Tax Deductions in Switzerland for 2025
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We all want to pay lower taxes! When you fill out your tax declaration in Switzerland, it is important to take advantage of all possible tax deductions. Tax deductions allow you to reduce your taxable income. Since your taxable income will directly drive your taxes, it is essential to reduce it when possible.
So, in this article, I go into detail about all the possible tax deductions in Switzerland. Hopefully, you will be able to find tax deductions that you did not use before and will be able to reduce your taxes.
I will try to stay generic since many of these tax deductions will differ from canton to canton. The maximums and minimums for each tax deduction will likely change a lot. And the deductions may be different at the federal and the cantonal levels since both have different maximum deductions.
Commute Expenses
A tax deduction that almost everybody can claim is related to commuter expenses. If you need to pay something to go to work, you can deduct these expenses from your income.
First, if you go to work by car, you can deduct the kilometers from your home to your work. If you work full-time, you can deduct a maximum of 220 times the round trip from your home to your work. You also need to justify using a car, but generally, it is not difficult to justify it. For instance, in my case, there is barely any public transportation where I live. In some cantons, the number of work days is different. Vaud for instance uses 240 but Fribourg uses 220.
If you go to work by public transportation, you can deduct your public transportation subscription price.
Finally, you can also deduct a flat rate for your bike if you bike to work. Interestingly, most cantons will accept to deduct for both public transportation and bikes if you do both.
Each canton will have a different maximum for this deduction. But this is an important deduction since it can easily account for several thousand Swiss francs removed from your taxable income.
Meal Expenses
If you cannot go home for lunch, you can also deduct your meal expenses. In some cases, you will also be able to deduct your dinner expenses if you cannot even go home for dinner, but you will have to justify it.
In general, you can deduct 15 CHF per meal taken outside of your home. If you have access to a discounted canteen or if your employer contributes to your meals, you will only be able to deduct 7.50 CHF per meal.
Once again, there will be a maximum at the federal and cantonal levels for this deduction. But it is an important deduction since it can be substantial (especially if your company does not have discounted canteen).
Spending nights at the place of work
If your job forces you to spend nights outside of your place of residence, you can deduct your accommodation expenses from your place of work. You will also be able to deduct transportation from your place of residence to your place of work twice a week. In that case, do not forget to claim tax deductions for both meals during the day!
Work-Related expenses
You can also deduct other work-related expenses. For instance:
- Work clothing
- Books
- Hardware and software
- Courses
You can apply a 3% flat tax deduction from your net income. However, there is a maximum of 4000 CHF per year. If you have higher costs, you can also deduct the effective costs with all the necessary justifications.
If you have to drive at work in your personal car, you will also be entitled to a tax deduction based on the number of kilometers you drive.
Professional Development
If you take significant training to improve your professional career, you can also use it as a tax deduction. If you do a reorientation course to change jobs, this can also be deducted here. In some cases, you can also count language courses in that category.
You will have to justify these expenses, and you will have to pay for them yourself. You cannot deduct it if your company pays for it, as is usually the case.
In some cantons, you can deduct some training without justifications. It is the case in Zurich, but there are probably some other cantons that allow you to do that.
Home Office expenses
Currently, when we are forced to work from home, the situation is confusing. Each canton has announced different sets of rules for home office tax deductions. If you are forced to work at home in most cantons, you can still deduct the same deductions.
But in general, if you are working from home, there are a few things you can deduct :
- You can deduct the cost of the equipment you use to work at home if your employer does not provide it.
- You can deduct the rent price of a room if you are using it solely for the home office.
If you are still deducing the same in-office work deductions as before during COVID-19, you will not be able to claim home-office deductions. You will have to choose.
We can expect the rules to change after the COVID-19 situation.
Third Pillar Contributions
The best tax deduction is probably to contribute to your third pillar. Each year, you can contribute up to 7258 CHF (in 2025) per employed person in your household. So, if you have two employed people in your household, you should contribute to both if you can.
This maximum per year is removed from your taxable income. This makes a very significant difference to your taxable income. If self-employed, you can contribute up to 20% of your net income into the third pillar, up to a maximum of 35’280 CHF.
Now, you should only invest in a good third pillar. And you should invest your third pillar money in the stock market as much as possible. Otherwise, the returns will be very low. If you do not have a third pillar yet, look at the best third pillar of Switzerland.
If you invest in a great third pillar, this is almost free money. Most other tax deductions will allow you to deduct the money you spend. But this tax deduction allows you to deduct the money you invest, which is much better!
Second Pillar Contributions
You can also get a tax deduction for the money you contribute voluntarily to the second pillar. If you contribute extra to the second pillar, this contribution is tax-deductible.
How much you can contribute depends on your second pillar contribution history You can ask the second pillar provider to know how much you can contribute. This can be a significant amount (sometimes more than 100’000 CHF). So, you can realize huge tax deductions with this technique.
However, this is only interesting if you can access a good second pillar with good returns. And unfortunately, this is not the case for most people. For instance, it returns less than 1% on average, which is pitiful.
Also, you need to ensure you can get a tax deduction. If you have withdrawn money from the second pillar for a house or a startup, your extra contributions will not be tax-deductible until you have repaid what you take out. This is why we do not invest in our second pillar.
If you want to know more, you can check whether you should contribute to your second pillar.
Just like contributions to the third pillar, contributions to the second are almost free money! The issue with the second pillar is that returns, for most people, are pretty bad.
Debt payments
If you have debts and are paying interest payments, you can get a tax deduction from them. For instance, if you have a consumer loan or a mortgage, you can deduct all your interest payments. It is the same for credit card debt, which few people know.
On the other hand, you cannot claim interest payments for leasing since the object (likely a car) does not belong to you during the leasing. This could be why a car loan could be more interesting than leasing sometimes.
You should also not forget to deduct the value of your debts from your taxable net worth. There should be a section about the list of your debts in your tax declaration. This can make a large difference in your net worth taxes.
Donations
If you donate to a charitable organization, you can get a tax deduction for the donated amount.
The tax office recognizes many non-profit organizations in Switzerland, and you can donate to them to save on taxes. You will have to keep the donation certificates from the non-profit organization for your tax declaration.
The great thing about this deduction is that the limit is very high. At the federal level, you can deduct up to 20% of your net income. At the cantonal level, it will vary from 10% to 20%.
Insurance Premiums
Another good tax deduction is the deduction for insurance premiums.
Since health insurance is mandatory in Switzerland, you are already paying for it. So, it is good to deduct a little money from your taxable income for it.
You can deduct your premiums for health and accident insurance. At the federal level, the maximum is 1700 CHF for singles and 3500 CHF for married couples. Several cantons allow deducting more than that. The issue is that this is much lower than what we are paying. But it is already better than nothing!
In any case, you should try to reduce your health insurance premiums.
Medical Expenses
If you have high medical expenses, you can deduct some of them from your taxable income. These medical expenses include:
- Doctors
- Dentist
- Prescribed medications
- Glasses and lenses
- Prescribed care
If you have to pay these from your own pocket (no supplemental insurance or high deductible, or both), you may deduct them from your taxes. However, in most cantons, you can only deduct expenses higher than the minimum of 5% of your net income. So, if your expenses are lower than this minimum, you will not be able to deduct anything. This means that, in most cases, you cannot deduct anything.
Childcare
Childcare in Switzerland is incredibly expensive. Fortunately, you can deduct childcare expenses from your taxable income.
If your child is less than 14 years old and you must pay someone to care for him, you can deduct this. The tax deduction is due for childcare facilities or day nurseries.
The maximum tax deduction is 25’000 CHF at the federal level, while it varies highly for each canton. This is an important deduction that you should not forget since it will make a big difference to your taxable income.
Unfortunately, most cantons will not accept deductions for childcare if one of the spouses is not working. They will assume that the non-working spouse can take care of the child. There are some cases where childcare could be justified. For instance, if both parents did not speak the local cantonal language, they could justify putting a child in childcare to help the child learn the language.
Couples
If you are in a couple, there are two different possible tax deductions:
- If your spouse does not work, you can get a deduction for double activity. This deduction can vary from one canton to another. For instance, in Fribourg, it is 2600 CHF while it is Vaud 1700 CHF in Vaud.
- If your spouse works, you can get a double-earner tax deduction. At the federal level, this deduction is 50% of the lowest of the two incomes, with a minimum of 8100 CHF and a maximum of 13’400 CHF. At the cantonal level, it highly varies (from nothing to 10’000 CHF). If the spouse has a net salary below the minimum, only the net salary can be deducted.
Dependents
If you have children or care for disabled dependents, you can claim up to 6500 CHF per dependent. At the cantonal level, this will vary highly from one place to the other.
If you are divorced and pay alimony to your ex-partner, you can deduct these alimony payments from your taxable income.
You can also deduct gifts you have made to a person who needs this money to live in some cases.
Assets management fees
You can deduct the fees for storing your investment assets:
- Custody fees
- Safe deposit box fees
- Fees for your savings accounts
- Negative interest rate fees
In most cantons, you can deduct the effective fees or a flat rate. The flat rate is generally a per thousand value of your net worth. In most cases, the flat rate is higher than the effective costs, so it is better and easier to deduct the flat rate.
House Renovations
If you are doing renovation work on your house (painting, kitchen renovations, heating renovations, …), you may be able to get tax deductions. Whether you can deduct it or not depends on the matter of the work:
- If the renovations increase the energy efficiency of the house, you can deduct it from your taxable income. For instance, changing your windows to improve insulation or switching to a heat pump.
- If the renovations increase the house’s value, you cannot deduct it from your taxable income. For instance, if you add a winter garden to your home.
- Other renovations that do not increase the house’s value can be deducted.
If you are planning large work, it may be interesting to spread it over several years. Since tax is progressive, you can save more money over two years than one. But that is only interesting for large expenses.
House Expenses
You can also deduct other house expenses from your taxable income. However, very few of them are tax-deductible, and you will have to check with your canton what you can deduct. One example is the building insurance premium you can deduct in most cantons.
You will add these expenses together with the house renovation costs. And you can choose either a flat rate or an effective tax deduction. If you do not have any renovation work, you should opt for the flat rate that will likely be higher.
Reduce your property rental value
When you are a homeowner living in your home, you will pay taxes on a fake income, the rental value of your home. You are paying taxes as if you were renting it out. This adds to your taxable income. This can significantly increase your taxes.
There is only one way to reduce this property rental value: claim underutilization of the house. This is possible if you have one room in your house that is not being used. You can claim that you do not use this room and ask for it to be removed from the calculation of the rental value. This can make a significant difference in your rental value and hence taxable income.
Of course, you should only do that if the room is really not used. In general, they will ask that the room is really not furnished (empty).
It is also worth knowing that this is always allowed at the federal level, but not all cantons will take this into account. And for this procedure, you will need to ask for a new evaluation of your imputed rental value.
Declare your withholding taxes
Finally, if you have paid withholding taxes, you should not forget to declare them. These withholding taxes will count toward the taxes you have already paid. So, they will effectively reduce the taxes you still have to pay.
You will pay withholding tax on the following gains:
- Dividend payments
- Annuities and pensions
- Lottery gains
If you are using some U.S. ETFs, you can even deduct the withholding that was done at the source by the United States tax office. I have a guide about declaring dividends from U.S. ETFs. However, this deduction is generally not admitted below 100 CHF of foreign withholding.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many possible tax deductions from your taxable income. However, there is no magic deduction that you can do. Some tax deductions are almost free, such as the third and second pillar contributions. However, most deductions only allow you to deduct things you have paid.
So, in general, there is not much you can do to deduct more from your taxes. The most important thing is that you should not forget any tax deductions! You should make sure you are deducting every possible thing you are allowed to.
Swiss taxes may be fair, but they will be the highest item on your budget if you have a significant income. As such, it is important to do everything possible to reduce them to the maximum.
If you want more information, read my guide on Switzerland’s taxes or my article on the marginal tax rate.
Do you know any other tax deductions that we can use?
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Hi Baptiste,
Great article!
My family and I live in Geneva but I work in Zug. Hence, I should be able to deduct 6,400 CHF as Frais de repas ICC et IFD.
Do you know why the tax software does not allow me to put a number higher than 3,200 CHF? Should the evening meals be added in the cell of Autres Frais instead?
Thank you
Hi Alex,
In Geneva, there are two different groups for deductions:
A) People who work outside the canton and commuting every day
B) People who work outside the canton and spend the week with their employer
The maximum of 6400 CHF is only for the group B. So you should only be able to deduct 6400 CHF if you stay in the other canton for the week.
Hi Baptiste,
Thanks for your answer.
I worked outside the canton and spent the week with my employer. It is not possible to commute from Geneva to Zug every day.
The tax system online does not let me enter 6400 CHF (it only allows me 3200 CHF).
Do you know whether I should enter the other 3200 CHF in the cell of “Other Costs”?
Thank you
Hi Alex,
In this case, you probably have to check some box somewhere in the tax declaration saying that you live and work outside of the canton. But I am not familiar with Geneva’s software. To be sure, you will have to contact the Geneva Tax Office.
Dear Mr Wicht
I work in Geneva and the family lives in Zug. I travel to Geneva on Monday and return on Wednesday or Thursday. During these week days I rent a temporary apartment or stay in a hotel. Are these costs deductible? any other costs I could take into account?
Thank you.
Hi Johnan
Yes, you should be able to justify these costs. Since you work very far from where you live, you should be able to deduct stays outside of home for work. Usually, you can only justify a single room in this case. So, if the apartment you rent is larger, you will not be able to deduct it entirely. And you will also have to look whether you can deduct temporary stays like hotels in your canton. Apparently, in Fribourg, you can only deduct something you lease, so this may vary canton by canton.
Additionally, you will be able to deduct the food and transportation on these days.
Dear Baptiste Wicht,
Thank you for your great insights.
I have 1 question, in case you have a gap in your Pillar 2. Would it not be most beneficial to wait close to retirement age to make the contribution?
Hi Bill,
Yes, a second pillar contribution usually makes more sense as you grow near retirement. I have talked about that on another article: Should You Contribute to Your Second Pillar in 2025?
Hi Baptiste,
Thanks so much for this! You wrote under Debt payments:
You should also not forget to deduct the value of your debts from your taxable net worth. This can make a large difference in your net worth taxes.
Where would I do that in my tax return? For example I have my credit card debt of 10k and then a personal loan of around 20k. Where in my tax return should i deduct that value? THANK YOU!
Bonjour Toni
You should find a list of debts in your tax software (or paper). In French, this should be called “Etat des dettes”, in most cantons. But since each canton is using a different software, I can’t tell you exactly where to put this.
And I believe you should always declare your debts.
Thank you! Yes I added it into the section which says dettes but I did not really understand where you said:
You should also not forget to deduct the value of your debts from your taxable net worth
So I thought it was a different specific section :) Thank you!
Indeed, you cannot deduct it yourself from taxable net worth, you declare its value in the debts and the debts are deducted from the net work :) I will try to make this clearer.
Hi Baptiste
Is the double-earner tax deduction also valid when your spouse is self-employed and earns less than the minimum (8100 CHF)?
What if she only makes 5000 CHF? That means I am better off that way :-)
Hi Ralph
That’s a good question.
I have checked the rules for the federal deductions, and they mention that if the net salary (after social contributions, 2nd pillar and 3rd pillar) are below 8100 CHF, only the lower of the two amounts can be deducted. So, in your case, you could be deducting 5000 CHF, but not more. I will make this clearer in the article.
I also slightly amended the article to make it clearer that 8100 CHF is the federal deduction, then each canton has a different deduction.
Thanks for checking. I am still a bit confused as why they even state the 8100 CHF minimum in the first place. The minimum is whatever you make, unless they mean if it’s below 8100 CHF you cannot deduct anything at all?
Yes, it should not really be a minimum. The true minimum is the minimum between the net income of the lowest-income-spouse and 8100 CHF.
The way I understand it, if the lowest-income-spouse has a net income below 8100 CHF, you can deduct that income entirely.
Hello Baptiste,
Such a nice and complete article! Congratulations
I am a B-permit holder and have been in Switzerland for three years. I am now considering opening a third-pillar account, but I am unsure if it is worth it for me, as I would lose the convenience of not having to file taxes. What do you think?
Hi Sabrin
Thanks!
It’s very difficult to say whether you are going to save on taxes by changing to a full tax return and having a 3a. It depends on which deductions you can claim and on which canton you are from.
Unless you are very close to the 120k limit, I would not do it. Instead, I would invest in either a broker account or a Robo-advisor account.
Hello Baptiste,
Would you reckon it’s worth applying for tax deductions if one is not making any contributions to a 3a pillar, & the salary is not considerably high, under 100k?
I would say yes, to get all the deductions you mentioned in the article( besides 3a).
What is your opinion on this?
Many thanks for your input!
Hi Theodor
Do you mean if you are taxed at source and not doing a tax declaration? It’s very difficult to answer that because it depends on many different factors. But unless you have significant deductions you can apply, it’s probably not worth it switch to a full tax return.
Hello,
I have a question about deducting expenses for a side business in Canton de Vaud. I’m currently working on some business ideas but haven’t established a company yet, as the projects are still in the testing phase to assess their viability and profitability. However, some expenses have already been incurred, such as:
– A new laptop
– Online subscriptions (e.g., ChatGPT, Canva, etc.)
– Fees for digital platforms (e.g., Etsy)
– Online course fees for skill development
– Costs for placing test orders to evaluate product quality etc.
Since there’s no revenue yet and the business is not formally registered, I’m wondering:
– Are these types of expenses tax-deductible in Canton de Vaud?
– If yes, how should they be declared, and under which category?
– Are there any specific conditions or requirements for claiming such expenses when the business is still in the exploratory phase?
I would appreciate any advice or references to relevant tax regulations.
Thank you!
Hi
I believe these are deductible. But I am not sure if you can deduct everything if your business does not have any revenue. And I don’t think you can deduct anything if you have not registered the company.
In any case, these can be deducted under “side hustle” (activité accessoire in French in your tax declaration). You will need to provide an account statement of all your income and expenses and then you can deduct the net amount.
There may be rules against that since some people could use that technique to deduct plenty of things without setting a real business. So, I do not know whether this is doable or not. Either you try and see or you ask the tax office.
Hi Baptiste,
Thank you for your reply.
If I include these amounts as deductions and some of them turn out to be non-deductible, could this lead to legal issues? In other words, is it illegal to claim deductions for expenses that are not actually deductible? Would this be considered a violation or a tax offense with legal consequences?
As long as you do that in goodwill, you should be good. You are allowed mistakes, but not trying to game the system.
If you try to lie on deductions that actually did not happen (like claiming maintenance on your house that you did not do), you can end up in legal trouble.
Hello Baptiste,
Thanks for the great resource!
“If your spouse does not work, you can deduct 2600 CHF from your taxable income.”
-> In Vaud, under what category / section name would this deduction be concretely?
Hi Jean
In Vaud, this seems to be called “Double activité des conjoints” and the deduction seems to be only 1700 CHF.
I will update the article to mention that the deduction varies.
Hi Baptiste,
Thanks a lot for your reply!
Like many others, I am immensely grateful for your blog as it answers many questions that I had, why don’t you add a donation section to help you with it?
Best of luck to you and your family
Hi Jean,
I am glad my blog is helpful!
There is such a link on the about page. It’s really not necessary, if you have learned something and improved your finances, this is good enough for me :)
I didn’t understand the couple reduction when both works.
If both spouses are working, you are entitled to a reduction in taxable income. This deduction is 50% of the lowest of the two incomes, but with a minimum of 8100 CHF and a maximum of 13’400 CHF.