.html) — accessed 27 October 2026
-   China: [implementing rules for the administration of individual foreign exchange](https://www.safe.gov.cn/en/2007/0105/819.html) and [answer of March 2024](https://www.safe.gov.cn:443/safe/file/file/20240301/67efecf61b05467399e235bb9f5794d9.pdf) — SAFE. India: [purpose codes for transactions](https://www.rbi.org.in/upload/notification/pdfs/52220.pdf) and [Master Direction on the Money Transfer Service Scheme](https://www.rbi.org.in/SCRIPTs/BS_ViewMasDirections.aspx?id=10868) — Reserve Bank of India. Brazil: [Decree 6.306/2007, Art. 15-B](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2007-2010/2007/decreto/d6306.htm). Tunisia: [circular 2017-04](https://www.bct.gov.tn/bct/siteprod/documents/Cir_2017_04_fr.pdf) — Central Bank of Tunisia. Ethiopia: [directive FXD/01/2024](https://nbe.gov.et/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FXD012024-FOREIGN-EXCHANGE-1-1.pdf) — National Bank of Ethiopia. Sri Lanka: [FAQ on personal foreign currency accounts](https://www.dfe.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98&Itemid=459&lang=en) — Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Kosovo: [currency in circulation](https://bqk-kos.org/operacionet-bankare/paraja-ne-qarkullim/?lang=en) — Central Bank of Kosovo. Turkey: [Decision No. 32](https://mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/20.5.8914391.pdf). Ukraine: [Resolution No. 18](https://bank.gov.ua/admin_uploads/law/Resolution_24022022_18_kp_eng.pdf) — National Bank of Ukraine. Eritrea: [Resolution 2023 (2011)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/2023(2011)&l=en&t=pdf) — UN Security Council; [Federal Council report of 14 October 2016](https://www.newsd.admin.ch/newsd/message/attachments/45929.pdf) — accessed 27 October 2026
-   [Current account, transfers by immigrants](https://data.snb.ch/fr/topics/aube/cube/bopcurra) (published on 22 September 2026) — Swiss National Bank (in French); [permanent resident foreign population by nationality](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/asset/fr/36681875) (20 August 2026) — Federal Statistical Office (in French), accessed 27 October 2026
-   [Remittance Prices Worldwide, dataset 2011 to Q3 2025](https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/search/dataset/0037898/remittance-prices-worldwide) (updated on 23 September 2026) and [indicator SI.RMT.COST.OB.ZS](https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/CHE/indicator/SI.RMT.COST.OB.ZS?format=json) — World Bank; [metadata for indicator 10.c.1](https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-10-0c-01.pdf) — United Nations; [money transfer](https://www.post.ch/de/weitere-angebote/geldtransfer) — Swiss Post (in German); [list of SEPA scheme countries](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2025-12/EPC409-09%20EPC%20List%20of%20SEPA%20Scheme%20Countries%20v8.0.pdf) (v8.0, 24 December 2025) — European Payments Council; [payments abroad](https://www.zkb.ch/de/private/konten-karten/zahlungsverkehr/auslandzahlungen.html) — Zürcher Kantonalbank (in German), accessed 27 October 2026

**Disclaimer:** this guide describes Swiss law and the foreign rules consulted as at 27 October 2026. The AMLO-FINMA thresholds are the subject of an ongoing revision, sanctions and exchange rules change often, and cantonal gift taxes include rates and exceptions that are not detailed here. This information is provided for guidance only and constitutes neither legal advice, nor tax advice, nor a recommendation on currency exchange. Before a large transfer, have your situation confirmed by your canton's tax administration, by that of the recipient's country and by your intermediary.

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