Airdrops: how they are taxed
Airdrops look like a gift: tokens that arrive in your wallet without your having paid anything. But from the Swiss tax point of view, “free” does not mean “without consequences”. Here is how to frame the question.
What an airdrop is, in practice
An airdrop is the distribution of tokens to a range of addresses, often to promote a project, reward early users or decentralise governance. The most common forms:
- Pure airdrop: tokens received without doing anything, simply for holding a wallet or another token.
- Airdrop with activity: tokens obtained in exchange for actions (using a platform, providing liquidity, completing tasks).
- Retroactive airdrop: a reward for those who have already used a protocol in the past.
The distinction matters, because it changes the timing and the basis of taxation.
The key moment: receipt
In Switzerland the general principle is that tokens received free of charge constitute an inflow of assets measurable in money. At the moment they enter the beneficiary’s control, they must be considered at their market value in CHF.
- If the airdrop is the consideration for an activity (staking, provision of services, tasks), it tends to constitute taxable income.
- If it is a purely random inflow linked solely to holding, the qualification must be assessed case by case: cantonal practice is not always uniform.
The reference value is the one at the date it is credited, even if the token has not yet been sold.
Wealth tax
Regardless of how they were acquired, the tokens remain part of your assets and must be declared for wealth tax, valued at the year-end price. An illiquid token or one with no active market poses a valuation problem: in these cases the criterion adopted must be documented.
Subsequent disposal
When the airdropped tokens are sold or exchanged:
- For the private individual managing their own assets, any capital gain is in principle exempt — unless the criteria of professional securities dealing are triggered, which reclassify the gain as income.
- For the company, the disposal passes through the income statement and contributes to taxable profit; the accounts must track the entry value, the exchange rate and the disposal.
The practical issues not to underestimate
- Documentation: record the date, quantity and CHF value of each airdrop at the time of receipt. Reconstructing it months later is difficult and risky.
- Valuation of illiquid tokens: without a reference market you need a defensible criterion.
- Consistency between wealth and income: the same token can generate income on receipt and wealth tax at year-end.
- Operating companies: airdrops received by the company must also be framed from the accounting and VAT point of view.
For profiles subject to authorisation — custody, VASP services — the framing goes through authorised partners; the structuring and tax advisory part we handle directly.
This content is informative and does not replace tax advice on the specific case. Crypto practice evolves and varies between cantons.
Have you received airdrops and don’t know how to declare them, for yourself or for your company? Let’s talk.