Do I have to file at home while living in Switzerland?
Residence decides it, and residence is a question of facts rather than of where your post arrives. The one exception is US citizenship, which carries the filing obligation with the person wherever they go. So the first thing we establish is which system still claims you.
Is there a treaty between my country and Switzerland?
That is verified rather than assumed: we confirm which treaty text governs Switzerland and your home country for the year in question, because a protocol can move a rate or an article between years. If there is no treaty, unilateral credit rules are what prevent double taxation.
I own property in Switzerland. Where is the rent taxed?
Rent from immovable property is almost always taxable where the property is situated, frequently by withholding on the gross amount, with your home country taxing the same income and giving credit. A net-basis election, where one exists, is usually the difference between tax on profit and tax on turnover.
Do I pay Canadian tax when I sell my Swiss apartment?
If you are resident in Canada when the sale happens, the gain is reportable there whatever Switzerland does with it, and relief is claimed for Swiss tax on the same disposal. The two computations will not match, and they are not supposed to. Canada measures the gain in Canadian dollars using the exchange rates at purchase and at sale, so part of what you report can be a currency movement rather than a property movement. Switzerland computes on its own basis at cantonal and communal level. Prepare both, reconcile them, and claim relief limited to the home tax on that gain.
How does the exchange rate affect the gain on a Swiss sale?
More than most owners expect. A home country computes the gain in its own currency, so the purchase cost is translated at the rate when you bought and the proceeds at the rate when you sold. If the franc strengthened over your period of ownership, you can report a taxable gain at home on a property that barely moved in local terms. The reverse happens too. Record the rate used at each date and the source you took it from, keep the purchase deed showing the original amounts, and treat the translation as part of the computation rather than an afterthought.
Can I claim my Swiss home as my principal residence in Canada?
A home outside Canada can be designated, because the test is about the property being ordinarily inhabited by you or your family rather than about where it sits. The difficulty is that only one property per family unit can be designated for any given year, so designating the Swiss home costs you those years on the Canadian one. That is an arithmetic decision to take with both cost bases and both expected gains in front of you, and it is normally taken when a property is sold rather than years in advance. Keep the occupancy evidence for both properties.
Must I report a Swiss property I own but do not rent?
Canadian residents report foreign property above the reporting threshold on an annual T1135, and the obligation follows the cost of the holding rather than the income from it. A property held for personal use is treated differently from one held to earn income, and that distinction is what decides whether a particular home belongs on the form at all, so how the property is used matters as much as what it cost. Either way the answer does not turn on whether it produced anything. Establish the position for the year of acquisition, and revisit it whenever the use changes.
Which canton's rules decide the tax on my sale?
The canton where the property sits, not the one where you live. Swiss taxation operates at federal, cantonal and communal levels, and for immovable property the location drives the local charges, including whatever that canton levies on a gain and on the transfer itself. There are two practical consequences. The cost of selling differs between cantons, so it belongs in the arithmetic before you commit to a sale. And the documents you will need for a home credit claim come from that canton's authority, in that authority's format, which is worth knowing before you leave the country.
What records should I keep when buying property in Switzerland?
The purchase deed with the price as stated, the notarial and registration costs, any transfer duty receipt, and a note of the exchange rate on the completion date with the source you took it from. Then keep every invoice for work that improves the property, filed separately from repairs, because improvements add to the cost base and repairs generally do not. If there is a mortgage, keep the loan documents and note the currency it is denominated in. Assembled at purchase this takes an afternoon. Reconstructed at sale, years later and in another language, it is the most expensive part of the engagement.
Do I pay US tax on an inheritance from abroad?
A bequest is not income, so the receipt itself is not taxed. Reporting is a different matter: a US person who receives large gifts or bequests from a foreign person or estate files an information return for the year, and inheriting a foreign account or an interest in a foreign trust brings the account and asset reports with it. The penalties here attach to the information return, not to tax — which is why people who owed nothing still get letters. See Form 3520.
What does "received a distribution from a foreign trust" mean on my return?
It is asking whether the trust conferred anything on you during the year — cash, property, or the use of trust property, including rent-free occupation of a house and, in some circumstances, a loan. Answering yes brings an information return, and where the distribution includes income accumulated in earlier years the tax computation can carry an interest charge for the delay. Trust accounts showing the composition of the distribution are what keep that computation from defaulting against you. See Form 3520.
