Look at a dividend statement from your bank and you will often see two deductions before the net amount: one by the country where the company sits, and, for Swiss companies, the Swiss withholding tax. Both can be recovered, at least in part. But the procedures are different, and a frequent mistake is to put a foreign dividend in the place meant for a Swiss one.
This article explains both claims step by step, with a worked example. Legal status: October 2026, tax year 2026. If you want the bigger picture first, our guide on how your investment portfolio is taxed in Switzerland covers capital gains, income and wealth tax.
Two taxes, two routes
| Topic | Swiss withholding tax | Foreign withholding tax |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | Dividends and interest from Swiss sources | Dividends and interest from abroad |
| Rate | 35 percent | Depends on the country and the treaty |
| How you get it back | In full, by declaring the gross income in the securities schedule | Part reclaimed in the source country, the rest credited through DA-1 |
| Deadline | Three years after the end of the year the income fell due | DA-1: three years after the end of the tax period the income fell due |
| Who decides | Your canton of residence at the end of that year | Your canton of residence at the end of that tax period |
Swiss withholding tax: 35 percent you get back
The Swiss withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) is a security tax. The payer deducts it so that the income shows up in a tax return. If you live in Switzerland and declare the income, you get the full amount back from your canton. The canton in charge is the one where you lived at the end of the year in which the income fell due, as the Federal Tax Administration explains on its refund page (German).
Three rules decide whether you actually get it:
- Declare it. If you leave income subject to withholding tax out of your return, you lose the refund (Art. 23 VStG). Since 2019, a negligent omission is not fatal, provided the income is added before your assessment becomes final.
- Mind the deadline. The claim expires three years after the end of the calendar year in which the income fell due (Art. 32 VStG).
- Only what was really withheld. The refund covers Swiss withholding tax that was actually deducted. A foreign share entered in the column for income with Swiss withholding tax produces no refund, and no DA-1 credit either.
Foreign withholding tax: two steps
Most countries keep part of the dividends they pay to investors abroad. Under a double tax treaty, Switzerland and the source country split the right to tax. For you this means two possible steps.
Step 1: reclaim in the source country
If the source country withholds more than the treaty allows, the excess is reclaimed from that country, with its own forms and deadlines. This step does not run through your Swiss return.
Step 2: credit the rest through DA-1
What the source country may keep under the treaty (often called residual tax) can be credited in Switzerland. You apply with form DA-1, the supplementary sheet to the securities schedule. The ESTV information sheet DA-M (PDF, German) sets the rules:
- Only on request. Without a DA-1 there is no credit.
- Gross declaration. You declare the foreign income at its gross amount, before foreign tax.
- Minimum. If the non-reclaimable foreign taxes in total are CHF 100 or less, there is no credit; you declare the income net instead.
- Maximum. The credit cannot exceed the Swiss income tax that falls on this income. It is calculated separately for federal tax and for cantonal and communal tax, without church tax. Debt interest and costs connected with the income reduce the maximum proportionally.
- One application per year, filed at the earliest after the end of the tax period, and no later than three years after it.
- Payment. Depending on the canton, the credit is offset against your Swiss taxes or paid out.
A credit is not a deduction
This point causes many corrections. A credit reduces your tax franc for franc. A deduction only reduces your taxable income. Foreign withholding tax that you can reclaim or credit may therefore not be deducted as a cost as well. Deductible is only the part that is neither reclaimable nor creditable, as Zurich sets out in its guidance on securities management costs (German). If you do not apply for the credit, you can instead ask to be taxed on the net income, that is, the gross amount minus the treaty tax.
A worked example
Tomás lives in Zurich, is single and holds US and Swiss shares. In 2026 he receives:
- US dividends of CHF 9,000 gross. The US withholds the treaty rate of 15 percent: CHF 1,350. He receives CHF 7,650.
- Swiss dividends of CHF 6,400 gross. 35 percent Swiss withholding tax is deducted: CHF 2,240. He receives CHF 4,160.
In his 2026 tax return he does the following:
- He declares the Swiss dividends at CHF 6,400 in the column for income with withholding tax. The canton refunds CHF 2,240.
- He declares the US dividends at CHF 9,000 on the DA-1 and claims CHF 1,350. He has no debts. If the Swiss tax on this income is higher than CHF 1,350, he receives the full credit.
- He does not deduct the CHF 1,350 a second time as a cost.
In total Tomás recovers CHF 3,590: CHF 2,240 Swiss withholding tax and CHF 1,350 credited US tax. Both dividends are taxed at their gross amount, CHF 15,400, at his normal rate. If he forgets the DA-1, the CHF 1,350 stays with the source country even though he pays Swiss tax on the full dividend. We see exactly this gap regularly in practice.
Now compare the alternative. Had Tomás skipped the DA-1 and asked for net taxation, he would be taxed on CHF 7,650 instead of CHF 9,000. Assuming a combined marginal rate of 25 percent (a simplification for this example), that saves about CHF 338. The credit is worth CHF 1,350.
Two variations show where it gets tighter. If Tomás had a Lombard loan, part of the interest would be allocated to the US income and the maximum credit would fall. And if his bank had withheld 30 percent, only 15 percent would go on the DA-1; the extra US retention is a separate refund claim (form R-US 164).
Your bank tax statement does most of the work
Most Swiss banks issue a tax statement (Steuerauszug) each year, often in a standardised electronic format (eSteuerauszug). It lists Swiss income with withholding tax, foreign income for the DA-1 and the deductible fees. If you hold a foreign broker account, you usually get no such statement and have to fill in the securities schedule and the DA-1 yourself. Which fees are deductible is explained in our tax tip on deducting wealth management fees.
Taxed at source? Then the refund needs a tax return
If your salary is taxed at source, the Swiss withholding tax does not come back automatically. Wherever you live in Switzerland, you reclaim it through a subsequent ordinary assessment (nachträgliche ordentliche Veranlagung, NOV), as Circular No. 45 (PDF, German) sets out. You must request it by 31 March of the following year, and once requested it stays in place for every later year while you are taxed at source. In some cantons a certain amount of investment income makes that return compulsory anyway; in Zurich it is CHF 3,000.
Whether the refund is worth a permanent switch depends on more than one year's dividends. Our overview of when people taxed at source must file a return compares the cantonal rules for 2026, and our guide to tax at source versus a full tax return helps you weigh it. On a B permit, the B-permit tax return page has a calculator.
Missed it last year?
Both claims run for three years, so a forgotten DA-1 can often still be filed. For dividends paid in 2026, the deadline is 31 December 2029. For the Swiss withholding tax, the question is whether the income was declared at all: if a Swiss dividend is missing and your assessment is already final, the refund is lost. If you need more time to collect documents for this year's return, see our tips on extending your filing deadline. If an entire account was never declared, a penalty-free voluntary disclosure is usually the cleaner way.
Common mistakes
- Foreign dividends entered in the column for Swiss withholding tax.
- DA-1 not filed because the bank statement did not include it.
- Foreign withholding tax claimed as a credit and deducted as a cost.
- Foreign income declared net on the DA-1 instead of gross.
- US tax above 15 percent put on the DA-1 instead of being reclaimed separately.
- The three-year deadline left to run out.
Every case is different, the potential usually is not
How much comes back depends on your canton, the source countries, the treaties, your debts and your Swiss tax rate. This article sets out the principles and a simplified example; it does not replace individual advice.
What does generalise: unclaimed withholding tax is a gap we regularly find in returns, and it is easy to close. Check your statements once a year, ideally before you file. With our Swiss tax calculator you can estimate your marginal rate, our tax return service handles the securities schedule and the DA-1 for you, and our financial advisory helps if you want to structure your portfolio with taxes in mind.