AEOI and FATCA

All information at a glance

The automatic exchange of information (AEOI) is a standard process developed by the OECD in order to prevent tax evasion. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a US law that aims to ensure that US taxpayers pay their US taxes.

Key elements of AEOI

The automatic exchange of information (AEOI) is a standard process developed by the OECD in order to prevent tax evasion. The participating countries exchange data among themselves on financial accounts and, from 1 January 2026, on crypto-assets held by taxpayers. Switzerland has undertaken to take part. Consequently, PostFinance is obliged to report details of the financial accounts and crypto-assets of customers whose residence for tax purposes is located abroad to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) each year, provided that Switzerland has signed an AEOI agreement with the relevant partner state.

Note

On 3 November 2025, the National Council Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee (EATC) decided not to apply the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) with any partner state until further notice. While CARF will be enshrined in law from January 2026, it will not be implemented as planned on 1 January 2026, but in 2027 at the earliest. In return, Switzerland will also not receive any crypto-asset data from abroad for the 2026 calendar year. All amendments to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) will come into force on 1 January 2026.

  • The automatic exchange of information concerns natural persons and legal entities whose tax residency is in a country with which Switzerland has concluded an agreement on the automatic exchange of information.

  • If the tax residency of a customer is located abroad, PostFinance transmits the following information concerning financial accounts to partner countries:

    • Personal data
    • Name
    • Address
    • Country of tax residence
    • Tax identification number
    • Date of birth 
    • Indication of whether the account holder has submitted a valid self-certification form
    • Account information (account number, type of account, whether it is an existing or new account, as well as an individual account or partner account)
    • Total gross income from dividends, interest and other revenue
    • Total gross proceeds from the disposal of assets
    • Total balance or value of the account at the end of the relevant calendar year

    If a customer’s tax residency is abroad, PostFinance sends the following information to the partner states regarding crypto-assets:

    • Personal data
    • Name
    • Address
    • Country of tax residence
    • Tax identification number
    • Date of birth
    • Transaction data for each relevant crypto-asset (in each case with total gross income or total market value, total number of units and number of relevant transactions).

  • From 1 January 2017, all customers must declare their tax residency to PostFinance by means of self-certification when entering into a new business relationship or if their situation changes (e.g. change of domicile address) so that PostFinance can document this information accordingly.

  • The list of partner states with which Switzerland has concluded an agreement on the automatic exchange of information is continually updated by The link will open in a new window State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF).

1. Entry of personal data

Your personal data is pre-entered on the tax residency self-certification form. If the data is no longer valid, please provide us with the correct data.

2. Entry of tax residency

Tax residency is determined based on country-specific regulations on unlimited liability for taxation. The criteria for determining unlimited liability for taxation differ from country to country. Limited liability for taxation (e.g. on the basis of income from sources in a state, property, interest in a partnership or a permanent establishment) does not establish tax residency for the purposes of identifying the persons of a reportable state.

If a person is deemed to have unlimited tax liability in more than one country, all countries in which the person has their tax residency must be indicated. The so-called tie-breaker rules do not apply, and the person is deemed to be a tax resident in all countries for the purposes of the automatic exchange of information.

Please attach a copy of ID or residence certificate to validate the plausibility of your tax residency.

3. Entry of tax identification number (TIN)

The tax identification number (TIN) is a combination of numbers and letters and is used to identify the taxpayer. You will generally find your tax identification number on your tax return.

Information about TIN:

4. Authorized signatory

The self-certification form must be signed by the account holder. The account holder is the contractual partner of an account and/or custody account relationship. If a collective relationship (partner relationship) exists, each partner is an account holder and must sign a separate self-certification form. In the case of minors or persons subject to a deputy, the legal representative or deputy signs the self-certification form.

In accordance with the AEOI Act and the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), persons obliged to provide information have the following rights:

With regard to PostFinance

Persons obliged to provide information can claim full legal protection in accordance with the FADP with regard to PostFinance. In other words, they can request details about the information about themselves that has been reported to the FTA as collected by PostFinance.

If so requested, PostFinance must issue persons obliged to provide information with a copy of the report sent to the FTA. Please note that the information collected and reported may differ from the tax-relevant information of the persons obliged to provide information. Furthermore, persons obliged to provide information may ask for incorrect data to be rectified in PostFinance’s systems. 

With regard to the FTA

The only right that a person obliged to provide information can assert with regard to the FTA is the right to information, under which they may request the rectification of incorrect data due to transmission errors.

If the transmission of data results in disadvantages that the person obliged to provide information cannot reasonably be expected to accept due to insufficient constitutional guarantees, that person shall be granted the rights listed in Art. 25a of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Persons obliged to provide information are not entitled to exercise the right of access to files with regard to the FTA. Consequently, they have no right to prevent the disclosure of personal data to the FTA. In addition, the person obliged to provide information cannot verify the legality of the disclosure of information abroad or demand the prevention of unlawful disclosure or the destruction of data which has been processed without sufficient legal grounds.

FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a US law that aims to ensure that US taxpayers pay their US taxes (“US persons”). In order to be able to enforce FATCA, the US tax authority’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has entered into agreements worldwide with all financial institutions, including PostFinance. In these agreements, the financial institutions undertake to report all US taxpayer customers to the IRS.

  • US taxpayer customers who have accounts and custody account holdings with PostFinance are affected by FATCA. US taxpayers include:

    • US citizens, including those with dual nationality
    • Persons who live or are domiciled in the US
    • Persons who are based in the USA, namely if they either have a permanent resident’s permit (“Green Card”) under US immigration law or have their primary residence according to the “Substantial Presence Test” in the USA (the detailed calculation procedures can be found on the IRS website)
    • Companies that are based in the USA

    Affected customers will be asked by PostFinance whether the information to be reported pursuant to FATCA (name, US tax number, account and custody account numbers, account balance and holdings, asset inflows and outflows) may be passed to the IRS.

  • Even companies not based in the USA may be affected by FATCA. If US taxpayers control a non-US non-operational company, the company shall also be asked by PostFinance whether the information to be reported pursuant to FATCA concerning the US taxpayers controlling the company may be passed to the IRS. In particular, this also concerns Swiss-based business customers of PostFinance in which US taxpayers hold an equity interest.

  • PostFinance must treat the customers concerned as US persons and their account will be considered an account of a non-consenting client. PostFinance will have to report the number and total value of the assets in all accounts of non-consenting clients to the IRS each year by the end of January of the following year. The data of the affected customers will not be disclosed. Based on this information, the IRS may request that the data of these clients be released through administrative assistance in the form of a group request.

  • As a general rule, PostFinance does not transfer any data to third parties based on FATCA without the permission of the affected customers. The customer must therefore give PostFinance written consent for the transfer of the data to the IRS.

More information on FATCA is available from specialist tax advisors or on the IRS website.

The information stated is not intended to be and cannot be a substitute for obtaining professional advice as the basis for making decisions or taking action.