Prop trading in Switzerland: firms, francs, FINMA and tax

Each PropCrab record holds the firm's own statement, with source and date:

In these records, "accepted" means that Switzerland is not on the firm's country or restriction list. It is not an explicit promise for Switzerland. FTMO writes that FTMO CFDs is available to clients globally, apart from the persons and countries it lists^[10]. The5ers lists its excluded countries with "including but not limited to", so the list is not exhaustive^[12]. FundingPips' list is not worded as exhaustive either, per its record^[28].

For Apex Trader Funding, Funded Trading Plus, Instant Funding and The Trading Pit the status is open: PropCrab did not find the country list, could not fetch it, or has not evaluated it yet. The profile then shows "– not documented", not "accepted".

Your passport counts as well as your residence. FTMO excludes nationals and residents of Iran, Syria, Myanmar and North Korea. It accepts nationals of Iran, Syria or Myanmar only if they document residence in the European Economic Area (EEA) and hold an account with a traditional bank in the EEA^[10]. Switzerland is not part of the EEA; its accession was rejected in a popular vote in 1992^[11]. Read as written, that exception therefore does not cover anyone living in Switzerland.

What else to check before you buy (KYC, country rules for the payout stage, contracting party) is in the checklist before buying.

Not a single price in PropCrab's records is in Swiss francs. Three examples:

• FTMO: the record lists the Challenge 2-Step with a USD 100,000 account at EUR 540^[37].
• The Trading Pit: the checkout shows euros for Switzerland, for the CFD Prime (2-Phase) challenge with a USD 10,000 account for example EUR 99^[38].
• Topstep: billed monthly in US dollars, for the Trading Combine with a USD 50,000 account USD 49^[39] a month.

If you pay in euros or dollars and your card runs in francs, there is a conversion. Whether a fee applies and at what rate is set by the terms of your bank or card issuer. PropCrab gives no figure here: it depends on your card, and PropCrab found no official overview.

The payment method can cost something too. At FTMO, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Revolut Pay are free per its FAQ; PayPal, Skrill and crypto cost 3%. Bank transfer is available there only in EUR or CZK, with the fee given as "Various"^[14].

FTMO offers accounts in USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, CZK, CAD or AUD. Per FTMO, the account currency you pick does not determine the currency of your reward payment^[13]. FTMO has also announced, with a change to its terms, a 0.7% currency conversion adjustment on realised profit and loss when the instrument's profit currency differs from the account currency^[40]. The adjustment applies when a trade is closed: it reduces a profit and is added to a loss. Trades that need no conversion are not affected, and the date the rule starts for your account is in your agreement, per FTMO^[15].

Example: you hold an account in CHF and trade an instrument whose profit currency is USD. Profit currency and account currency differ, so under this rule the adjustment applies when you close the trade^[15].

Check: which currency do you pay in, what does the payment method cost, and in which currency does a payout arrive? Work out repeat purchases in the challenge cost calculator.

PropCrab found no FINMA statement on finma.ch about firms that sell evaluations on simulated accounts (search on 3 November 2026). Whether this business needs a licence in Switzerland therefore cannot be answered from FINMA's public texts: open. Per FINMA, every foreign exchange dealer based in Switzerland has needed a banking licence since 2008^[4]. Whether providers of simulated accounts fall under that, FINMA does not say there.

The warning list. FINMA keeps a list of companies that may be carrying out an activity requiring authorisation without holding one. Per FINMA, an entry does not necessarily mean the activity is illegal, and the list is neither exhaustive nor updated daily^[1].

One entry concerns a firm that calls itself a prop firm on its own website. Under the date 23 August 2024, FINMA lists "Cryptofundtrader" with the address Bahnhofstrasse 21, 6300 Zug, the website www.cryptofundtrader.com and the note "Ohne HR-Eintrag" (no commercial register entry)^[2]. The website describes evaluations on simulated accounts ("It's all demo"). Its footer gives the same address and names a SWISS RLCRATES AG as payment and marketing agent for RLCRATES, S.L., with the note that the AG is not authorised in Switzerland^[3]. Since 3 November 2026 Crypto Fund Trader has a PropCrab record; because of this entry its status is "warning".

For the brands and the companies of the firms that already had a PropCrab record before 3 November 2026, a search of the warning list on that day found no entry^[1]. The firms added on 3 November 2026 were not part of that search. The search also returns similar-sounding names, so compare the domain and the address, not just the name. And no entry does not mean "checked and fine".

What FINMA advises. In its investor protection brochure, FINMA advises checking the list of authorised institutions and the warning list, the commercial register on zefix.ch for Swiss providers and, for providers abroad, thinking first about against whom, where and at what cost you could enforce a claim. FINMA cannot comment on civil disputes; these are for the civil courts^[4]. In a dispute with a firm about a payout, you cannot expect FINMA to decide.

Not tax advice. PropCrab sets out here what the federal government and the cantons publish. You are assessed not by the ESTV but by the competent canton, in principle your canton of residence; per the ESTV, all questions about your assessment go to that canton's tax administration^[7]. For your own case, ask them or a professional.

The ESTV sums up the principle in its Circular No. 36 of 27 July 2012. All recurring and one-off income is taxable (Art. 16 para. 1 DBG, the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation). Income is exempt only where a law says so expressly, as for capital gains on the sale of private assets (Art. 16 para. 3 DBG). All income from self-employment is taxable too (Art. 18 DBG)^[6].

The circular separates private asset management from commercial securities trading. The tax authorities always assume private asset management when all five criteria are met:

1. 1The securities sold were held for at least 6 months^[6].
2. 2The transaction volume per calendar year is at most five times the securities and cash holdings at the start of the tax period^[6].
3. 3The capital gains are not needed to replace missing income for living costs. That is regularly the case when they are less than 50% of net income^[6].
4. 4The investments are not financed with debt, or the taxable income from them exceeds the proportional interest on the debt^[6].
5. 5Derivatives are used only to hedge your own securities positions^[6].

If one criterion is not met, that does not automatically mean commercial trading; all the circumstances of the case then count. The use of borrowed funds is the strongest indicator. The circular counts futures and derivatives, for example on currencies or indices, as securities too^[6].

The cantons do not all repeat this word for word. The tax practice of the Canton of Thurgau (StP 20 Nr. 2) expressly covers commercial trading in gold, currencies and cryptocurrencies too. It names a holding period of at least one year instead of 6 months, measures the capital gains against all taxable income, and additionally requires that the investments be open to all investors in principle and not closely tied to your profession^[8][6].

What makes an activity self-employment in general is summed up, following case law, in the dossier of the ESTV and the Swiss Tax Conference: labour and capital put in, a freely chosen organisation, own account and own risk, intent to make a profit, permanence, a planned approach and presence in the market. These are indicators, not an exhaustive list; they are weighed in an overall view of the case^[7].

For payouts from a prop firm, these texts leave four questions unanswered:

• Does the circular apply at all? By its own wording it covers only the management of a securities portfolio^[6]. On a simulated account you hold no securities of your own; at FTMO the record lists even the account after the evaluation as simulated^[16]. Whether the criteria fit payouts, PropCrab found answered in no ESTV or cantonal source: open.
• What kind of income? Whether a payout counts as income from self-employment (Art. 18 DBG) or is classified otherwise is settled by no official source PropCrab found^[6]: open.
• Are challenge fees deductible? With self-employment, costs justified by the business or profession are deductible (Art. 27 para. 1 DBG)^[6]. Whether evaluation fees count depends on the question before: open.
• AHV (old-age insurance)? Whether you count as self-employed for the AHV is judged by the compensation office case by case; the economic reality decides, not the contracts. For a self-employed secondary activity with annual income of at most CHF 2,500, contributions are only levied if you ask for it^[9]. Whether payouts from a prop firm count: open.

What you can do anyway:

• Keep purchase receipts, payout statements and bank statements, with date and currency. Per the circular, where a self-employed person keeps no commercial accounts, they must provide statements of assets and liabilities, income and expenses, and private withdrawals and contributions (Art. 125 para. 2 DBG)^[6].
• Ask the tax administration of your canton of residence. Per the ESTV, the tax authorities give binding rulings on whether securities trading is commercial only in clear cases^[6].
• Have a professional look at your case before you file your tax return.

1. 1Swiss residence looked up in the firm's profile, with the date; for "not documented", the firm's country list read yourself.
2. 2Citizenship checked against the country list, not just residence.
3. 3Currency of the price, fee of the payment method and your card's conversion known.
4. 4Brand, company and domain searched in the FINMA warning list, and in the further warning lists FINMA names there: the Zurich cantonal police and IOSCO I-SCAN^[1].
5. 5For a company in Switzerland: FINMA's list of authorised institutions and the commercial register on zefix.ch checked^[5][4].
6. 6Records for tax kept, and open questions put to the cantonal tax administration.