Zurich tax deductions 2025: the full list, with caps

Key takeaways

• Zurich tax deductions are published in the cantonal guide (WegleitungWegleitungOfficial filing instructionsFRinstructionsITistruzioniThe canton's own guide to completing the return, published each tax year. Authoritative and, in Zurich, German only.Where you see itPublished on zh.ch alongside the year's forms.Open in the glossary →), in German, and the federal and cantonal caps rarely match: you claim against both, at different amounts. Every pair is in the quick table below.
• The commute gap is the widest: CHF 5,200 cantonal against CHF 3,300 federal.
• Illness costs only count above 5% of net income, while disability-related costs are deductible in full, with no threshold.
• Reclaim the anticipatory tax by declaring the income. You lose it only by leaving the dividend or interest off the return.
• Pillar 2 and 3a are not taxed as wealth while they are locked away. The withdrawal is taxed instead, at a reduced rate.

Which deductions apply anywhere in Switzerland?

• CHF 7,258Pillar 3a, with a pension fundFederal, identical in all 26 cantons
• CHF 6,000Asset management3‰ of third-party-managed securities
• CHF 25,000Childcare, per childfederal CHF 25,800

These deductions apply in every canton, and expats miss them most.

• Reclaim the 35% withholding tax (VerrechnungssteuerVerrechnungssteuerSwiss anticipatory taxFRimpôt anticipéITimposta preventivaA tax withheld on certain Swiss investment income, including dividends and taxable interest, at a rate of 35%. Swiss residents can generally reclaim it by properly declaring both the assets and their income and meeting the refund conditions.Where you see itOn Swiss bank and broker statements, next to each dividend or interest payment.Open in the glossary →). It is a deposit, not a loss: declare the Swiss dividend or interest income and the full 35% is normally credited or refunded. You lose it only by leaving it off the return.
• Pillar 3a comes straight off your income, up to CHF 7,258 with a pension fund, and the money must land within the calendar year. See the pillar 3a guide.
• Donations to recognised Swiss charities, from CHF 100 a year up to 20% of net income.
• Illness and accident costs (Krankheits- und Unfallkosten), but only the part above 5% of your net income.
• Disability-related costs (behinderungsbedingte Kosten) are separate: deductible in full, with no franchise, on their own line of the return.
• Pillar 2 and 3a are not taxed as wealth while locked away. Withdrawal is taxed instead, at a reduced rate.

Employment deductions in Zurich

The everyday work-related deductions (Berufsauslagen). Two things cause mistakes: federal and cantonal caps differ, and some apply automatically.

Getting to work (Fahrkosten)

Public transport at actual cost. A car replaces it only where there is no reasonable transit option or where it saves more than an hour a day, and a company car generally removes the deduction. Zurich allows a flat bicycle deduction of CHF 700, though claiming it alongside a transport pass is contested. Days at home are not commute days: a full-year pass stays deductible at cost, but a per-day claim must match the days travelled.

Lunch away from home (Verpflegungsmehrkosten)

Only if you cannot get home for the midday meal. Days you work from home do not count.

Other work costs (the lump sum, Pauschalabzug)

Tools, professional literature, a home-office corner, work clothing. Applied automatically, no receipts. Itemise actual costs only if they clearly exceed the lump sum, and document them.

Insurance premiums (Versicherungsabzug)

Childcare (Kinderbetreuungskosten)

Third-party childcare while you work or train: up to CHF 25,000 per child in Zurich, CHF 25,800 federally. The child must be under 14 and in your household. You claim what you actually paid and can show.

Separate from the child deduction (KinderabzugKinderabzugChild deductionFRdéduction pour enfantITdeduzione per figliA flat deduction per child, separate from childcare costs. CHF 9,300 per child in Zurich for 2025, rising to CHF 9,400 for 2026.Where you see itUnder social deductions in the return.Open in the glossary →): CHF 9,300 per child cantonal, rising to CHF 9,400 from 2026, and CHF 6,800 federal.

Further education (Weiterbildung)

Job-related training: up to CHF 12,400 in Zurich, CHF 13,000 federally. Your first qualifying degree, up to the first upper-secondary diploma, does not count: the deduction is for staying current or retraining, not for initial education.

The quick table (tax year 2025, Canton Zurich)

Deduction	Canton Zurich	Federal
Commute cap	CHF 5,200	CHF 3,300
Meals away	CHF 15/day, max 3,200 (½ if subsidised)	same
Other work costs	3% of net salary, CHF 2,000–4,000	same
Insurance premiums	married 5,800 / single 2,900 / +1,300 per child	married 3,700 / single 1,800 / +700 per child
Childcare	CHF 25,000 per child	CHF 25,800 per child
Further education	CHF 12,400	CHF 13,000

What is the flat asset-management deduction?

If a third party administers and holds your securities, Zurich lets you deduct the cost, with a flat option that needs no totals from your statements.

• 3‰ (0.3%) of the tax value of third-party-managed securities, capped at CHF 6,000.

It applies to securities, not cash: loans and bank balances of every kind are excluded. It covers safekeeping and administration by a third party, plus a third party drawing up your securities schedule. On a CHF 200,000 portfolio the flat 3‰ is CHF 600. Claim actual costs instead if they are higher and documented, but pick one method for the whole period.

The base is securities administered by a third party, and the cantonal instruction says plainly that no deduction is available where you administer your assets yourself. Whether a self-directed custody-only account at a low-cost broker falls inside that base is not settled by the text, so ask your municipal tax office (GemeindesteueramtGemeindesteueramtMunicipal tax officeITufficio fiscale comunale (GR only)Your municipality's tax office, which handles individual filings in Zurich. It is usually the right first contact, not the cantonal office.Where you see itThe sender of your filing notice and assessment.Open in the glossary →) before claiming it. CHF 6,000 is the ceiling at any portfolio size. The CHF 2 million figure that circulates belongs to a different rule, for actual costs billed as one fee you cannot split.

Deductible

• Safekeeping and custody of securities by a bank or manager
• Ongoing administration of what you hold
• A third party drawing up your securities schedule
• Preparing foreign-tax refund and credit claims

Not deductible

• Buying and selling costs: commissions, fees, brokerage (Courtage)
• Transaction stamp duty (Umsatzabgabe)
• Issue duty (Emissionsabgabe)
• Financial and investment advice, fixed or performance-based

The line is ongoing administration of what you hold, not the cost of transacting.

Zurich-only specifics

Particular to Zurich, and costing time rather than money:

• ZHprivateTax is German-only. Expats lose hours working out which figure from a salary certificate or broker statement goes in which box.
• For a large portfolio use the file import, not the barcode. The barcode was built for short bank statements and fails on long position lists; the XML import handles them.
• Only one ordinary-assessment trigger is automatic; the rest you must ask for. Taxed at source, the canton moves you to an ordinary return (nachträgliche ordentliche Veranlagung, NOV) by itself at CHF 120,000 gross employment income. Zurich's other triggers make the return compulsory, but nobody sends you one: request it by 31 March (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 → Art. 89a), or the year is lost. See Quellensteuer: should you file a return?
• The deadline is 31 March 2026 for the 2025 return, and an extension has to be requested before it passes. How to get one.

First time filing here? The first Zurich tax return guide walks the whole sequence.

Other things people miss

• Church tax (KirchensteuerKirchensteuerChurch taxFRimpôt ecclésiastiqueITimposta di cultoA tax collected for a recognised church, charged on top of cantonal and municipal tax if you are registered as a member. Leaving the church ends it.Where you see itIts own line on the assessment, beside cantonal and municipal tax.Open in the glossary →) is optional: charged only if you are registered with a recognised church. Formally leaving stops it.
• Keep last year's return. It carries values forward and is the easiest way to spot an omission.

Two deductions have their own guide: the insurance premiums people leave empty, and how the caps compare across the 26 cantons.

Common questions

How much is the commute deduction in Zurich?

For the 2025 cantonal return, commuting costs up to CHF 5,200; the federal cap is CHF 3,300. Public transport is deducted at actual cost, a car only in limited cases, at CHF 0.70 per kilometre.

What can I deduct for childcare in Zurich?

Third-party childcare that lets you work or train: CHF 25,000 per child cantonally, CHF 25,800 federally. Separate from the child deduction, CHF 9,300 in Zurich.

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 — Wegleitung 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 → 2025 (the official filing guide): every cantonal cap on this page, plus the NOV thresholds and the 31 March deadline — zh.ch
2. Canton Zurich — Wegleitung zur Steuererklärung 2026: the 2026 figures quoted here (CHF 0.75/km, child deduction CHF 9,400, pillar 3a catch-up buy-ins) — zh.ch
3. Zürcher Steuerbuch ZStB 30.1 — the cantonal instruction on deducting securities administration costs (the flat 3‰, the CHF 6,000 cap, and what is excluded) — zh.ch
4. DBG (SR 642.11) — Art. 26 commute cap, Art. 33 para. 1 lit. j further education, Art. 33 para. 3 childcare, Art. 89 and 89a on the NOV — fedlex.admin.ch
5. Berufskostenverordnung (SR 642.118.1) — the federal flat rates for meals, other work costs and private-vehicle use — fedlex.admin.ch
6. Verrechnungssteuergesetz (SR 642.21), Art. 13 para. 1 lit. a — the 35% rate — fedlex.admin.ch
7. BVG (SR 831.40), Art. 79b para. 3 — the three-year rule after a pension buy-in — fedlex.admin.ch
8. Federal Council media release of 1 April 2026 — the decision to bring the residential-property taxation reform (Wohneigentumsbesteuerung, which abolishes the imputed rental value) into force on 1 January 2029 — admin.ch. The EFDEFDThe Federal Department of FinanceFRDFFEidgenössisches Finanzdepartement: the government department the Federal Tax Administration sits inside. It issues the ordinances that set things like interest rates on late and early payments.Where you see itNamed as the issuing department on a federal ordinance or a rate announcement.Open in the glossary → topic page is background and does not itself carry the date.