If your household paid a Helper in 2026, declare that year's wages to your cantonal compensation office by 30 January 2027. The date is the same in both procedures, the ordinary one and the simplified one (AHV/IV leaflet 2.01; AHV/IV leaflet 2.07). What you send, and what the office does with it, differs between them.
Your household is the employer, so the declaration is your duty. With Helpore Admin, Helpore sends it in your name. If you want to move to the simplified procedure for 2027, tell your office before the year ends. That request cannot wait for the declaration in January.
“At Helpore, our mission is to simplify the full household employment process and make it affordable for employers to manage, without losing any of the Helpers' rights.”
Gilberto de la Fuente, Director at Helpore
First, know which procedure you are in
Your compensation office settles your household's contributions in one of two procedures.
Not sure which one you are in? Ask your compensation office. Or answer the questions in our procedure finder. It shows the procedure, insurance and office that apply to your Helper. Nothing you answer leaves the page.
The ordinary procedure: declare the wages, the office settles the difference
Your household pays advance contributions during the year. After the year ends, you send a wage declaration to the compensation office. It must arrive by 30 January after the contribution year ends. For 2026, that is 30 January 2027. The office then calculates the difference between the advance contributions you paid and the definitive contributions (AHV/IV leaflet 2.01).
Many offices also take it electronically (leaflet 2.01), for example as a uniform wage report (ELM). Ask yours how.
If your wage total changes materially during the year, tell the office. Did your Helper work many more hours this autumn, or stop working for you? Tell the office now, not in the declaration.
The salary certificate (Lohnausweis) is a separate document with its own rules. Our guide to your Helper's salary certificate covers it. The free salary certificate tool fills it in for you, in your browser.
The simplified procedure: report the wage total
In the simplified procedure, you report the wage total to your compensation office by 30 January of the following year. For 2026, that means by 30 January 2027. The office then sends an invoice. You pay it within the time set in AHV/IV leaflet 2.07. The source tax in this procedure is a flat 5% (item 5 of the same leaflet).
Our guide to the simplified settlement procedure explains how it works and what happens above a limit.
If the declaration is late
In the ordinary procedure, a late declaration means you pay late interest on any differences. The rate is 5% a year (leaflet 2.01, item 9; AHVV Art. 42 para. 2).
In the simplified procedure, a household that misses the deadlines risks late interest. It also risks exclusion from the procedure (leaflet 2.07).
Send the declaration early in January. Then a question from the office still leaves you time before 30 January 2027.
December: the last month to change procedure
A move to the simplified procedure is possible only at the start of a calendar year. You tell your compensation office by the end of the year before the move (leaflet 2.07). For a move from the start of 2027, that means by the end of 2026.
Among its conditions, the simplified procedure has two yearly limits (leaflet 2.07). In 2026, the wage of each employee may not exceed CHF 22’680. Your household's total wages may not exceed CHF 60’480. That is twice the maximum yearly AHV old age pension.
These are the limits for 2026. Before you ask for the change, check with your office which limits apply in 2027. Also check whether your household meets the other conditions.
What to gather before the holidays
Both declarations rest on the wages you paid in 2026. Gather these papers now:
- each month's gross wage you paid your Helper in 2026, from your payslips;
- the bank or postal statements that show each wage you paid;
- the letters and invoices your compensation office sent you for 2026; in the ordinary procedure, these include the advance contributions you paid;
- your Helper's AHV number, and the date they started or stopped, if either fell in 2026.
Is a payslip missing? Our free payslip generator makes one for a month. It uses the payroll rules that applied in your canton that month.
Your office is the one for the canton where you live, not where your Helper lives. Our guide to the compensation office explains its role. The directory of cantonal compensation offices lists each office.
Was a wage from an earlier year never declared? That is a separate matter with its own deadline. See our post on registering your Helper late with AHV. If you work in a household yourself, the same post explains how to order your free individual account statement, which shows what was entered for you.
Where Helpore fits
Your household stays the employer, and the declaration stays your household's duty. You can do all of it yourself, without Helpore.
Helpore Admin Light prepares the payslips, the AHV registration pack and the annual documents. Among them is an annual wage summary with the gross wage sum to declare to the compensation office. You file and pay yourself.
With Helpore Admin, Helpore runs the registrations, the payroll, the accident insurance and the payments in your name, under your power of attorney. It also prepares the annual salary documents and sends the yearly wage declaration to your compensation office in your name.
Frequently asked questions
By when must my household declare the wages it paid a Helper in 2026?
By 30 January 2027, in both procedures. In the ordinary procedure, your wage declaration must reach your compensation office by 30 January after the contribution year ends. In the simplified procedure, you report the wage total by 30 January of the following year. Sources: AHV/IV leaflets 2.01 and 2.07.
What happens if the declaration is late?
Your household can owe late interest. In the ordinary procedure, a late declaration costs interest on any differences, at 5% a year. In the simplified procedure, a household that misses its deadlines risks late interest too. It can also be excluded from that procedure. Sources: AHV/IV leaflets 2.01 and 2.07.
How do the ordinary and the simplified procedure differ at year end?
In the ordinary procedure, you pay advance contributions during the year. After the year ends, you declare the wages. The office then calculates the difference between advance and definitive contributions. In the simplified procedure, you report the wage total once, and the office sends an invoice. The source tax is a flat 5%. Sources: AHV/IV leaflets 2.01 and 2.07.
Can my household move to the simplified procedure from 2027?
A move is possible only at the start of a calendar year. You tell your compensation office by the end of the year before. For 2027, that means by the end of 2026. Your household must also meet the conditions, among them two yearly wage limits. Ask your office which limits apply in 2027. Source: AHV/IV leaflet 2.07.
Can I send the wage declaration electronically?
Yes, if your compensation office accepts it. Many do, according to AHV/IV leaflet 2.01, for example as a uniform wage report (ELM). Ask the office of your canton which form or portal it uses. Send it early in January. Then you have time to answer any question from the office before 30 January 2027.
Official sources
- AHV/IV leaflet 2.01, as at 1 January 2026 (German, read 3 Nov 2026)
- AHV/IV leaflet 2.07, including item 5, as at 1 January 2026, edition November 2025 (German, read 3 Nov 2026)
- Directory of the cantonal compensation offices, Informationsstelle AHV/IV (German, read 2 Sep 2026)
- AHVV, Art. 42 (German, read 1 Nov 2026)