Swiss household employment
Quellensteuer: withholding tax on wages
Also written: Quellensteuer · Impôt à la source · Imposta alla fonte
What is the Quellensteuer?
The Quellensteuer (impôt à la source in French) is income tax deducted directly from the wage rather than billed later. It applies to foreign nationals resident in Switzerland without a settlement permit, and to certain people who live abroad. Swiss nationals and settlement permit holders are taxed in the ordinary procedure instead.
What it means if you employ someone at home
If the person you employ is taxed at source, you deduct the tax from their wage and settle it with your cantonal tax authority at the cantonal tariff. Under the simplified settlement procedure the tax is discharged at a flat rate instead.
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.
Source tax when your household employs a Helper
Your household can settle the tax on your Helper's wage in one of two ways. In the simplified procedure, which your household may choose while the wages stay within its limits, your household deducts a flat 5 % of the gross wage and pays it once a year with the contributions to the compensation office. Otherwise, tax is deducted only for a Helper taxed at source, at a cantonal tariff.
Taxed at source are usually foreign nationals living in Switzerland without a settlement (C) permit, and certain people living abroad. Among people living in Switzerland, Swiss citizens and holders of a C permit are taxed in the ordinary procedure.
In Geneva, outside the simplified procedure, a Helper under the age the canton sets is taxed at source whatever the Helper's nationality; the Geneva page says who.
Simplified procedure
Your household may choose it when each Helper earns at most CHF 22’680.00 a year, all the wages your household pays come to at most CHF 60’480.00, and every Helper's wage is settled in it. It does not cover wages paid to your spouse or children.
In the simplified procedure the income tax is a flat 5 % of the gross wage, 0.5 % federal and 4.5 % canton and commune. Your household deducts it from your Helper's pay and pays it once a year to the compensation office, which passes it to the tax authority. Your Helper receives a certificate for her tax return. Your household remains liable for the tax.
The flat rate also applies to a Helper who is Swiss or holds a C permit.
In the simplified procedure, register with the compensation office within 30 days of your Helper's first working day, unless your household is already registered.
In the simplified procedure, declare the year's wages to the compensation office by 30 January of the following year.
The simplified procedure is not open for a Helper who lives in Liechtenstein.
Source checked on 16 October 2026: AHV/IV-Merkblatt 2.07, Stand 1.1.2026, Ziff. 5; Art. 37a DBG, ahv-iv.ch (in German).
Reporting a Helper taxed at source
Outside the simplified procedure, if your Helper is taxed at source, you deduct the tax from your Helper's pay and settle it with the source tax office.
Outside the simplified procedure, report a Helper taxed at source within 8 days of the start or of a change to the source tax office of the canton where your Helper lives. For a Helper who lives abroad, the source tax office of your household's canton is the competent one.
The tariff is that of the canton where your Helper lives, or of your household's canton for a Helper who lives abroad; there is no single national tariff.
Source checked on 16 October 2026: Art. 5 QStV, KS 45 9.2, fedlex.admin.ch.
Source tax in each canton
Each canton's page names its source tax office and the compensation office.
The numbers
Under the simplified settlement procedure:
- Per person, per year
- CHF 22’680.00
- Household payroll ceiling
- CHF 60’480.00
- Flat income tax
- 5 %
Common questions
How do I know whether to deduct it?
It follows the person's permit and residence, not the job. Ask for the permit type; a settlement permit or Swiss nationality means ordinary taxation.