Disclaimer: Please note that this information is of a general nature and should not be regarded as legal or tax advice. Separate advice relating to your individual circumstances should be obtained from a professional.
We CSA delegates are often approached with practical questions related to the Swiss Old-Age pension. This is a summary of the main topics.
The Swiss Old-Age Pension isn’t paid automatically when you reach statutory retirement age. The Central Compensation Office (CCO) in Switzerland recommends submitting your pension claim no later than three months prior to reaching the statutory retirement age, as this will give the compensation office sufficient time to gather the information they need to calculate your pension. The applicable form can be downloaded from the website of the CCO.
Every year the Swiss Central Compensation Office (CCO) sends a life and civil status certificate to all Old-Age Pension recipients. This is to check that beneficiaries are still alive. The form
must be completed, signed and witnessed by a competent authority (e.g. Honorary Consul, Justice of the Peace) before returning it to the CCO within 90 days. Failure to meet the deadline may lead
to an interruption in benefit payments. New pension recipients first receive the form 12 months after their benefit entitlement begins.
The blank life certificate can also be downloaded online, completed and then returned via email.
Once you are receiving an income from the Swiss Social Insurance (AHV/AVS or IV/AI) you may be entitled to claim a deduction, to reduce the amount of tax you pay in Australia.
The deduction applies to your personal contributions towards your Swiss Social Insurance in Switzerland (including voluntary contributions made while residing outside of Switzerland). In order to
allow the ATO to determine your eligibility, you will need to request a statement from the CCO, which certifies the total amount of your personal contribution paid into the Swiss Social
Insurance. Follow the steps below to lodge your claim:
Step 1:
Request a statement from the CCO in Geneva relating to your personal contributions into the Swiss Social Insurance. Click on here for the Swiss request form.
The Swiss Compensation Office will check the request and send you a statement via mail that contains your personal contribution figure.
Step 2:
Submit the statement from Switzerland to the ATO along with a request to determine the deductible amount. Click on here for the Australian request form.
The ATO will advise you on the amount you may claim as deduction in a private ruling.
Central Compensation Office, Geneva, Switzerland – Website
Consulate General of Switzerland, Sydney, Australia – Website
Carmen Trochsler & Beat Knoblauch, CSA Australia
The Swiss Old-Age Pension is not paid out automatically when you reach the statutory retirement age. You should apply at least three months prior to reaching the pension age.
Currently the statutory old age for women is 64 years of age and for men 65 years of age. The Old-Age Pension can be drawn up to two years prior to reaching the statutory age with reduction. It
can also be postponed up to five years with increase in payment. If you wish to draw the pension one or two years in advance, you need to apply at least three months in advance of when you wish
to receive it. If you wish to postpone your pension beyond the statutory age you will also need to inform the Swiss Central Compensation Office (CCO) prior to reaching the statutory pension age.
The applicable form can be downloaded from the website of the CCO.
Every year the CCO sends a life and civil status certificate to all Old-Age Pension recipients. This is to check that beneficiaries are still alive. The blank life certificate can also be
downloaded online, completed and then returned via email.
Swiss Old-Age Pension needs to be declared in the New Zealand tax return. It is regarded as Income and has not been taxed in Switzerland.
The Spousal Provision will be gone by 9 November 2020. This means that pensioners whose partner receives an overseas pension higher than the rate of NZ Super will no longer be disadvantaged. Their NZ Super will not be reduced any more by the ‘excess’ of their partner’s overseas pension.
New Zealand deducts the overseas pension (compulsory portion), on the basis of the Social Security Act Sections 187-191 (formerly Section 70) from the New Zealand Superannuation (NZS). In some
cases, this leads to a total loss of their NZS benefit. This illegal practice does not only affect Swiss pensioners but equally pensioners of many other countries. There are over 100,000
pensioners in New Zealand that lose their privately paid pension (compulsory contribution) or part of the pension this way.
At the moment there seems to be little to no movement from any of the political parties in New Zealand to change this law. It is astonishing that the current coalition Government, especially our
present Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, while in Opposition, condemned this deduction as illegal, even calling it a “breach of human rights” on several occasions. Now in Government,
they seem to have forgotten everything said and promised.
The Swiss Embassy and I, together with other affected parties and other Embassies in New Zealand, are continuously and relentlessly working behind the scenes at various private and political
levels. It is our goal to abolish Sections 187-191 completely. To get the New Zealand Government to change the law, we must apply pressure and expose to the world this unfair practice.
In recent times it has become more and more apparent that the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has not upheld the law and has acted illegally and randomly.
In one case a pensioner was derived of his voluntary part of the Old-Age Pension for five years when he, by coincident, found out that this practise was illegal. The MSD had to pay back $40,000
plus an ex-gratia payment of $5,000. According to the Ombudsman findings, the pensioner should have been informed about the deductible portion (voluntary pension contribution) without having to
specifically apply for deduction (Ombudsmen Act 1975, Case number 429683).
I know of two cases where the MSD suddenly stopped deducting illegally confiscated portions of the Swiss Old-Age Pension after the pension recipient started asking questions and queried the MSD
decisions.
In another case a pensioner fought the MSD successfully. They had incurred a huge ‘debt’ due to MSD not deducting an overseas pension for years despite knowing about it, and then demanding the
‘over-payment’ to be paid back. Thanks to their legal knowledge (one is a lawyer) they were able to have the debt amounting to $76,000 waved. They found that Clause 208 – ‘Debt caused wholly or
partially by errors to which debtors did not intentionally contribute’ – in the Regulations for the Social Security Act 2018, which basically says that if MSD makes a significant mistake, they
cannot claim a debt. The couple also presented them a litany of mistakes made right through the process. Clearly, MSD didn’t have an appetite for a High Court challenge with a lawyer who knew
what he was doing!
The main point is that MSD cannot recover a debt that was caused wholly or partly by a significant error by MSD and to which the debtor (pensioner) didn’t contribute intentionally.
If you think this has happened to you, the first thing to do is request your entire file from MSD and compare it to your records. The state of the file and its contents will give an indication
right away if the MSD processes have been sloppy or not.
There are many ways in which MSD might have made mistakes and caused the situation. The most commonly made mistakes are:
However, do not even think of appealing or fight against an MSD decision on the re-payment of debt or other issues, if you have deceived MSD and not declared an overseas pension in your NZ Super application!
New Zealander having worked for a period of time in Switzerland which automatically requires compulsory contribution to the OASI during that time, are entitled to the reimbursement of their
contributions as Switzerland has no Social Security Agreement with New Zealand, whereas a Swiss citizen (NZ Passport holder or Permanent Resident) living in New Zealand will only be able to
receive a monthly pension and are not entitled to the reimbursement of their contributions while working in Switzerland.
As a New Zealander, when filling out the application form for New Zealand Super (NZS) you will also need to declare that you have worked in Switzerland. Thereafter, a declaration form is sent to
you by WINZ which requires you to contact and send to the CCO in Geneva. They in turn will advise you on how much you are entitled to. The whole sum (one lump payment) will be sent to you as soon
as the CCO have all the bank details and the paperwork is completed.
This will all take some time. During this period, you will already have received and benefited from some of the fortnightly NZS payments. When the payment sum from the OASI arrives in NZ you will
need to advice MSD/WINZ and then a deduction from your NZS will take place. However, because the payment is a single lump sum, it can only be deducted from one instalment of your NZS which is
from one fortnightly payment. This deduction is a one off!! The worst-case scenario is that you lose one fortnightly NZS payment.
The alternative to the procedure mentioned above is, to write to the CCO requesting the whole sum due (one lump payment) prior to reaching the eligible NZS age. The CCO will advise you on what
documentation they require to prove that you are no longer in Switzerland and have returned permanently to New Zealand. This way you are able to save one fortnightly NZS payout.
Irrelevant of which way you go about it, as your overseas pension is paid at a gross rate, you may need to declare this payment in your tax return.
The Swiss Embassy in New Zealand has created a special page where all the relevant information concerning the
subject of Swiss Old-Age Pension, specifically focused for pensioners in New Zealand are available.
As your elected delegate to the Council of Swiss Abroad (CSA) representing New Zealand/Oceania, I am also available if you require further information.
Peter Ehrler, CSA New Zealand
Disclaimer: Please note that this information is of a general nature and should not be regarded as legal or tax advice. Separate advice relating to your individual circumstances should be obtained from a professional.
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We, the re-elected Oceania delegates to the Council of the Swiss Abroad are conducting a survey.
As representatives of our region we would like to identify the topics that matter to the Swiss Abroad and set priorities to focus on for the next four years.
Your input will help to not only identify issues but also enable us to take a well informed approach.
The anonymous survey will take less than 5 minutes of your time: https://tinyurl.com/28utn692
As happened in 2020, due to the COVID-19, the Congress of the Swiss Abroad and the meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) that were to be held in Lugano, again had to be postponed to next year. Subsequently, the Council meeting was held online, and split over two sessions. The first 5-hour long session was held late at night Australian time on 20 August, the second took place on 23 August and lasted just over 4 hours.
From 1 May 2021 the AHV/Swiss Compensation Office in Geneva requires again the Life Certificate form to be officially confirmed by a local authority (Consulate General of Switzerland in Sydney, Embassy of Switzerland in Canberra, Centrelink, Public Notary, Justice of Peace).
At the next voting day in June, Swiss Abroad in Australia that are registered in the cantons of Aargau, Ticino and Geneva, will have their voting papers delivered to Australia via diplomatic courier.
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback about the late arrival of voting papers in Australia. Pilot projects like these are the result of Swiss Abroad providing feedback, CSA delegates and media raising awareness and understanding and support by Members of parliament.
Swiss citizens living abroad who receive an OASI (AHV) or DI (IV) pension must submit a certified life certificate to the Central Compensation Office in Geneva (ZAS) every year. Due to the Corona pandemic, it has become difficult to visit authorities, meet deadlines and send documents by post in many countries. For this reason, the Swiss Compensation Office in Geneva is temporarily accepting life certificates by e-mail. These can be confirmed by the insured persons themselves by means of a signature (without an official stamp).
The spring meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad was held online, and split over two sessions. The first one was held on 6 February, the second on 20 March.
Last Sunday was voting day in Switzerland. For most Swiss in the Oceania region the voting material again did not arrive in time to send back or has not arrived yet at all.
If you are interested in a stay in Switzerland and working as language assistant this might be something for you!
More information and contact details can be found on the website of Movetia, click here!
Many Swiss in Oceania have expressed their frustration and disappointment on the late or non-arrival of their voting material sent by regular mail from Switzerland.
The term of your current four CSA Oceania Delegates ends mid 2021, and elections are being held in Australia starting the process early in 2021.
If you are interested in a stay in Switzerland and working as language assistant then this might be something for you!
More information and contact on the website of Movetia
#Swissabroad #bridgebuilders #swisscommunity #movetia
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress of the Swiss Abroad and the meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) that were to be held in Lugano this August had to be postponed to next year. As a consequence – and as a first of its kind – the CSA meeting was conducted virtually, utilising the online conference system ‘Demio’. It took place on 10 July 2020 and a total of 86 delegates participated.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) on 14 March 2020 in Berne had to be cancelled. As a consequence - and as a first in the history of the organisation – the 127 delegates were asked to cast their votes electronically in matters that couldn’t be postponed until the next meeting.
Sadly, the Congress of the Swiss Abroad that was to be held in Lugano from 21 to 23 August 2020, and with it the CSA summer assembly, had to be cancelled.
Dear fellow Swiss
As you are all aware the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is quickly spreading around the world but the World Health Organisation (WHO) has not changed its warning level (public health emergency of international concern) since January 30, 2020.
A lot has happened lately with regards to e-voting. There has been growing resistance and a fair bit of scare-mongering in Switzerland regarding the introduction of e-voting. Whilst the advantages are obvious to the government and the Swiss Abroad, sceptics argue that the trust in the democratic process is compromised due to e-security uncertainty and the cost of developing a secure system is also a concern. Earlier this year, a broad alliance of political parties has been collecting signatures for a popular initiative. Their aim is to ban the introduction of e-voting for at least five years.
The legislative body of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA), met for its biannual meeting at the town hall in Bern on 23 March 2019. For the second time, the meeting followed on an exchange with Swiss parliamentarians for an update on political issues with relevance for the Swiss Abroad.
Canton Geneva has announced it can no longer afford to bear the cost of an e-voting system and plans to abandon the project, according to Swiss public radio, RTS. This leaves only one other e-voting project still standing in Switzerland run by Swiss Post.
Read the full Swissinfo report here
OSA PRESS RELEASE: Bern, 13 June 2018 – The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) representing the interests of 751,800 compatriots living abroad, is disappointed that the Council of States today rejected Motion 17.3626 by 30 votes to 9 with 4 abstentions. The Council of States has decided not to follow the majority of its Foreign Policy Commission (APK-S) and has rejected a motion calling on PostFinance to accept Swiss Abroad on similar terms as citizens residing in Switzerland. The problem that has existed for our compatriots living abroad for ten years remains unresolved.
OSA PRESS RELEASE: Bern, 30 May 2018 – The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) is relieved that the Council of States has today decided to follow the recommendation of its Commission on Social Security and Health (SGK-S) to delete the amendment to Article 4 (1) in the context of the supplementary benefits reform. This means that the current rules remain in place. Last March, the National Council approved an application whereby Swiss Abroad would have had to pay social security contributions (AHV) for at least ten years in order to qualify for supplementary benefits, which would have discriminated against Swiss Abroad.
On 10 March 2018, at he CSA meeting in Bern, the executive of the OSA announced that it had entered into a partnership with the Geneva Cantonal Bank (BCGE).
More information is available under the topic Swiss Banks.
The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) would like to know about difficulties you have encountered in the area of health insurance and the practical problems that you face as a Swiss person living abroad. This may be of specific relevance to those living temporarily in the Oceania region or those in need for travel insurance when visiting Switzerland. By the same token, if you have had positive experiences or wish to share good practices, please do so!
The purpose is to look at ways of improving the situation of Swiss people living abroad in this regard.
You can send your experiences and suggestions to us delegates and/or directly to the head office in Bern: info@aso.ch
The Swiss Parliament voted for the Introduction of Automatic Exchange of Information with New Zealand. A summary and comments by Peter Ehrler, New Zealand Member of the Council of the Swiss Abroad.
On 27 September, the National Council (Nationalrat) followed the recommendation from the Economic Commission of the Lower House and rejected implementing the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) with New Zealand. The majority of the members are of the opinion that the Swiss in New Zealand are disadvantaged over other Swiss living abroad, because of the Swiss pension (AHV) being confiscated by the New Zealand Government.
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