Inheritance tax

Inheritance tax is a tax levied on inherited assets left by a deceased person or entity. Switzerland does not have a federal inheritance tax. Inheritance tax laws are decided on a cantonal level, and vary between cantons. Most cantons do not levy inheritance taxes for inheritances between spouses, and from parents to children. Taxes on inheritances outside of the immediate family differ from one canton to another. The cantons of Obwalden and Schwyz do not levy any inheritance taxes at all.

All cantons waive inheritance taxes when the inheritor is the spouse of the deceased. In most cantons, the tax is also waived for descendants of the deceased. A difference is made between inheritance tax, which is levied on assets inherited from a deceased person, and gift tax, which is levied on assets which are gifted to a beneficiary while the benefactor is still alive.

More on this topic:
Inheritances: Rules that dictate who gets what in Switzerland