The IV assistance contribution: who gets it, how to apply and when it starts paying
With the assistance contribution you employ your own help at home and the IV pays for the hours: CHF 35.30 per hour. It applies at the earliest from the month you apply. You may hire before the decision: with a written contract the IV pays those months back afterwards.
Who gets it?
Anyone with an IV helplessness allowance who lives at home.
How much?
CHF 35.30 per hour, nights as a flat rate.
From when?
From the month you apply, paid back after the decision.
Who may not help?
Partners, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren and Spitex.
Who gets the assistance contribution
The same three conditions apply to everyone. The first is the IV helplessness allowance. It has its own application and a waiting period of 1 year. Applying for it alone does not trigger a check for the assistance contribution.
- 1
IV helplessness allowance
Mild, moderate or severe. An AHV helplessness allowance is not enough.
- 2
You live at home
In a private home, not in a care home.
- 3
The need is regular
You expect to employ someone for it for more than 3 months.
For minors, in addition
One of these: a regular school class, vocational training or other upper-secondary education, at least 10 hours a week of paid work on the open labour market, or an intensive care supplement for at least 6 hours a day. Living at home here means at least 16 nights a month.
With limited legal capacity, in addition
One of these: your own household, training or education, at least 10 hours a week of paid work on the open labour market, or you already received the assistance contribution as a minor because of an intensive care supplement.
Time in an institution counts: each day and each night per week you spend there cuts the maximum hours by 10 %.
How much the IV pays
In the decision the IV office sets how many hours and nights a month it pays for. The rates are the same across Switzerland. They include the holiday pay and all social insurance contributions, yours and the assistant's.
Per hour
CHF 35.30
for help with daily life, the household and leisure
With special qualification
CHF 52.95
per hour
only for volunteering, education and training or paid work, if the IV decides so
Per night, by level
- Level 1CHF 58.85
- Level 2CHF 80.50
- Level 3CHF 122.80
- Level 4CHF 169.10
flat rate for night duty, the level from 1 to 4 is set in the decision
12 or 11 monthly amounts
The annual amount is 12 times the monthly amount. 11 times if you live with your spouse or partner or with an adult relative in the direct line who does not receive a helplessness allowance themselves. That is the typical case for children living with their parents.
At most 150 % in one month
If you need more help in one month, you may bill up to 150 % of the monthly amount. The annual amount stays the fixed limit.
No carry-over to next year
Whatever is left at the end of the year expires. Unused nights may pay for day hours, though: at level 1 that is 1.67 hours per night.
Holidays are already included
You do not bill holiday pay separately: the holiday supplement of 8.33 % is already in the rate.
How much wage that covers
After the holiday supplement and social insurance, the hourly rate covers a gross wage of about CHF 30 per hour, by our calculation from about CHF 29.75 (Vaud) to CHF 30.19 (Zurich) depending on the canton. Since 2026 the IV requires at least the minimum wage under the NAV for domestic work. If you pay more, you cover the difference yourself.
Your budget from the decision
Enter what the IV office decided. Rates for 2026.
CHF 35.30 per hour
CHF 52.95 per hour
CHF 58.85 per night
11 instead of 12 if you live with your spouse or partner or with an adult relative in the direct line, for example as a child living with your parents.
Per month
CHF 2'824.00
- 80 hrs × CHF 35.30CHF 2'824.00
- Per year
- CHF 33'888.00
- 12 monthly amounts, a fixed ceiling
- The most in one month
- CHF 4'236.00
- 150 % of the monthly amount
Whatever is left at the end of the year expires. Unused nights may pay for day hours.
Enter these figures in ClinoFrom the application to the decision
The assistance contribution does not come automatically with the helplessness allowance. You apply for it at your canton's IV office, adults with form 001.006, minors with 001.007. Enclose the self-declaration 001.200 straight away, it speeds up the assessment.
- 1
Helplessness allowance
Its own application at the IV office, waiting period 1 year. Everything else builds on it.
- From here you may hire
- 2
Applying for the assistance contribution
Form 001.006 or 001.007, plus the self-declaration 001.200. From this month on, the IV can pay later.
- 3
Assessment at your home
A specialist from the IV office visits you and records your needs with the FAKT tool. You are there.
- 4
Preliminary decision
You receive the assessment report and see how many hours and nights the IV intends to grant.
- 5
Decision
Hours and nights per month, valid from the month of application. Now you bill, back pay included.
How long it takes
There is no official deadline. The circular of the Federal Social Insurance Office gives this example, about 7 months from application to decision:
3 February
Application
10 May
Assessment at home
20 July
Preliminary decision
30 August
Decision
The entitlement still applies from February, the month of application.
When you can hire, and when Clino helps
From the first employment contract. And that may come before the decision.
The IV pays at the earliest from the month you applied. Once the decision is in, you bill back to the start of that month, provided the application is no more than 12 months old. Until then you pay the wages yourself: the IV office only accepts invoices after the decision. You have two options.
Hire early
- You have help right away, not months later.
- After the decision the IV pays those months back, up to the amount decided.
- Condition: written employment contracts signed by both sides, and you are registered as an employer with the compensation fund.
- Risk: if the IV says no, you carry the wages yourself. The same goes for anything above the amount decided.
- In the canton of Vaud the IV office only pays back if the wages for that period were already declared to the compensation fund and paid.
Clino from the first contract
Wait for the decision
- No risk: you know how many hours the IV pays for.
- You register with the compensation fund after the preliminary decision, as the SVA Zurich recommends, for example.
- Months without an employed assistant are not paid afterwards.
Clino from the first contract
Bill the past months right after the decision: every invoice must reach the IV office no later than 12 months after the help.
Who may be your assistant
A person you employ with a written employment contract. For children or under a deputyship, the legal representative does the hiring. Only the closest circle is excluded.
Not allowed
- Spouse, registered partner, cohabiting partner
- Parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren
- Step-parents and foster parents, step- and foster grandparents too
- Your legal representative, for example your deputy (Beistand)
- Organisations like Spitex, companies and associations
Allowed
- Siblings
- Aunts and uncles
- Cousins
- Friends
- Anyone else you find
An assistant works at most 44 hours a week, in exceptional cases with overtime up to 50 hours. For minors, the legal representative signs the contracts in the child's name. The IV office in Vaud requires the child to register with the compensation fund in their own name.
And relatives?
Whether relatives should also be paid through the assistance contribution is being debated in Parliament. A parliamentary initiative on it (12.409) is still in committee. On 21 September 2026 the National Council adopted the counter-proposal to the inclusion initiative and rejected a proposal to pay relatives through the assistance contribution. The Council of States is next. Nothing has changed so far.
What the IV office wants from you
You are an employer like any other household: contract, AHV registration, accident insurance, payslips. The guide Employing a personal assistant explains what that involves. For the IV, three things come on top.
Before the first payment
Copies of the signed employment contracts and the compensation fund's confirmation that you are registered as an employer.
Every month
The invoice on form 318.536 with the record of hours, no later than 12 months after the help. Each IV office sets the details itself. Zurich and Vaud, for example, also want the payslips.
Every year
Proof that the social insurance contributions have been paid to the compensation fund. Without it, the IV stops its payments.
How fast the money arrives, in Zurich: the IV office forwards a complete invoice within 1 week to the Central Compensation Office, which usually pays within 2 weeks.
What Clino does here, and what it does not
Every month Clino produces the payslips, the invoice laid out like form 318.536 and the record of hours, in German, French or Italian, and keeps an eye on the budget, the monthly limit and the deadlines. If you wish, Clino fills in your copy of the official form, so far only the German version. You send the invoice yourself. Clino records an assistant's illness (665.05) and your hospital stay (665.06) with Beiblatt 1 and 2; only advances (665.07) you still add by hand.
Advice the IV pays for
To set up your assistance you can ask the IV office for advice from specialists. The IV pays for it up to a limit:
- per hour
- CHF 75
- per hour
- every 3 years
- CHF 1'500
- every 3 years
- at most between application and decision
- CHF 700
- at most between application and decision
What it covers
- Your role as an employer
- Sick pay
- Questions about BVG, accident and daily sickness insurance
- Finding assistants
- Understanding the IV billing
What it does not cover
Recurring trustee work such as the monthly payslips. The IV does not pay for Clino either. Clino costs CHF 19.90 per month and household, however many assistants, and the first 30 days are free.
Advice is offered, for example, by Pro Infirmis, Procap, Cap-Contact, Assistenzbüro, Sozial Navigator and atto.
When you reach AHV age
At the reference age, or if you draw your full AHV pension early, the IV assistance contribution ends. The AHV carries on paying it, at most at the previous level and with no later increase. Condition: you already used assistance hours in the month before. If you defer your AHV pension, you lose it. Anyone already drawing an AHV pension can no longer apply.
If you apply shortly before the reference age, hire before the decision. In the federal office's example, what counts is whether assistance hours were used before the reference age, not when the decision came.
When the assistance contribution is not the right path
You live in a care home
From 16 days a month in a care home there is no assistance contribution. If you plan to move out, you can apply beforehand.
You do not want to be an employer
The assistance contribution does not pay organisations like Spitex. The comparison of Spitex and private care shows what suits you better.
You want to pay your partner or parents
That is not possible through the assistance contribution. There are other ways for family carers: money and relief for family carers.
From the first contract, Clino does the paperwork
You enter the decision and the hours. Clino handles the contract, AHV registration, payslips, the invoice and the record of hours for the IV office. CHF 19.90 a month, however many assistants, the first 30 days free. The IV does not reimburse this cost.
Frequently asked questions about the assistance contribution
When does the IV start paying the assistance contribution?
At the earliest from the month in which you applied. After the decision you bill back to the start of that month, if the conditions were met, written contracts existed and you were registered as an employer. The IV does not refund more than the amount decided.
May I employ someone before the decision?
Yes. The risk is yours: until the decision you pay the wages yourself, and if the IV says no, they stay with you. The IV office in Vaud also only pays back if the wages for that period were already declared to the compensation fund and paid.
How much is the assistance contribution in 2026?
CHF 35.30 per hour, CHF 52.95 with special qualification and for nights a flat rate from CHF 58.85 to CHF 169.10 depending on the level. How many hours and nights you get is set in your decision.
May my sister be my assistant?
Yes. Only spouses and partners, relatives in the direct line (parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren), step-parents and foster parents and your legal representative are excluded. You may employ siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
How long does it take to get the decision?
There is no official deadline. In the federal office's example about 7 months pass between application and decision. The wait still costs you no months if you employed someone under contract during that time: the IV pays from the month of application.
Does the IV also pay for Clino?
No. The advice the IV pays for (up to CHF 1'500 every 3 years) explicitly excludes recurring payroll. Clino costs CHF 19.90 per month and household, and the first 30 days are free.
What if I have to go to hospital or my assistant falls ill?
If a hospital stay means you cannot receive help, the IV keeps paying for up to 3 months per event, within your annual amount. That does not apply to planned absences such as holidays. If your assistant falls ill, the IV reimburses the sick pay under the Bern scale, for at most 3 months and outside your annual amount.
Sources
- Circular on the assistance contribution (KSAB), Federal Social Insurance Office, as of 1 January 2026sozialversicherungen.admin.ch
- IVG Art. 42quater ff. (entitlement, assistants, start)fedlex.admin.ch
- IVV Art. 39a to 39j (conditions, rates, advice)fedlex.admin.ch
- Leaflet 4.14: IV assistance contributionahv-iv.ch
- Form 318.536: invoice for the assistance contributionahv-iv.ch
- SVA Zurich: notes on billing assistance contributionssvazurich.ch
- Office AI Vaud: memento on the assistance contribution, 19 January 2026aivd.ch
Keep reading
Helplessness allowance 2026: amounts, degree, claim
The AHV and IV pay CHF 252 to CHF 2'016 a month, regardless of income. Degree check, waiting period, how to apply and how much care the money buys.
Hiring a personal assistant with the IV assistance contribution
With the IV assistance contribution you are the employer: who you may hire, NAV minimum wage, 44 hours a week, AHV, UVG, BVG and sick pay.
Family caregivers in Switzerland: pay, AHV credit, leave
Getting paid to care, the CHF 45'360 AHV care credit per year, cantonal allowances and up to 10 days of leave. With a 1 minute check.
Spitex or private care: costs and who pays
Spitex, Pro Senectute, respite service or your own employee: monthly costs compared, and what health insurance, EL and the helplessness allowance pay.
Salvador Jovells, founder of Clino