Support for Family Members
If you provide financial support to a family member and that family member is not required to repay the support, you may be eligible for the “support deduction,” which can be claimed from the federal government in most cantons—though not in all. This is only possible if the family member is of retirement age or older and in need of support. The recipient of the support does not have to pay taxes on the payments.
Long-Term Care Costs
Facts: A family member must move into a nursing home and is responsible for covering the uninsured costs themselves. In this case, it is possible to deduct the costs of actual care as medical expenses. If the daily care requirement is at least 60 minutes, the person is considered to have a disability. In this case, the care costs incurred are considered disability-related expenses. However, pure living expenses and care services provided free of charge are not deductible.
Commute to Work
Leasing payments for a car—even if it’s used for your daily commute to work—are not tax-deductible. From a strictly legal standpoint, a lease is essentially a rental-like arrangement, and after all, your rent isn’t tax-deductible either.
However, you can generally deduct the cost of public transportation, provided that it would not take you significantly longer to get to work by public transportation than by car. The cantons have different rules regarding the requirements that must be met.
Meals
Let's say you work 50 percent of the time. In this case, you may deduct meal expenses. If your work is spread over, for example, two full days, you can make a pro-rata deduction. However, if you work only in the morning or only in the afternoon, this is not possible.
However, if you are generally able to eat at home during your lunch break, you may not make this deduction. In that case, however, you may claim the additional travel expenses.
If your employer contributes to the cost of lunch, you may only claim the lower flat rate.
Dental Costs
As long as no final tax assessment has been issued, you can still claim any overlooked expenses (such as costs for dental restoration) within the 30-day appeal period. Once this period has expired, however, you will no longer be able to do so. To prevent this from happening, you can have your tax return prepared; I’d be happy to assist you with that.
Healthcare Costs
In most cantons, the deductible for medical expense deductions is five percent of net income. If your medical expenses exceed this amount, you may claim a deduction; otherwise, you may not.
Cost of Living
Unfortunately, you cannot deduct moving expenses—such as those incurred because you have to move to another canton for a new job—since these are considered part of your general living expenses.
For the same reason, the wages paid to a privately employed housekeeper cannot be deducted either, even if both work 100 percent.
Pension Fund and Pillar 3a
If you have made a pension fund purchase, please be aware of the deadlines for claiming this deduction. The date of the purchase—not the date of payment—is what counts. Be especially careful to act within the deadline, as you may otherwise forfeit this deduction. If you have me prepare your tax return, there is no such risk, as I have many years of experience in this area.
If one spouse has received an early withdrawal from their pension fund for any reason, this does not affect the other spouse. The other spouse may make a catch-up contribution to the pension fund and then benefit from the full income tax deduction.
If your unemployment benefits expired two years ago but you still made contributions to Pillar 3a last year, you can only claim the amount if you have an income. Instead, you must request a refund of the contribution from your pension fund. A document from the tax office is required for this. You will receive this when you claim the deduction on your tax return.
Withdrawals from a Pillar 3a account or a pension fund are subject to taxation. The information sheet “Taxation of Withdrawals from Pillar 2 and Pillar 3a” provides an overview of the tax rates at the federal level and in the various cantons. The information sheet “Calculation Examples” lists the specific tax amounts for each canton.
Pillar 3b Insurance Premiums
You can claim life insurance premiums only as part of the general insurance deduction. However, this deduction is usually already fully utilized for health insurance premiums.
Weekly Stays
Suppose you were working in the canton of St. Gallen until the end of July of last year. After that, you moved to Basel and have been living there as a weekend resident ever since. You cannot claim deductions for your lodging and meals on weekends, as these are not directly related to your income. All deductions must be work-related out-of-pocket expenses. Since you earned no income after the end of July, you cannot claim any expenses for that period.
If your child is a weekly resident, that child must also claim the additional costs for travel and rent on their tax return—even if the parents cover these costs. Parents can only claim the child tax credit; nothing else.
Education
Since 2016, it has been possible to claim a tax deduction for educational expenses. Prior to that, these expenses were considered occupational expenses. Now you can claim a deduction for all educational or continuing education programs, as well as expenses for any retraining. However, initial education is excluded from this provision. The maximum tax deduction for federal taxes is 12,000 Swiss francs per year, although it is up to the cantons to set their own maximum amounts.
Child Care
If your parents look after your children on specific days each week and you wish to reimburse them for this in an amount equal to the child care deduction, you may deduct these costs from your income. However, it is important that you include a breakdown of the costs along with payment receipts. Your parents must then report the compensation they receive as taxable income. This is by no means a gift, since you are clearly receiving something in return in the form of childcare.
Premium Reduction
A premium reduction is now forwarded directly to the health insurance company. Previously, you could only deduct the amount you had paid yourself anyway. So you must have this premium reduction credited to your account.
Private School
As a general rule, the costs of your child’s private school cannot be deducted. This is only possible in cases where attendance at a private school is based on a recommendation from a school psychologist. In such cases, the costs are then deducted as disability-related expenses.
Application Costs
If you are currently unemployed, you can deduct the costs of postage, copies, photos, and application portfolios, as these qualify as business expenses. However, if the tax office asks you for details, you should be able to provide documentation for all of these costs.
Child Deduction
If your child has completed an apprenticeship during the current calendar year and you have been responsible for the child’s support up to that point, you cannot claim the child deduction on a pro-rata basis. The so-called “cut-off date” rule applies here. This means that only the situation on the cut-off date—December 31—is decisive. If the child is no longer in an apprenticeship on that date, no child tax deduction can be claimed.
You can also contact me at any time to have your tax return prepared.
IT Costs
If you regularly work from home, you cannot deduct the resulting expenses for electricity, cell phone service, and your computer, since your company generally provides you with a workspace at the office and merely grants you the option to work from home.
This also applies to the work-from-home periods mandated by the Federal Council in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case as well, you are not entitled to compensation for any additional costs incurred as a result of working from home.
