Every spring, the same question: where do the bitcoins go, and at what price? The good news first: as a private investor in Switzerland you do not have to calculate gains, prove holding periods or list every sale. Your job boils down to two things – a clean inventory as at 31 December and the total of your crypto income during the year.
Why it works this way, and when it does not, is explained in our guide to crypto tax in Switzerland. This page is about the practice: which form, which price, which documents.
What you must declare – and what you can skip
Your tax return must include:
- All holdings on 31 December – on every exchange, in every app, in every self-custody wallet, including with providers abroad.
- Fiat balances on crypto platforms, such as francs, euros or dollars left in an exchange account.
- Income for the year: staking rewards, airdrops, lending interest and mining rewards.
- Salary paid in crypto – already shown on your employer's salary certificate.
Private investors do not need to list purchases, sales or capital gains: they are tax-free. The exception is if the tax office classifies you as a professional trader, in which case different rules apply (see the comparison further down).
Where crypto goes: the securities list
Cryptocurrencies are declared in the The schedule of your Swiss tax return listing bank accounts, securities and crypto with their tax values and income; Wertschriftenverzeichnis in German. – officially the "Wertschriften- und Guthabenverzeichnis", or "état des titres" in French-speaking cantons. Use one line per coin and location, such as "Bitcoin, hardware wallet" or "Ether, exchange account", then enter the number of units, the tax value per unit and the total tax value. Cantons Zug and Aargau also require the code KR (Kryptowährungen) in the first column.
Income goes on the same line, but in the right column. The form separates items with withholding tax deducted (column A in Zurich and Zug) from those without (column B). Crypto is not subject to Swiss withholding tax, so staking rewards and similar income belong in the column for income without withholding tax. Accordingly, there is nothing to reclaim.
Zurich's official guidance states that for bitcoin and other common cryptocurrencies the ESTV year-end tax value applies. Other coins are declared at the year-end price of the exchange most commonly used for that coin, with a wallet statement as at the end of the tax period as proof.
Finding the tax value: the ESTV price list, step by step
The relevant price comes from the The Federal Tax Administration's official list of year-end values for securities, currencies and cryptocurrencies, free at ictax.admin.ch. (Kursliste) of the Swiss Federal Tax Administration. Here is how to find it:
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Open ICTax
Go to ictax.admin.ch and choose the price list for the tax year – for the return you file in spring, that is the previous calendar year. The site is available in English.
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Find the crypto box
In the right-hand column, below the currency rates, is the box for cryptocurrencies. Select 31 December as the reference date and the ticker, such as BTC or ETH.
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Copy the value
The value is shown in francs per unit. Multiply it by your holding and round to the centime.
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Coin not listed?
Use the year-end price of the platform you trade on, or of the most common exchange for that coin. Save proof of the source.
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No price at all?
If no current price can be found, declare the original purchase price in francs.
For reference, some tax values from the price list, in francs per unit:
| Coin | 31.12.2025 | 31.12.2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | 69,571.99 | 85,926.49 |
| Ether (ETH) | 2,364.08 | 3,083.56 |
| Solana (SOL) | 99.19 | 179.62 |
| XRP | 1.468 | 1.916 |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | 0.0957 | 0.2946 |
| Tether (USDT) | 0.7915 | 0.9051 |
Foreign-currency balances are converted using the exchange rates from the same list: at the end of 2025, USD 1 = CHF 0.79225 and EUR 1 = CHF 0.9305. Crypto ETPs are found via the search by security number or ISIN, just like a share.
Wallets and exchange accounts: one line each
Declare each storage location separately. It makes your return easier for the tax office to follow and saves you follow-up questions.
- Self-custody wallets: for coins in a hardware or software wallet, an export from the wallet app or a block explorer printout showing address and balance on 31 December serves as proof. The easiest route is a dated screenshot on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.
- Exchange accounts: download a year-end statement from every platform – from Kraken, Coinbase, SwissBorg or Bitpanda just as from Swiss apps.
- Staked or locked coins count exactly like freely available ones.
- Lost access: do not simply leave the position out; agree its valuation with your tax office.
Tax statements: which providers issue one
Swiss banks usually issue a tax statement (Steuerauszug) for securities accounts, often also as a machine-readable eSteuerauszug that Zurich's ZHprivateTax software can import. For crypto, the picture is patchier:
- PostFinance: confirmed. According to PostFinance, customers receive an annual overview of their digital assets for the tax return.
- Swissquote, Yuh, Relai, SwissBorg, Bitpanda: we could not confirm on their official product pages that crypto positions appear in a Swiss tax statement. Ask support for a "Steuerauszug" or "tax report".
- Kraken, Coinbase and other foreign exchanges: no Swiss tax statement confirmed. They provide account statements and transaction-history exports, for example as CSV; you value the holdings yourself using the price list.
Even with a tax statement, check the prices: the ESTV tax value is what counts, not a provider's own rate.
Declaring staking, airdrops and lending
Income is the fiddly part, because every single inflow counts. Canton Zug's guidance puts it precisely: Locking coins on a proof-of-stake blockchain to help secure the network, in return for newly issued coins as a reward. income is declared per currency in the securities list, in column B, at the value on the day the entitlement arises, totalled for the tax period.
In practice: download the reward history from your provider, value each reward in francs at that day's price and add them up. With daily rewards this quickly becomes a spreadsheet exercise – which is exactly where tracking tools help. Whether your tax office accepts a simplified valuation is something to agree with them beforehand. An Free distribution of tokens, for example to holders of a particular coin or users of a protocol. is declared at market value on allocation, lending interest at its value when credited. If you mine as a self-employed activity, you declare that income on the self-employment forms. Swiss staking offers are compared in our crypto staking guide.
Worked example
A fictitious example using real price-list values: a single person living in Zurich holds the following positions on 31.12.2025. During the year she received 0.1 ETH in staking rewards, worth CHF 290 in total on the days they arrived (assumed value). In March she also sold 0.1 BTC at a profit.
- Bitcoin, hardware wallet: 0.4 × CHF 69,571.99 = CHF 27,828.80
- Ether, exchange account: 3 × CHF 2,364.08 = CHF 7,092.24, income without withholding tax: CHF 290
- Tether, exchange account: 1,000 × CHF 0.7915 = CHF 791.47
- USD balance, exchange account: 500 × CHF 0.79225 = CHF 396.13
Total tax value: CHF 36,108.64; income without withholding tax: CHF 290. The profit on the bitcoin sale does not appear anywhere – it is tax-free for a private investor. Whether any wealth tax is actually due depends on total wealth and cantonal allowances; from tax period 2026, Zurich exempts the first CHF 81,000 for single people.
| Private investor | Professional trader | |
|---|---|---|
| Holdings at 31 Dec | securities list, tax value | business assets, book value |
| Capital gains | tax-free, no entry | self-employment income |
| Capital losses | no deduction | deductible if booked |
| Staking rewards | income without withholding tax | business income |
| Records | statements as at 31 Dec | accounts or detailed statements |
| AHV contributions | yes, as self-employed |
Crypto tax software and trackers
If you hold one or two coins in one place, you do not need software: open the price list, multiply, done. With several exchanges, DeFi or daily staking, a tracker saves a lot of time. What the best-known tools offer for Switzerland:
- Blockpit advertises a crypto tax report "according to Swiss rules", including a PDF guide for filling in the securities list.
- CoinTracking is based in Munich and has operated since 2012; its homepage does not mention Swiss tax forms – check the report before you buy.
- Koinly: we could not confirm a Switzerland-specific report.
Whichever tool you use, coins with an ESTV tax value must be entered at the price-list value. Many trackers use their own market data – correct the figures where needed. Connect exchanges only with API keys that have no trading or withdrawal rights.
Cantonal e-tax software
Almost everywhere you complete your return online or with cantonal software. Zurich offers ZHprivateTax, online-only from tax period 2025; Zug has eTax.zug, Bern access via BE-Login, Basel-Stadt the eSteuern.BS portal, Geneva GeTax, Vaud VaudTax and Aargau EasyTax. Deadlines and forms differ by canton; in Zurich, the return is normally due by 31 March of the following year. If you would rather settle your tax bill in crypto, see paying taxes in bitcoin.
A provider with a CHF account and an annual statement makes your declaration much easier.
Operating since 2013Group registered with FinCEN (US) and the FCA (UK)
Documents to keep
- Statement for every exchange account as at 31 December
- Wallet export or block explorer printout with address and balance on 31 December
- Full transaction history as a CSV export
- Staking, airdrop and lending history with date, amount and franc value
- Purchase records and bank statements for your deposits
- Source of the year-end price for coins without an ESTV value
Keep these documents for as long as the tax office can claim back taxes – up to ten years.
Common mistakes
- Purchase price instead of tax value: you declare the value on 31 December, not what you paid.
- Forgetting foreign exchange accounts: with the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets (CARF), these accounts will become visible to the tax office.
- Staking declared only as wealth: rewards are income as well.
- Wrong price: for listed coins the ESTV value applies, not your exchange's price.
- Taxing gains, deducting losses: neither applies to private wealth.
- Converting dollars at your own rate: use the exchange rates from the price list.
If you have missed crypto in earlier years, a penalty-free voluntary disclosure is the cleanest way out: once in a lifetime you pay only back taxes and late-payment interest, with no fine.
