A gift’s value or the gifted amount of money is not relevant to determine whether it was a gift or not. A gift within the meaning of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) is any inter vivos gift by which someone enriches another person from their own assets without corresponding consideration. But the fulfillment of a moral obligation is not treated as a gift. For example, if someone financially supports their parents or adult children who are experiencing financial difficulties, this may constitute a fulfillment of legal or moral obligations. This does not count as a gift. In addition, ordinary occasional gifts are often treated differently than “larger gifts”. What constitutes what depends on the occasion and the financial circumstances of the individual case. As a rule of thumb, a limit of around CHF 3000-5000 can be assumed.
Supplementary benefits are not gifts in the legal sense; they are social welfare benefits. Supplementary benefits to AHV and IV provide help when pensions and income are insufficient to cover a person’s minimum living costs. Anyone who finds themselves in such a situation has a legal entitlement to supplementary benefits. These are paid by the cantons and consist of annual benefits, which are paid out monthly, as well as compensation for sickness and disability costs. Recipients of supplementary benefits may then be obliged to repay them in some cases.
More about the Subject:
Gifts – an alternative to inheritance?
Special forms of donation – how and why?
The AHV survivors’ pension in the event of death