Childcare · Costs
Childcare vouchers for a nanny? No, but up to CHF 25'800 tax deduction per child
What does the state pay toward your nanny?
CHF 14'673less tax a year. Deduction: CHF 42'000 federal, CHF 42'000 in the canton of Zurich.
Daycare voucher: CHF 0 · New care allowance: CHF 0. Both are meant for daycare and organised childminders.
Assumed: nanny CHF 60'000 a year, 70 % of it childcare, married, taxable income CHF 180'000.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime
Your deduction with your numbers ↓
Daycare vouchers are, as a rule, only for daycare centres and organised childminders, and the new federal care allowance is strictly for them. For a nanny you employ yourself, the allowance pays nothing and a voucher almost never. What counts is the tax deduction: up to CHF 25'800 per child and year for federal tax, and in the canton up to its own cap. The card works out what that means for you.
Daycare vouchers: for daycare and childminders, not for a nanny
Vouchers and subsidies come from the municipality or the canton, scaled by income. The money goes to a place at a daycare centre or with a childminder organisation. In the four systems below, a nanny employed directly by the parents does not appear.
City of Bern
SpecimenChildcare voucher
Period 1.8.2026–31.7.2027
Redeemable at
- Daycare centres in the voucher system
- Childminder organisations
- Nanny employed by the parents
Conditions
- Parents' combined workload at least 105 % (single parents 5 %)
- Relevant family income under CHF 170'000
Value
by income, assets and family size
CHF 0
for your nanny
Specimen based on the official page, as of October 2026. Source: bern.ch
In Bern even a childminder only counts if she belongs to an approved organisation. If you hire a private childminder to work in your home, you become the employer, just as with a nanny. Each municipality sets its own rules, so if in doubt, ask yours.
Whether a nanny still pays off without a voucher depends mostly on how many children you have. The comparison of daycare, nanny and childminder shows it.
The new care allowance: up to CHF 500 a month, but not for a nanny
The daycare law (UKibeG) adds a third family allowance next to the child and education allowances: CHF 100 a month when a child spends one day a week in daycare, and CHF 50 more for each further half day. At five days that is CHF 500. Tap your week:
Who looks after the child? Pick, then tap half days
CHF 200
Care allowance per child and month
4 half days at daycare or with a childminder count. 6 half days with the nanny or grandparents do not.
For the tax deduction every paid care day counts, daycare and nanny alike.
Legal minimum, at most CHF 500. Never more than you pay for daycare yourself. Cantons may pay more. How half days are counted is still up to the Federal Council.
- The child has not yet turned 8.
- Both parents work or are in training.
- Paid care in Switzerland, at a daycare centre or with a childminder in an organisation, in a national language.
Grandparents, nannies and babysitters expressly do not count, says the BSV. What applies when you pay grandma or grandpa to look after the children is in the post on paying grandparents.
When? The Federal Council sets the start. According to the BSV, the first payments are expected from 2029. You will claim it through your employer, like the child allowance today.
A mix can pay off: two daycare days bring the voucher and the allowance, the nanny covers the rest. Kindergarten changes the plan anyway, and then the question is your nanny's hours. Or you share the nanny with a second family.
According to the BFS, 27.5 % of households with children up to 12 use only care the new law does not fund. More in our analysis of the daycare allowance.
The child allowance stays as it is: at least CHF 215 per child and month, up to CHF 330 depending on the canton. It comes through your own employer, whoever looks after the children.
The tax deduction: here the nanny counts
For tax purposes it does not matter who looks after the children. You deduct the documented costs of third-party childcare, up to CHF 25'800 per child and year for federal tax. Each canton has its own cap, from CHF 8'000 to CHF 27'300. Enter your numbers:
Tax return 2026 · Deductions
Costs of third-party childcare
- The child is under 14 and lives with you.
- The care is needed because you work, are in training or unable to work.
- Only the childcare share counts. If the nanny also does housework, the tax office takes only part of the cost.
You prove it with the salary certificate, the employment contract and bank payments. State in the contract which tasks are childcare: it helps with the tax office.
How much tax that saves depends on your income. The tax deduction calculator works it out with your numbers, for federal, cantonal and municipal tax.
What a nanny costs a year with all contributions is in the post on childcare costs.
For the nanny: what she is entitled to
The Swiss Nanny Association puts it plainly: nannies are not independent contractors, they are employees of the family. It follows:
- A written contract, registration with the AHV and accident insurance.
- A salary certificate at the end of the year. The family needs it for its tax deduction, so it helps both sides.
- Children of her own? Then child allowances through the employer family's family allowance fund, unless the other parent has the prior claim (FamZG Art. 7), from an annual income of CHF 7'560.
- Once the care allowance starts, it applies to the nanny too: for her own child in daycare, if both parents work.
Frequently asked questions
Are there childcare vouchers for a nanny?
Not in the big systems. Bern, Zurich, Basel-Stadt and Vaud pay vouchers or subsidies for daycare centres and childminders. A nanny employed directly by the parents does not appear in them. Each municipality or canton sets its own rules, so if in doubt, ask your municipality.
Do I get the new care allowance for my nanny?
No. According to the BSV, grandparents, nannies and babysitters do not count as institutional care. The allowance is for daycare centres and for childminders attached to an organisation: CHF 100 a month from one day a week, up to CHF 500 at five days. The BSV expects the first payments from 2029.
How much can I deduct from tax for my nanny?
For federal tax, the documented costs up to CHF 25'800 per child under 14 and year. In the canton the cantonal cap applies, between CHF 8'000 and CHF 27'300 per child. Only the childcare share is deductible, and only if the care is needed because you work or are in training.
Is daycare with a voucher cheaper than a nanny?
For one child usually yes, because daycare is paid per child and the voucher covers part of it. A nanny's wage, on the other hand, covers all the children together. With two or three children the nanny can therefore be cheaper, even without a voucher.
Can I combine daycare and a nanny?
Yes. The daycare days bring the voucher and, in future, the care allowance; the nanny days count for the tax deduction. The cap applies per child to all childcare costs together, not per type of care.
What proof does the tax office want for a nanny?
The nanny's salary certificate or, in the simplified procedure, the compensation office's settlement, the employment contract with the tasks and the payment records. Wages paid in cash are hard to prove.
Register your nanny so the deduction counts
Choose your canton: the page shows how registration works where you live. Clino then does the payslip every month and the salary certificate at the end of the year.
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime
Sources
Updated: 22 October 2026. Cantonal caps: tax year 2026.