Bitcoin Inheritance Tax Zurich Who Actually Pays

Written by Mohamed Habbat · Author

Your spouse and children pay no Zurich inheritance tax on Bitcoin.

I work in the crypto self-custody space, and this is the question I get most from Zurich holders with a family. The statutory answer is short. Under § 11 of the Zurich Erbschafts- und Schenkungssteuergesetz (ESchG) the spouse, the registered partner and all descendants are exempt, at any amount. They pay nothing.

The rest covers who does pay, how much, how Bitcoin is valued on the day of death, and the Zurich deadlines. Every paragraph number below points to the ESchG text on zh.ch (LS 632.1).

No federal inheritance tax, only the canton

Switzerland has no federal inheritance tax. The ESTV states it on page one of its dossier on inheritance and gift taxes (Stand 1 January 2025). An inheritance is also free of income tax: DBG Art. 24 lit. a for the federal tax and StHG Art. 7 Abs. 4 lit. c for the cantonal one.

So the only layer is cantonal. 24 cantons levy an inheritance tax; Schwyz and Obwalden levy none. Zurich taxes the recipient on what they receive (§ 8 Abs. 1 ESchG), so the relationship to the deceased decides everything.

Zurich has jurisdiction when the deceased had their last domicile in the canton (§ 2 Abs. 1 lit. a ESchG). Bitcoin is movable property and follows the domicile. Real estate is taxed where it sits (§ 2 Abs. 1 lit. c). The wealth-tax and income-tax side is in Bitcoin Tax in Switzerland.

Who is exempt in Zurich

§ 11 ESchG reads: "Der Ehegatte, der eingetragene Partner und die Nachkommen des Erblassers oder Schenkers sind von der Steuerpflicht befreit." That is the whole rule. No threshold, no cap, no return to file. The Kantonales Steueramt says in Merkblatt 398 that no gift-tax return is required for transfers to the spouse, children, grandchildren or registered partner.

A Zurich resident who dies holding Bitcoin worth CHF 10,000,000 on the day of death and leaves it to a spouse and two children creates a Zurich inheritance tax bill of CHF 0. Adoption counts as blood relationship (§ 25). Occasional gifts up to CHF 5,000 each are tax-free for anyone (§ 12 lit. c).

Who pays and how much

Three paragraphs set the bill for everyone outside § 11. § 21 gives a personal deduction, § 22 turns the taxable amount into a simple tax, and § 23 multiplies it by a relationship factor.

The deductions in § 21 Abs. 1: CHF 200,000 for a parent of the deceased, CHF 15,000 for a sibling, grandparent or fiancé, CHF 15,000 for a stepchild, a child of the registered partner, a godchild, a foster child or a household employee with more than ten years of service, and CHF 50,000 for a partner who lived in the same household as the deceased for at least five years. A person unable to work and in need of support deducts a further CHF 30,000 (§ 21 Abs. 2 lit. b).

The simple tax in § 22 Abs. 1 is cumulative:

Taxable amount (after deduction)	Rate on this band	Simple tax at top of band
First CHF 30,000	2%	CHF 600
Next CHF 60,000 (to 90,000)	3%	CHF 2,400
Next CHF 90,000 (to 180,000)	4%	CHF 6,000
Next CHF 180,000 (to 360,000)	5%	CHF 15,000
Next CHF 480,000 (to 840,000)	6%	CHF 43,800
Next CHF 660,000 (to 1,500,000)	7%	CHF 90,000

Above CHF 1,500,000 of taxable amount the bands stop. § 22 Abs. 2 sets the simple tax at a flat 6 percent of the whole amount, not only of the excess.

The multipliers in § 23 Abs. 1: parents pay one times the simple tax, grandparents and stepchildren two times, siblings three times, step-parents four times, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews five times, and all other recipients six times. Relatives of a registered partner take the step-relative factors (§ 23 Abs. 3). An unmarried partner falls in the six-times class. The CHF 50,000 deduction is the only relief Zurich gives a cohabiting partner.

Two rules change the base. Several transfers from the same person to the same recipient are added together for the rate, and the deduction is granted once (§ 21 Abs. 3, § 24 Abs. 1). If the deceased orders the estate to bear the tax, the tax itself is added to the amount taxed (§ 24 Abs. 3).

Worked examples

All figures assume the Bitcoin is valued at its market price on the day of death and ignore the deduction for funeral and estate costs, which Zurich sets at a flat CHF 12,000 unless higher costs are proven.

A spouse and two children share CHF 500,000. Under ZGB Art. 462 and 457 the spouse takes half and each child a quarter. Zurich tax: CHF 0 for each of them.

A parent receives CHF 500,000 from a child. Taxable amount 300,000 after the CHF 200,000 deduction. Simple tax 6,000 for the first 180,000 plus 120,000 at 5 percent, 6,000, so 12,000. One times: CHF 12,000, or 2.4 percent.

A sibling receives CHF 500,000. Taxable 485,000. Simple tax 15,000 for the first 360,000 plus 125,000 at 6 percent, 7,500, so 22,500. Three times: CHF 67,500, or 13.5 percent.

A sibling receives CHF 2,000,000. Taxable 1,985,000, above the CHF 1,500,000 line, so the simple tax is 6 percent of the whole amount, 119,100. Three times: CHF 357,300, or 17.9 percent.

An unmarried partner who shared the household for six years receives CHF 500,000. Taxable 450,000. Simple tax 15,000 plus 90,000 at 6 percent, 5,400, so 20,400. Six times: CHF 122,400, or 24.5 percent.

A nephew receives CHF 2,000,000 with no deduction. Simple tax 120,000. Five times: CHF 600,000, or 30 percent.

A friend receives CHF 10,000,000. Simple tax 600,000. Six times: CHF 3,600,000, or 36 percent. That is the ceiling in Zurich.

Two children on CHF 1,000,000 each owe CHF 0. Two siblings with the same shares would owe CHF 161,850 each.

How Bitcoin is valued on the date of death

§ 13 Abs. 1 ESchG computes the tax on the Verkehrswert at the moment the tax claim arises. § 7 lit. a places that moment at the opening of the succession, which is the death. The zh.ch inheritance tax page says the same in plain words: market value of the transferred assets as of the day of death.

The ESTV Kursliste does not give you that number unless the death fell on 31 December. For cryptocurrencies it publishes only the closing price of the last trading day of December, declared as the 31 December wealth-tax value. The 2024 token list on ictax.admin.ch sets Bitcoin at CHF 85,926.486363 for 31 December 2024. There is no ESTV daily rate.

For any other date of death the heirs document the CHF market price on that day from an exchange. The ESTV working paper on cryptocurrencies allows the market value of a leading trading platform where no ESTV value exists. No Zurich or ESTV document names a specific exchange for a date-of-death price. Pick one large venue and use it for every coin.

The evidence rule is ZStB 16.5, the Zurich tax book entry on cryptocurrencies. Holdings are declared as "übrige Guthaben" with the coin named, and the proof is a wallet printout at the valuation date. A custodian statement does the same job. Two BTC at a market price of CHF 95,000 on the day of death go into the inventory at CHF 190,000.

A FINMA-regulated custodian such as Sygnum or Crypto Finance must supply written account information for the inventory (ZH StG § 167). For self-custody the executor lists each coin with its quantity and CHF value on the day of death and attaches the wallet printout. The seed phrase never goes to any authority.

The procedure and the deadlines

Zurich has no probate office. The Zurich Steuergesetz gives the inventory to the municipal tax office (§ 169), which starts it within two weeks of death (§ 163). Until the inventory is taken, heirs and anyone holding estate assets may release them only with the consent of the inventory authority (§ 165). The Erbschein comes from the Bezirksgericht at the last domicile.

Heirs, the executor or the heirs' representative then have 60 days to file the Inventarfragebogen, the safe-opening protocol and the tax return as of the date of death with the Gemeindesteueramt. An extension must be requested with reasons before the deadline runs out. Assets discovered later must be reported within ten days (ZH StG § 166 Abs. 3). Everything is listed at its value on the date of death (§ 164 Abs. 1), foreign exchange accounts included. Cryptocurrencies go into section 5 of the questionnaire, "Übrige Vermögenswerte", on a separate sheet.

The Kantonales Steueramt Zürich, Abteilung Nachlass, then sends a draft calculation to the executor or the heirs' representative for comment, and afterwards the ruling in the name of the Finanzdirektion (§ 27 ESchG; Merkblatt 396). No statute sets a deadline for that ruling. The right to assess lapses ten years after the claim arose (§ 40 Abs. 1).

Against the ruling the taxpayer has 30 days to file a written Einsprache with the Finanzdirektion (§ 41 Abs. 1). The tax is due on delivery of the ruling and payable within one month (§ 59). Default interest runs after that without a reminder (§ 60 Abs. 2). Every recipient is jointly and severally liable for the whole inheritance tax up to the amount they received (§ 57 Abs. 1), so the office may claim the full tax from any one heir. Merkblatt 396 recommends distributing the estate only after the tax is paid.

Non-disclosure triggers back tax plus a penalty tax of one quarter to three times the evaded amount (§ 68). Only tax fraud with forged documents is a criminal offence (§ 74). Omitting a hardware wallet from the inventory is a breach of ZH StG § 166, not a grey area.

Gifts of Bitcoin before death

One tariff covers both taxes. The ESchG governs inheritance tax in § 1 and gift tax in § 4, and §§ 21 to 23 apply to both. A gift of Bitcoin to a child or grandchild is exempt under § 11 and needs no return.

For recipients outside § 11 gifting does not escape the tariff. Zurich has no five-year clawback and does not need one: all gifts and the later inheritance from the same person to the same recipient are added together for the rate, and the deduction is granted once (§ 21 Abs. 3, § 24 Abs. 1). A recipient of a taxable gift must file a gift-tax return within three months without being asked (§ 34 Abs. 1). The donor is jointly liable for the gift tax (§ 57 Abs. 3). The cantonal picture for gifts is in Bitcoin Gift Tax Switzerland.

What civil law fixes regardless of tax

The ZGB reserves a compulsory share for descendants, the spouse and the registered partner: one half of their statutory share (Art. 470 Abs. 1, Art. 471, in force since 1 January 2023). Parents lost their Pflichtteil in that reform. Disinheritance below the Pflichtteil is possible only on the narrow grounds of Art. 477, and a spouse loses the Pflichtteil in pending divorce proceedings (Art. 472).

So you cannot will 100 percent of your Bitcoin to a sibling or a charity while children survive. The Pflichtteil is calculated on the estate as a whole (Art. 474); if Bitcoin is the main asset, the claim lands on it. An heir who is short-changed brings a Herabsetzungsklage within one year of learning of the violation, and at the latest ten years after the will was opened (Art. 533 Abs. 1).

A handwritten will may be deposited open or sealed with the cantonal office (Art. 505 Abs. 2). An Erbvertrag is a public deed with two witnesses (Art. 512). Neither is the place for wallet access instructions, because a will is opened and shown to every heir. Name an executor (Art. 517 and 518) and hand the executor a separate sealed document.

Keeping the keys reachable

Bitcoin whose seed phrase nobody can find is lost. No authority, exchange or court can recover it. The coins are still part of the estate and the inventory still has to list them.

The fix is operational. A sealed envelope with the executor lists the hardware wallets, the exchange accounts including foreign ones, and the access protocol, but not the seed phrase itself. The executor can then reconstruct the wallet inventory, as ZH StG § 166 requires, and produce the wallet printout ZStB 16.5 asks for.

Casa (casa.io/inheritance) and Unchained (unchained.com/inheritance) sell Bitcoin inheritance plans. Neither page states availability for Swiss residents; check that with the vendor before you rely on it. The Bitcoin Taxes Switzerland chapter covers the disclosure side of the access protocol.

How Zurich compares with other cantons

Every canton exempts the spouse. Most also exempt descendants. Zug, like Zurich, exempts the spouse, descendants and parents; its tariff starts with in-laws. Children remain taxable after deductions only in Appenzell Innerrhoden (CHF 300,000 deduction), Neuchâtel (CHF 50,000) and Vaud (CHF 250,000), plus Lucerne municipalities above CHF 100,000 (ESTV dossier, table 6.2, Stand 1 January 2025). Schwyz and Obwalden tax nobody.

A Zurich family has no inheritance-tax reason to move. The bills fall on estates without a spouse or descendants: a sibling, a nephew, an unregistered partner, a friend.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do spouses pay inheritance tax on Bitcoin in Zurich?

No. Under § 11 of the Zurich Erbschafts- und Schenkungssteuergesetz (ESchG, LS 632.1) the surviving spouse is exempt from Zurich inheritance and gift tax. There is no cap on the amount. Registered partners are named in the same § 11 and get the same exemption.

Do children pay inheritance tax on Bitcoin in Zurich?

No. Children and grandchildren are descendants, and § 11 ESchG exempts all descendants of the deceased from Zurich inheritance tax at any amount. The tiered tariff in § 22 ESchG applies only to recipients outside § 11, such as siblings, parents, nephews, an unmarried partner or a friend.

Who does pay Zurich inheritance tax on Bitcoin?

Parents pay one times the simple tax after a CHF 200,000 deduction. Grandparents and stepchildren pay two times after CHF 15,000. Siblings pay three times after CHF 15,000. Step-parents pay four times. Uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews pay five times with no deduction. Everyone else, including an unmarried partner, pays six times, with a CHF 50,000 deduction for a partner who shared the household for at least five years (§§ 21 to 23 ESchG).

How is Bitcoin valued for Zurich inheritance tax?

At its market value on the date of death (§ 13 Abs. 1 and § 7 lit. a ESchG). The ESTV Kursliste publishes only a 31 December value per coin, which serves the wealth tax and matches the inheritance value only for a death on 31 December. For any other date the heirs document the CHF price on the day of death from an exchange, and prove the holding with a wallet or custodian statement (ZStB 16.5).

Is there a federal inheritance tax on Bitcoin in Switzerland?

No. The Confederation levies no inheritance tax. An inheritance is also free of federal income tax under DBG Art. 24 lit. a and of cantonal income tax under StHG Art. 7 Abs. 4 lit. c. Only the cantonal Erbschaftssteuer applies, and 24 cantons levy one. Schwyz and Obwalden levy none.

Do heirs have to disclose self-custody Bitcoin to the Zurich tax office?

Yes. The municipal tax office starts an official inventory within two weeks of death (ZH StG § 163). Heirs and the executor must give truthful information and report assets found later within ten days (§ 166). Bitcoin on a hardware wallet is part of the estate wherever the device is (§ 6 ESchG). Non-disclosure triggers back tax plus a penalty tax of up to three times the evaded amount (§ 68 ESchG); only tax fraud with false documents is a criminal offence (§ 74 ESchG).

Can I reduce Zurich inheritance tax by gifting Bitcoin to my children?

There is nothing to reduce. Gifts to children and grandchildren are exempt under § 11 ESchG and need no gift-tax return. Gifting matters only for recipients outside § 11, and even then Zurich adds all gifts and the later inheritance from the same person together for the rate and grants the deduction once (§ 21 Abs. 3, § 24 Abs. 1 ESchG). Zurich has no five-year clawback.

What are the Zurich deadlines after a Bitcoin holder dies?

The Gemeindesteueramt opens the inventory within two weeks of death. Heirs, the executor or the heirs' representative have 60 days to file the Inventarfragebogen, the safe-opening protocol and the tax return as of the date of death, with an extension only if requested before the deadline. The Abteilung Nachlass sends a draft calculation, then the ruling. An Einsprache is due within 30 days (§ 41 ESchG) and payment within one month of delivery (§ 59 ESchG).

Who is liable for the Zurich inheritance tax if the Bitcoin has already been distributed?

Every recipient is jointly and severally liable for the whole inheritance tax up to the amount they received (§ 57 Abs. 1 ESchG). The tax office may claim the full tax from any one heir, which is why the Kantonales Steueramt recommends distributing the estate only after the tax is paid.

What happens if no seed phrase is found after a Bitcoin holder dies?

The Bitcoin is lost. No authority, exchange or court can recover it. Keep access instructions in a separate sealed document for the executor, not in the will, because a will is opened and shown to all heirs. A handwritten will can be deposited sealed with the cantonal office (ZGB Art. 505 Abs. 2); an Erbvertrag is a notarised deed with two witnesses (ZGB Art. 512).

Which canton taxes Bitcoin if the deceased lived in Zurich but owned property elsewhere?

Zurich, as the canton of the last domicile, taxes movable assets including Bitcoin (§ 2 Abs. 1 lit. a ESchG). Real estate is taxed in the canton where it is located (§ 2 Abs. 1 lit. c ESchG).

Can I leave all my Bitcoin to a sibling or a charity instead of my children?

Not below the Pflichtteil. Descendants, the spouse and the registered partner hold a compulsory share of one half of their statutory share (ZGB Art. 470 and 471, in force since 1 January 2023). Parents lost their Pflichtteil in that reform. An heir may bring a Herabsetzungsklage within one year of learning of the violation and at the latest ten years after the will was opened (ZGB Art. 533).