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The preparation of the salary certificate involves a couple of pitfalls. We have summarized the usual disputed issues in the following blog article.

Note: Before you can create the wage statements, the following reconciliations must be carried out:

  • Each individual wage statement must be checked with the wage recapitulation for each employee. It must be ensured that no wage types appear in the wage recapitulations that are not shown in the wage statements.
  • The ‘Company’ wage recapitulation must be reconciled with the personnel expenses in the income statement. This FIBU-LOBU reconciliation is also required by the auditors during AHV/SVA audits.
  • The payroll transit account must be checked (if the balance is not balanced after the wage payments have been made, you must know why or transfer it accordingly (e.g. to a current account)).

1. Free transportation between place of residence and place of work (F)

If transportation is provided free of charge (provision of a company car), box F must be ticked.

The F box must also be ticked if the employee is provided with a GA travelcard used for business reasons. The situation is different if there is no business necessity. In this case, the GA travelcard must be declared at market value in section 2.3 of the salary statement and box F must not be ticked.

The reimbursement of a half-fare travelcard does not have to be certified.

2. Canteen catering / lunch-checks (G)

If the company offers discounted canteen meals or lunch checks, this must be declared in field G. Box G must also be ticked if the (additional) costs for a main meal away from home are paid in the form of expense allowances for at least half of the working days for a sales representative or an employee with tasks similar to those of a sales representative. This has an impact on the possible deduction of professional expenses in the employee’s tax return.

3. Benefits of the unemployment fund / daily allowances / Compensation for loss of earnings (maternity, military)

These following benefits must be declared in the salary certificate under paragraph 7 “Other benefits”:

  • Daily allowances from health, accident and disability insurance, provided they are not declared under item 1. → Please note: If these daily allowances are declared in item 1, the type and duration of the benefit must be indicated in item 15 (Remarks).
  • Unemployment insurance benefits
  • Benefits from the EO. This also includes daily allowances for maternity and paternity.

4. Participation rights

Freely available employee shareholdings (e.g. shares and/or options, etc.) are included in taxable income and must be declared in the salary statement under item 5. A supplementary sheet with details must also be attached to the salary statement.

The taxable earned income received by the employee in the corresponding calendar year from employee shareholdings (e.g. shares and/or options, etc.) must be stated in this field. The taxable salary component is the difference between the market value and the issue price.

5. Child, family and birth allowances

Family allowances must be declared under item 1 in the salary statement and the amount of child allowances included in the gross salary can be stated voluntarily under item 15 (remarks).

If family allowances are not paid by the employer but directly by the compensation fund, a note must be made in the salary statement under item 15.

6. Contributions to vocational education and training

In section 13.3, all actual remuneration paid by the employer for job-related training and further education must be stated (actual invoices issued in the name of the employee). Remuneration paid directly to third parties is not to be reported.

Costs paid by the employer for non-job-related training courses must be certified in section 3.

7. Remunerations for commuting to work

If the employee is paid commuting costs, this amount must be declared under item 2.3. In this case, no cross must be placed in field F.

If the employee can use the company car for the commute to work, a private share must be declared under item 2.2 and no cross must be placed in field F either. (Simplest method of calculating the private share of the business vehicle: monthly declaration of 0.9% of the net purchase price of the vehicle). You can find more details in the following FTA documentation: “Extended flat-rate taxation of the private use of business vehicles (german only)”

8. Expense reimbursements

Allowances for reimbursement of expenses (not a gross salary component) must be stated under items 13.1 and 13.2.

  • Effective expenses (incl. expenses paid via the company credit card).
  • There is no obligation to declare if the employee has a travel activity and the expenses were reimbursed against receipt. In this case, a cross (X) is placed in section 13.1.1. of the salary statement.
  • If there is no travel activity and/or no approved expense regulations, the travel, meal and accommodation expenses that have been reimbursed effectively and against receipt must be stated in terms of amount.
  • In section 13.1.2, all other actual expenses are stated, e.g. compensation for costs for an external workplace with the note “Expenses for external workplace”
  • Lump-sum expenses (for a specific period of time, e.g. monthly car or entertainment expenses)
  • Expense reimbursements within the framework of approved expense regulations require a note under item 15 (remarks)

Expense allowances that are incurred before or after the actual work activity are not expense allowances but part of the salary.

Important: BYOD allowances (“Bring your own device”) are part of the relevant salary in some cantons, such as the canton of Zurich. Such allowances are therefore not comparable with mobile phone allowances, which are not taxable in a proportionate form.

9. Conversion of wages from foreign currency or cryptocurrency

Wages must always be converted at the daily exchange rate. There are only two distinctions for periodic benefits:

  • If the salary is converted monthly, then the annual salary converted in this way must be declared.
  • If the salary is not converted monthly, the gross salary in foreign currency is converted using the annual average exchange rate determined by the Swiss National Bank.

A salary payment in a cryptocurrency (payment token) is treated in the same way as a salary payment in a foreign currency. Further documentation can also be found here: FTA: “Documentation – Cryptocurrencies (german only)”

10. Other remarks

Part-time workload

For employees working part-time, a note in paragraph 15 (remarks) is requested but not mandatory.

Company car

If an employee owns a company car and works wholly or partly in the field, the employer must certify the percentage of field work in section 15.

Daily benefits

The details of the KTG employee contributions are not required.

Interruption of employment during the year

If an employee was employed several times for short periods during a year, the first day of the first employment and the last day of the last employment must be stated. The effective periods must then be listed under item 15.

11. Not to be declared services

In principle, all benefits of the employer are taxable and must be stated in the salary statement. However, there is an exception for some such as for example:

  • Half-Fare travelcards
  • Reka-Checks up to CHF 600.- per year
  • Christmas, birthday and other gifts up to CHF 500.- per event (does not apply to gifts in cash or compensation)
  • Free break catering
  • Free parking

In this case of gifts exceeding this amount, however, the full amount must be stated.

Further information can be found in the instructions for completing the 2024 salary statement (german only). For example, that a signature is not required for fully automated salary statements. Where, on the other hand, manually created salary statements must be signed. However, if subsequent additions/comments are added, the signature of the person responsible is required.

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