Save taxes: The 12 best tips from professionals in practice

Saving taxes: Good tax planning as a basis for maximum deductions

Optimize income and retirement provision

Although the income situation is not always strictly predictable, most employed people, but also self-employed people, will earn more as they get older. Sometimes, however, there are also planned phases in life, e.g. travel, parental leave, a sabbatical or a longer training course, which can cause gaps in contributions in the prevention and can be offset later. In tax terms, this means a smoothing of income and a reduction in progressive taxes. 

When you retire, you will receive capital and/or pensions, which are then taxed. Despite reduced tax rates, these steps should be planned and staggered in order to save several tens of thousands of francs.

Planning your home for the long term

Buying one home Ownership should be planned for the long term. It should be remembered that the home will be sold, given away or inherited. In addition to the annual tax advantages, this also has consequences when property gains tax or inheritance tax is due. These can be greatly reduced or completely avoided through forward-looking planning. Tax planning also supports the documentation of investments and renovations.

family and household

The constellation of household income can be taxed very differently. Marriage or cohabitation mainly determines the tax rates and tax progression. But clever temporal distribution also makes a difference. This means that income and expenses can be spread over several years.

As with income, not everything can be planned; certain events, such as children moving out, can be planned for tax purposes and are also regulated by law.

self-employed and entrepreneurs

There are around 600 companies in Switzerland. Most of them are micro or SME companies. Even as a self-employed person, the question arises as to whether it would not be advantageous to split income between private tax returns and company income. Wages and dividends from legal entities must be considered separately and also have the potential to optimise the overall tax burden. Together with the SimpleFinancepartners can Simpletax also advise and assist with implementation.

Save taxes every year: The maximum deductions

The Swiss tax system offers a wide range of deductions for all types of taxes. In order to make full use of all of them, we recommend that you submit the annual tax service at Simpletax to achieve your goal quickly with little effort and cost. The deductions are briefly explained by category below. 

General deductions

Many small amounts such as donations, party donations, dental costs or medical costs can be deducted with receipts or sometimes as a lump sum. Taken together, these are significant amounts that should not be given away.

Expenses and deductions for children

In principle, families receive tax relief. In addition, childcare costs can also be deducted.

Saving Taxes for Professionals

Costs for professional expenses, travel to work or training and further education can be claimed. There are rules for flat rates here.

Deductions for your home and other properties

If you own a house or an apartment, this offers many opportunities to deduct maintenance costs from income tax and the imputed rental value. Due to the usually low tax assessment of the value of a property, owning property also has a positive effect on wealth tax.

Saving taxes with Pillar 3a

Save taxes with a Pillar 3a deduction and clarify a purchase in the 2nd Pillar early!

Make sure to on the tax return that you can have filled out next yearto be able to claim the deduction.

Important: this requires proof from the bank or insurance company that the payment was made before 31.12. has been made. Many banks require a deposit before December 23.12rd for processing!

For the tax year 2023, the maximum amount of Pillar 3a for persons with a pension fund connection new CHF 7’056 You can claim this in full as a deduction from your income. Are you self-employed and have no pension fund, you can even deduct CHF 35 or a maximum of 280% of your net income.

In addition to taxes, a lot of money can also be saved by choosing the right products. Especially with Pillar 3a, the trend is no longer to have a savings account, but to invest in an investment. The obvious problem with this is the high fees. In some cases, these can even exceed the tax savings. Below we have put together a comparison of the most important offers with low fees:

	fees	Sustainability	paperless processing	investment strategy
investment product at a bank	typically 1.5 – 2.5%	partially	no	all possibilities
bank account	0%, possible fees	no	no	no
frankly	0.45% - 0.48%	partially	App	5 strategies active and indexed
Yapeal	0.42% - 0.47%	no	App	Conservative, Balanced
VIAC	to 0.52%	partially	app, web browser	Global, Switzerland, sustainable, own
Selma	0.69% - 0.9%	partially	app, web browser	6 strategies
Descartes' precaution	0.65% - 0.80%	ja	Web browser	minimum variance, sustainable
finpension	0.39%.	partially	app, web browser	Global, Switzerland, sustainable, own
Inyova	0.80%.	ja	app, web browser	personalized
True Wealth	0.15% - 0.25%	partially	app, web browser	Global, sustainable, own

As you can see, digital products are not only easy to process, they are also often significantly cheaper. In addition to fees, performance and the overall offering must also be right. But here the products are very similar. 

Save taxes with pension provision (2nd pillar)

The biggest savings in pension provision: purchasing into the pension fund

If you have a pension fund, you can also apply for a purchase from the respective fund (if there are gaps in contributions) and thus save even more taxes. Clarify the purchase with your pension fund or your employer. The human resources department (HR) or those responsible for accounting can usually provide information.

self-employed persons without a second pillar

Self-employed people without a pension fund can pay into the 3rd pillar up to the maximum amount or 20% of net earned income.

AHV contributions (1st pillar)

These can be paid retroactively for up to 5 years if there are gaps due to stays abroad or during early retirement. These retroactive payments are tax deductible. If AHV contributions are paid with wages, they are excluded from income tax when the net wage is declared.

News and Legal Basis

While the 3rd pillar is voluntary and thus a additional source of tax savings is the 2nd pillar in the BVG regulated and mandatory. Both pillars complement the 1st pillar, which AHV/IV. Legislative changes to AHV, BVG and occupational pensions in general are regularly published by the federal governmentIn all cases, a free initial consultation is worthwhile in the pension advice.