Your first Zurich tax return: documents, deadlines and steps (2025)

Key takeaways

• Your first Zurich tax return is mostly a document-collection job. The hard part is knowing which papers you need, and when they arrive.
• Most documents reach you in January and February. The return is due 31 March.
• Taxed at source, three thresholds force an ordinary return, and only the CHF 120,000 employment-income one reaches you by itself. The other two you request yourself by 31 March, a date that cannot be extended.
• The salary certificate is the document people double-count: fields 9 and 10 are already subtracted inside the net salary on field 11, and field 11 is the number the return wants.
• The canton you live in on 31 December taxes your whole year. Property in another canton and a pillar 2 or 3a lump sum are the two exceptions.

Whether you have to file at all

With a C permit, Swiss citizenship or a Swiss spouse you file an ordinary return like any resident. If you are taxed at source (QuellensteuerQuellensteuerTax at source (withholding tax on salary)FRimpôt à la sourceITimposta alla fonteTax your employer deducts from each salary payment and pays to the canton for you. The rate is a cantonal average that assumes standard deductions, so it ignores your individual ones.Where you see itA deduction line on your monthly payslip, and a total on the salary certificate.Open in the glossary →, tax withheld from your salary; most B and L permits), you may not have to file at all. Three thresholds override that, and they behave differently.

• CHF 120,000Gross employment incomeFederal. The canton moves you across and sends you a return
• CHF 3,000Income your employer does not withhold onCantonal. Dividends, interest, rent, a side business
• CHF 80,000WealthCantonal. CHF 160,000 for a jointly taxed couple

Only the CHF 120,000 trigger is visible to the canton. Cross either cantonal one and the return is compulsory, but nobody writes to you: you request it yourself by 31 March, and that date cannot be extended. If you wait for a notice that never comes, you lose the year.

Below every threshold you may still want to file, for deductions source tax cannot give you. See Quellensteuer: should you file?

Three situations have their own guide: your first return after a C permit, the year you moved canton, and anything you own outside Switzerland.

The documents you need

A Swiss tax return is built from documents. Gather the right ones and filing is mostly transcription. Most arrive unasked, so knowing when they come lets you start in January instead of March.

Document	Who sends it	Typically arrives	You have to ask?
Tax filing notice + access code	Canton of Zurich	January	No
Salary certificate (Lohnausweis)	Your employer	January–February	No
Pillar 3a certificate (Bescheinigung)	Your 3a provider	January	No
Insurance premium statement	Your health insurer	January–February	No
Swiss bank / securities statement (eSteuerauszug)	Your bank	January–March	Sometimes. A few charge, or send it only on request
Mortgage interest statement	Your lender	January–February	No
Foreign broker export	Nobody. You generate it	Available from early January	Yes, always
Childcare and further-education invoices	The provider, during the year	Collect as you go	Yes, keep them

Download the foreign-broker export from your broker’s website. Check that it covers the tax year you are filing.

Income

Your employer sends a salary certificate (LohnausweisLohnausweisSalary certificateFRcertificat de salaireITcertificato di salarioYour employer’s annual statement of your salary, benefits and deductions. You normally receive one from each employer and use it to enter employment income in the return.Where you see itSent by your employer in January or February.Open in the glossary →) for each job. Several fields are subtotals that are already included in the totals below them. Use the printed field numbers to check which amount belongs in the return and avoid counting a contribution twice.

• 1Base salaryCheck itOnly part of the total; fields 2 to 7 add the rest
• 8Gross salary totalCheck itThe sum of 1 to 7, before any deduction
• 9Social insurance (AHVAHVState pension contributionsFRAVSSwitzerland's first-pillar state pension. Contributions come off your salary automatically and are already reflected in the net figure on your salary certificate.Where you see itA deduction line on the payslip and at ch. 9 of the Lohnausweis.Open in the glossary →/IV/EO/ALV/NBUV)IgnoreSubtracted from 8 to reach 11, so entering it again double-counts
• 10Pillar 2 contributions (BVG)IgnoreAlso subtracted from 8 to reach 11
• 11Net salaryUse itThe number the return wants; the form itself says to carry it over
• 12Tax deducted at sourceUse itCredited against what you owe, so it is never lost
• 13.1Business travel, meals and accommodation reimbursedCheck itExpense reimbursement, not your commute
• 15RemarksCheck itWhere a company car or a lump-sum allowance is disclosed

What cuts your commute deduction is the tick-box near the top for free transport between home and work, not field 13.1. The box beside it does the same to the meal deduction. Pillar 3a never appears here: it is a private contract, so that deduction comes from your provider's certificate.

Then, each with its own certificate: pension or annuity statements (AHV, pension fund), wage-replacement attestations (unemployment, daily-sickness benefit, loss of earnings), and self-employment accounts.

Securities and bank accounts

Deductions (the money-savers)

Two more things to have ready: last year's return and assessment, which carries values forward, and your AHV number, civil status and children's details. Zurich sets its own caps: see Zurich deductions.

How does ZHprivateTax work?

You file through ZHprivateTax at zh.ch: online, no signature, PDFs attached, and German only. The language is the main obstacle for newcomers, and browser auto-translate covers it.

The flow follows your documents:

1. Income. Salary from the Lohnausweis, plus pensions and wage-replacement benefits. Pillar 2 (BVG/LPP) is already inside the net salary, so do not add it again.
2. Wealth and investment income. Bank balances at 31 December, plus securities. A Swiss eSteuerauszugeSteuerauszugElectronic tax statementFRrelevé fiscal électroniqueITestratto fiscale elettronicoAn electronic securities tax statement in the Swiss eCH-0196 format. Importing it into a compatible cantonal app fills in holdings and income. Check the imported values before submitting. Swiss banks commonly offer this statement; foreign broker exports may need conversion.Where you see itDownloaded from your Swiss bank's e-banking, usually from January.Open in the glossary → imports directly; a foreign-broker statement you assemble yourself, reclaiming foreign dividend tax via the DA-1DA-1Foreign withholding tax claim formFRformulaire DA-1 (imputation d'impôts étrangers prélevés à la source)ITmodulo DA-1 (computo di imposte alla fonte)The form that claims back the foreign tax already withheld on your foreign dividends and interest. It is filed with the securities schedule, and only once your total non-recoverable foreign tax passes CHF 100.Where you see itA separate sheet attached to the Wertschriftenverzeichnis in the tax software.Open in the glossary → form. See declaring foreign securities.
3. Deductions. Pillar 3a, commute, meals, insurance, childcare, further education. Most of your refund comes from here, so do not rush it; the Zurich amounts are in Zurich tax deductions and tips.
4. Check and submit. Compare each figure against its document, attach the PDFs, submit. Keep the return and the assessment: next year starts from them.

What are the deadlines?

1. 1Documents arriveJanuary and February 2026
2. 2Return due31 March 2026
3. 3Automatic extension for some groupsto 30 September 2026
4. 4Extension on request, before the deadlineto 30 November 2026 at the latest
5. 5Assessment arrivesmonths later, sometimes years

Moving canton during the year

None of these applies. The canton (and municipality) you are resident in on 31 December taxes your whole year: wealth valued at year-end, income never split, one return.

Property in another canton is the exception. A flat or house you own outside your canton of residence is taxed where it stands, for the whole tax period, and the two cantons apportion your income and wealth between them (StHGStHGThe cantonal tax harmonisation actFRLHIDITLAIDSteuerharmonisierungsgesetz: the act that tells all 26 cantons which taxes they must levy and how the rules must be shaped. It sets the frame; each canton still fixes its own rates and many of its own deduction ceilings inside it.Where you see itIn citations as StHG Art. 13 or similar, usually beside the DBG article covering the same point federally.Open in the glossary → Art. 4b para. 2). That means a second return, not one.

Instalments already paid to the canton you left are refunded to you with interest, separately from the new canton's bill and often months apart. A pillar 2 or 3a lump sum is the other exception: taxed where you lived on the day it fell due, at a reduced rate. A monthly pension is not: that follows the 31 December rule like any other income.

Common questions

Do I have to file a tax return in Zurich?

With a C permit, Swiss citizenship or a Swiss spouse, yes. Taxed at source, generally not, until one of three thresholds is crossed. Only the CHF 120,000 one reaches you by itself; the other two you request by 31 March, a date that cannot be extended.

When is the Zurich tax return deadline?

For natural persons, 31 March of the year after the tax period, so the 2025 return is due 31 March 2026.

Sources

The sources below support the tax figures and rules discussed in this guide. Follow the links to check the original guidance and its scope.

1. Canton Zurich — tax return for natural persons, filing and extensions (zh.ch)
2. Finance Directorate directive on the tax-return procedure — the 31 March deadline (G.I.1), the automatic extension to 30 September for self-employed residents and out-of-canton L- und B-Fälle (G.II.1), the on-request extension, granted "at most" (längstens) to 30 November, and the silent approval of first-time requests (G.II.2), and the 10-day reminder period (G.IV.4). Issued 12 November 2025, in force from 1 January 2026 (ZStB 132.1, zh.ch)
3. Canton Zurich — the public call to file (öffentliche Aufforderung zur SteuererklärungSteuererklärungTax returnFRdéclaration d'impôtITdichiarazione d'impostaThe return itself: the whole set of forms you complete and submit for one tax year. What the canton sends you, and what its software fills in.Where you see itThe title on the letter the canton sends, and the name of the cantonal app.Open in the glossary →). The canton republishes this page every tax period, so it prints the deadline for the period then current and not the one for 2025; the 31 March 2026 date comes from notes 2 and 5. Cited here only for the parts that carry no year: the 30-day and 60-day periods when tax liability ends (A.II), and the CHF 120,000 / 80,000 / 160,000 / 3,000 thresholds for a subsequent ordinary assessment (nachträgliche ordentliche Veranlagung) together with the "at the earliest one month before departure" rule (A.III) (ZStB 133.1, zh.ch)
4. Canton Zurich — directive for returns when tax liability ends mid-year (ZStB 132.2, zh.ch)
5. Canton Zurich — official guide to the 2025 return (form 305): the 31 March 2026 deadline and the document list, page 7 (zh.ch, PDF)
6. persons taxed at source and NOV thresholds (zh.ch)
7. request a subsequent ordinary assessment — 31 March, non-extendable (zh.ch)
8. Federal direct tax act (DBGDBGThe federal income tax actFRLIFDBundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer: the act that governs federal income tax for the whole country. Almost every federal rule a guide cites comes from here, which is why the abbreviation appears so often beside an article number.Where you see itIn citations, as DBG Art. 33 or similar. French and Italian sources call the same act LIFD.Open in the glossary →/LIFD) Art. 89a — the 31 March request deadline, the earlier cut-off at deregistration, and that the ordinary assessment then runs until source-tax liability ends; Art. 119 para. 1 — deadlines set by the statute itself cannot be extended (fedlex.admin.ch)
9. Withholding tax act (VStGVStGThe withholding tax actFRLIAITLIPVerrechnungssteuergesetz: the act behind the 35% Swiss withholding tax on dividends and interest, and behind your right to reclaim it by declaring the income.Where you see itIn citations as VStG Art. 13 or similar, wherever the 35% rate is quoted.Open in the glossary →/LIA) Art. 13 para. 1 lit. a — the 35% rate on Swiss investment income (fedlex.admin.ch)
10. Tax Harmonisation Act (StHG/LHID) Art. 4b — on a move within Switzerland the canton of residence at the end of the period taxes the whole period, except that lump-sum pension payments (Kapitalleistungen) are taxed where you lived when they fell due (para. 1); a nexus in another canton, such as property, lasts the whole period and income and wealth are apportioned between the cantons (para. 2) — fedlex.admin.ch
11. ESTVESTVThe Federal Tax AdministrationFRAFCEidgenössische Steuerverwaltung: the federal tax authority. It publishes the forms, leaflets and price lists the cantons and your tax software work from, but it is not the office that assesses you: that is your canton.Where you see itNamed as the publisher on federal forms, leaflets and the Kursliste.Open in the glossary → — federal forms and guides for direct federal tax — estv.admin.ch
12. City of Zurich — extension practice: a first extension is "as a rule" granted to 30 September, and a further request before that date expires is what reaches 30 November — stadt-zuerich.ch