Swiss household employment
Lohnausweis: the annual salary certificate
Also written: Lohnausweis · Certificat de salaire · Certificato di salario
What is a Lohnausweis?
The Lohnausweis is the official annual certificate (form 11) showing what an employee earned and what was deducted. In the ordinary settlement procedure the employer issues one every year, and the employee needs it for the tax return. Under the simplified settlement procedure none is needed: the compensation office confirms the tax withheld instead.
What it means if you employ someone at home
If you settle in the ordinary procedure, you issue one per calendar year for the person who worked in your home, even for a few hours a week, with the gross wage, the deductions and any allowances in kind such as board and lodging. Depending on the canton a copy also goes to the tax office, in the canton of Bern for example for employees resident there, by the end of January. If you use the simplified procedure, you withhold the flat tax of 5 % and pay it to the compensation office, which gives the employee a confirmation of the tax paid; the wage is then taxed. In both procedures every wage payment comes with a written payslip.
You are the employer. With Helpore Admin, Helpore prepares a contract if you want one and, under your signed power of attorney, files the declarations and produces the payslip in your name; with Admin Light, Helpore prepares the maths and the documents and you file and pay. Both are optional. You stay the employer in every case and can also do all of this yourself.
Common questions
Do I need to issue one for a cleaner who comes a few hours a week?
Only in the ordinary procedure, and there even for a few hours a week: the duty follows the employment, not the number of hours. Under the simplified procedure you do not need one.
What if I used the simplified settlement procedure?
Then you do not issue a Lohnausweis. The procedure is open when the wage per person is at most CHF 22’680 and the household's total payroll at most CHF 60’480 a year. The compensation office issues the confirmation of the tax withheld, the employee adds it to the tax return, and the income is not taxed again in the ordinary procedure.