The 35% Swiss withholding tax: why it is levied, and how to get it refunded
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- Switzerland withholds 35% on dividends from Swiss companies, on interest from Swiss bonds and on interest from Swiss bank accounts as soon as it exceeds CHF 200 a year, on the whole amount. The tax is withheld by whoever pays the income.
- Do you live in Switzerland? You recover all of it, provided you declare this income in your tax return. Undeclared income forfeits the refund, unless an omission through negligence is remedied before the assessment becomes final.
- Do you live abroad? In principle, only your country's double taxation agreement opens the way to a refund. For the fourteen countries examined, Switzerland keeps 15% on dividends: you recover 20 of the 35 points.
- On interest, it is often all of it: residents of France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom or the United States recover the full 35%. Residents of Italy, Portugal or Canada recover only part of it.
- Deadline: three years after the end of the year in which the income fell due. In Switzerland, the tax return serves as the claim; from abroad, you use the form for your country (online for Germany). Once this deadline has passed, the money remains with Switzerland.
In this guide:
- 🧾 1. What is withholding tax, and what is it levied on?
- 🏠 2. You live in Switzerland: how do you recover it?
- 🌍 3. You live abroad: how much can you recover?
- 🔢 4. What does this mean on a dividend or on interest?
- 📮 5. How do you file the claim from abroad?
- 🧭 6. Which special cases should you know about?
- 🏛️ 7. Is a reform on the way?
- 💱 8. Income in francs, spending in another currency?
- ❓ 9. Frequently asked questions
You hold Swiss shares, a Swiss bond or an interest-bearing account in Switzerland, and the amount credited is lower than you expected: 35% has been withheld. This deduction is not always a final tax. Depending on where you live, it is returned to you in full, in part, or not at all. This guide explains why Switzerland levies it, what you can recover depending on your country of residence, and how to make the claim.
1. What is withholding tax, and what is it levied on?
Swiss withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) is a federal tax withheld at source by whoever pays the income, and not by whoever receives it. Its primary purpose is to ensure that taxpayers domiciled in Switzerland declare their capital income: they only recover it if they declare that income.
| Swiss-source income | Rate | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends and other distributions from Swiss companies | 35% | Withheld by the distributing company |
| Interest on bonds issued by a Swiss debtor | 35% | Withheld by the issuer |
| Interest on an account with a Swiss bank | 35% | No withholding if the interest does not exceed CHF 200 per calendar year, for a balance credited with interest once a year |
| Lottery and gambling winnings | 35% | On the part of a single win that exceeds CHF 1,071,000 (large-scale games and online casinos); winnings at land-based casinos exempt |
| Insurance annuities and pensions | 15% | As a rule, the insurer reports the benefit instead of withholding the tax |
| Other insurance benefits paid as capital | 8% | Likewise; no tax if the capital does not exceed CHF 5,000 |
2. You live in Switzerland: how do you recover it?
For a person domiciled in Switzerland, withholding tax is only an advance payment. The refund follows three rules:
- Be domiciled in Switzerland when the income falls due. What counts is the due date of the dividend or the interest, not your domicile at the time of the claim.
- Declare the income. Income subject to withholding tax is entered on the securities statement attached to the tax return. Undeclared income forfeits the right to a refund. Since 2019, simple negligence can be remedied: the right is preserved if the income is declared, or added by the tax authorities, before the assessment becomes final.
- Act within three years of the end of the calendar year in which the income fell due. In practice, the tax return for the year serves as the claim.
The canton of domicile on 31 December credits the withholding tax against cantonal and communal taxes, and refunds the surplus in cash, without interest. Some cantons refund withholding tax entirely in cash, without crediting it. If you are taxed at source without an ordinary tax return, the claim goes through a procedure specific to your canton. Wealth tax, which applies to the same securities, follows other rules: our guide on wealth tax in Switzerland sets them out.
3. You live abroad: how much can you recover?
The Federal Act on Withholding Tax does not provide for a refund to a person domiciled abroad, except in narrow cases. The right arises from the double taxation agreement between Switzerland and the country of residence: it sets the rate Switzerland may keep, known as the residual rate, and Switzerland refunds the difference from the 35% withheld. Without a treaty, nothing is refunded.
| Country of residence | Dividends: rate kept by Switzerland / refundable share | Interest: rate kept / refundable share | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 83 |
| Germany | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | Online claim (85) |
| Italy | 15% / 20% | 12.5% / 22.5% | 95 |
| Spain | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 90 |
| Portugal | 15% / 20% | 10% / 25% | 94 |
| Austria | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 84 |
| Belgium | 15% / 20% | 10% / 25% | 97 |
| Netherlands | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 81 |
| Luxembourg | 15% / 20% | 10% / 25% | 79 |
| United Kingdom | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 86 |
| United States | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 82 I |
| Canada | 15% / 20% | 10% / 25% | 96 |
| Singapore | 15% / 20% | 5% / 30% | 60 |
| United Arab Emirates | 15% / 20% | 0% / 35% | 60 |
Individual holding securities as portfolio investments. Source: official table of relief under double taxation agreements, as at 1 January 2026, published by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA), cross-checked against the text of each treaty. Lower rates may apply to substantial holdings owned by companies, which are outside the scope of this guide.
According to the FTA's official table, the 15% that Switzerland keeps can in principle be credited against the income tax due in the country of residence. The conditions and limits of this credit are a matter for that country's tax administration.
4. What does this mean on a dividend or on interest?
| Gross income of CHF 1,000 | Paid out after withholding | Recoverable | Remains with Switzerland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss resident, income declared | 650 | 350 | 0 |
| Dividend, resident of one of the 14 countries in the table | 650 | 200 | 150 |
| Interest, resident of France or Germany | 650 | 350 | 0 |
| Interest, resident of Portugal | 650 | 250 | 100 |
| Interest, resident of Italy | 650 | 225 | 125 |
| Resident of a country without a treaty | 650 | 0 | 350 |
Amounts in francs. ibani calculations based on the residual rates above.
On a portfolio of Swiss shares yielding CHF 10,000 in dividends a year, what is at stake for a resident of one of the fourteen countries in the table is therefore CHF 2,000 a year, to be claimed within three years of the end of each year in which the dividends fell due.
5. How do you file the claim from abroad?
- The right form. Each country has its own, published by the FTA: 83 for France, 95 for Italy, 90 for Spain, 94 for Portugal, 86 for the United Kingdom, 82 I for individuals resident in the United States. For residents of Germany, the claim is made online for income that has fallen due since 2020.
- A certificate of residence. Depending on the country, your tax administration certifies that you are resident. For France, the local tax office (centre des finances publiques) stamps form 83; for Germany, the Finanzamt authenticates the page generated by the online claim; this authenticated page must be uploaded before the deadline expires.
- Proof of the income. The dividend or interest statement issued by the bank, showing the withholding tax deducted.
- The deadline. Three years after the end of the calendar year in which the income fell due: a dividend that fell due in May 2026 can be claimed until 31 December 2029.
Outside Germany, the completed form, certified if your country requires it, is sent by post to the FTA. The FTA does not acknowledge receipt of claims, and processing can take several months.
6. Which special cases should you know about?
- You leave Switzerland during the year. The right is determined income by income, according to your domicile on the due date. Income that fell due before your departure is recovered as a Swiss resident, even from abroad; income that fell due afterwards, under the treaty of your new country. Our checklist for leaving Switzerland covers the other steps.
- You are a cross-border worker with an interest-bearing account in Switzerland. As soon as the interest exceeds CHF 200 in the year, 35% is withheld on the whole amount. You recover it under the treaty of your country of residence: in full for France or Germany, in part for Italy.
- You hold Swiss shares through a foreign broker. The 35% withholding still applies, at source. The refund goes through the same procedure, at the treaty rate.
- You hold units in a Swiss investment fund. If at least 80% of its income comes permanently from abroad, the fund can pay out the return without withholding to investors domiciled abroad, on the basis of a declaration of domicile issued by their bank (affidavit). If the fund meets this condition but the return was paid to you without an affidavit, the refund is claimed with a separate form, 25 A. Otherwise, it follows the treaty of your country of residence, with that country's form.
7. Is a reform on the way?
Not for individuals. The withholding tax reform was rejected in a popular vote on 25 September 2022, and no change affecting individuals has been adopted since. Current work concerns companies; a Federal Council report of June 2026 mentions the option of faster relief, with no bill at this stage.
8. Income in francs, spending in another currency?
Whether you are a non-resident investor or a former resident who has moved abroad, Swiss dividends and interest are paid to you in francs. To convert them into your euro account or another currency, a personal Swiss transit IBAN lets you receive them; in manual mode, you choose when to convert within 30 days. ibani is a Swiss financial intermediary based in Geneva, not a bank: it converts at the real market rate, plus a margin of 0.40% to 0.15% depending on the amount. The daily rate can be followed on our currency converter.
9. Frequently asked questions
Methodology and sources: the object of the tax, the CHF 200 threshold for bank interest, the rates of 35%, 15% and 8%, the conditions for refunds to residents (domicile on the due date, declaration, remedying negligence since 2019, credit by the canton of domicile on 31 December) and the three-year deadline come from articles 4, 5, 8, 13, 21 to 23 and 29 to 32 of the Federal Act on Withholding Tax (WHTA); the exempt amount for gambling winnings, from article 24 of the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation. The residual rates and the forms by country come from the table of relief under double taxation agreements (as at 1 January 2026, in German) and from the FTA's country pages, in particular for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal; the general procedure, from the FTA's page on the refund of withholding tax. The three-year deadline for non-residents is set out in article 27 of the Federal Act on the Implementation of International Tax Agreements. The online claim for residents of Germany is described in the FTA's user guide (in German), and the stamping of form 83 by the French tax administration in BOI-INT-CVB-CHE-10-20-30. The cash refund by some cantons follows from article 31 of the Federal Act on Withholding Tax; the 80% rule for investment funds, from article 27 of that act and article 34 of the Withholding Tax Ordinance. Form 25 A appears on the page of refund forms for persons domiciled abroad (in German). The rejection of the reform is shown on the page of the Federal Department of Finance, and the option of faster relief in the Federal Council report of 19 June 2026 in response to postulate 23.3752 (in German).
Income in francs to bring home?
Our Geneva-based team supports individuals who receive income in Swiss francs and need to convert it into another currency. A financial intermediary audited for its activity, affiliated with SO-FIT (SRO).
We are available by email or by phone from Monday to Friday.
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