Hi all

Do you think it would be reasonable to declare a UK lifetime ISA as a pension and thus not subject to wealth tax.

Given it can only be withdrawn at 60 or to buy a house I'd say it is pretty much equivalent to pillar 2 in terms of accessibility. Infact its even more restricted as its only for a first home and I already own two.

Since income would be taxable in CH, I suspect the answer is no.

Why is it any different to a SIPP?

The basic form is you get a bonus/government co-pay when you pay into this ISA. You lose the bonus on amounts you withdraw so you can in fact withdraw your money just like any other savings account.


Were/are you UK tax resident? These can only be opened or contributed to if you're UK tax resident.


It's my understanding, although I wouldn't want anyone to rely on it, that UK ISAs don't come under the information sharing so you could probably keep quiet about it and maybe try the pension argument on if it ever gets discovered. Does one usually need to declare a pension pot? I've never seen any box for that.

A SIPP is a pension, taxable when you take benefits, an ISA is not tax deductible so totally different to a pension.

I suspect info is not exchanged as it's not taxable in the UK. I can't think the tax liability would be more than a couple of stamps to the tax office either way.

Yes - I was. Now I live in Aargau

Follow-up question:

Do I get taxed (e.g. to repay the UK government's contribution) if I withdraw it in Switzerland

You should get taxed in Switzerland on any income the ISA makes each year.


You should also declare it as an asset, I would have thought at the book value of the account, however, if you use the fatman's way of valuing it, it would be only the full amount less the government's contribution as that's all you'll get if you were to liquify it.

Since it's the cash value that would be achieved on 31 December, you have your answer! Alternatively you could value at market & show an interest free loan from the UK government as a liability.

UK limited companies show a provision for liabilities for deferred tax where a property shown on the accounts at market value. Historically properties were shown at cost, this changed about 10 years ago.