Hi,

I‘m sorry for the stupid question but I need a little bit of help.
My aunt died last year and she is a green card holder (from the US). She doesn‘t have any immediate family members so her estate was transferred to us.

Our lawyer is recommending us to open a US TIN to save taxes because we‘re foreign people. My question is, does having a US TIN (and subsequently filing US taxes for the inheritance) has an impact on my Swiss Tax? Of course, I will still declare the money that I‘ll get in my Swiss Tax Declaration.

Thanks,
Ann

Won't affect Swiss taxes, but will affect the number of banks and other financial institutions willing to do business with you.

Tom

Thanks Tom.
Could you quickly explain why?

Because US citizens and anything to do with the US is anathema to the banks here because of FATCA. None of the cantonal banks will have anything to do with you if you have an ITIN; only UBS, Credit Suisse and PostFinance are likely to let you have a basic account. To open an account you'd need to sign a W-9 form.

Thank you very much for your help!