Not sur if I'm better here or in taxation... I've searched but cannot seem to find my question addressed.

currently going through the fun and games of trying to get somewhere to rent... On a couple of the application forms, they want to know "steuerbares einkommen" and "steuerbares vermögen". OK the first one is easy, income, but the second one is "wealth" or "assets".

So for me, I don't own anything, have a couple of accounts/saving schemes (UK, France) with little in them - the total sum of those would be my "steuerbares vermögen" right?

As for the other half (we are not married) it's more complicated - she's a freelance children's books author/illustrator, and as part of her tax/social security regime in France ('Agessa') does not pay into a retirement scheme, but has to put money aside / invest it herself. So would this be her "steuerbares vermögen"?

Is it worth trying to point out that her "vermögen" is in fact her retirement fund? I'd like to avoid giving the false impression to some renters (Stadt Zürich, or a Genossenschaft for example) that we are stinking rich and potentially depriving some poor off family!

How accurate does this have to be, especially considering that the assets are outside of Switzerland?

I don't think pension funds come undere vermögen (although you do have to pay a tax when the fund is "breached". if you move to CH then you can pay that money, tax free, into a pension fund and get it back if you leave CH. It might be a pension fund to your other half but to the world of tax collectors, including the French ones, it is taxable savings. Do you have to declare it?

No pension funds for the other half - just some money invested in shares, otherwise the rest is in savings accounts. For authors/illustrators under the 'Agessa regime', there is nothing for pension - it's entirely up to the individual.

In my experience, monthly income is the first consideration, then debts. If the apartment you are appyling for is not affordable based on your monthly income, you will likely be rejected.

"Vermögen" und "Einkommen" are the values that you declare in your annual Swiss tax declaration.

"Steuerbares Einkommen" is the annual gross wage of you and your wife minus deductions.

"Steuerbares Vermögen" is what you own in securities, stocks and bonds, real property, cars, heritage, and so on, minus outstanding debts.

Just look at your last tax declaration and transfer the values. Don't cheat because in CH for a small fee everone can look into others tax data.

By the way: You are not obliged to give any this information to the landlord. He just wants to know if you can afford the appartment. I usually only give the "Einkommen" and leave the "Vermögen" blank (because it's really nobodys business).

Hope I did make sense with my humble Swiss English.

Actually just arrived in Zurich, so no previous Swiss tax declaration.

I intend to apply for a couple of flats via Stadt Zürich and one of the Genossenschaften, and considering how much competition there is, I don't want to make any mistakes...

Thanks for all the answers, will have to ask the gf still in France for a EUR figure, convert it to CHF, enter it and hope for the best.