Care at home
Deducting a carer from your taxes: actual costs or flat rate?
If you employ a carer or personal assistant because of a disability, you can deduct the costs from the direct federal tax, without the 5% excess that applies to illness costs. If the person receives a helplessness allowance, there is also a flat-rate deduction. The calculator shows you in one minute which deduction is higher.
Actual costs or flat rate?
Wage costs minus helplessness allowance, assistance contribution and EL
Degree moderate, tax year 2026
Actual costs give you CHF 17'440 more in deductions.
Does the carer also do the housework? That part only counts with a medical certificate, and from 2027 the tax office separates care from housework.
Direct federal tax. The cantons set the rules for their own tax. The tax office decides; this calculator does not replace tax advice.
To claim the deduction you need records: a payslip every month and the salary certificate at the end of the year.
Create payslips with ClinoWho can deduct
Disability costs are deductible without any excess (Art. 33 para. 1 let. hbis DBG). For the direct federal tax, you always count as a person with a disability if you:
- receive benefits from the IV (disability insurance);
- receive a helplessness allowance from the AHV, IV, accident insurance or military insurance;
- receive assistive devices from the AHV;
- live in a care home or receive Spitex home care and need at least 60 minutes of care and support per day (from 2027: more than 60 minutes).
For everyone else, the tax office decides case by case. Only people who bear the costs themselves can deduct them.
What counts as costs
The wage of the carer or personal assistant
Care, support and accompaniment needed because of the disability are deductible. It does not matter who provides them: Spitex, a private carer or a personal assistant. The circulars do not mention employer contributions specifically. They are part of what you pay for the care and appear on every payslip: if in doubt, ask your tax office.
Help with the housework
Only with a medical certificate stating which household tasks you can no longer do without help because of the disability.
What is subtracted
You can only deduct what you bear yourself. All insurance benefits are subtracted, including the IV assistance contribution, the helplessness allowance and any illness and disability costs reimbursed by supplementary benefits (EL). The annual EL benefit is not subtracted.
What does not count
Unpaid help from relatives. There is neither an actual-cost nor a flat-rate deduction for it.
The flat rate for helplessness allowance recipients
If you receive a helplessness allowance, you can deduct an annual flat rate. New amounts apply from tax year 2027 (circular No. 11a of the ESTV, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, of 26 May 2026).
| Degree | Up to tax year 2026 | From tax year 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| mild | CHF 2'500 | CHF 2'500 |
| moderate | CHF 5'000 | CHF 6'000 |
| severe | CHF 7'500 | CHF 9'500 |
The flat rate pays off if you pay little yourself, for example because the helplessness allowance and the assistance contribution almost cover the wage. If you pay more than the flat rate yourself, deduct the actual costs. Up to 2026, the circular states explicitly that the flat rate replaces the actual costs. From 2027, it cannot be combined with the new flat rates for interpreting and transport costs, which are only available without a helplessness allowance.
From 2027: separating care and housework
The new circular requires that if someone does the housework as well as providing care, the costs are split reasonably into deductible care and non-deductible living costs (based on Federal Supreme Court ruling 9C_655/2022). It does not set a fixed ratio. Help with the housework remains deductible with a medical certificate.
- List the tasks in the employment contract: care and accompaniment, housework.
- Get a medical certificate naming the household tasks you can no longer do because of the disability.
- Keep a record over the year of how many hours go to care and how many to housework.
And cantonal tax?
The circulars apply to the direct federal tax. The cantons also allow disability costs to be deducted, but they set their own flat rates and documentation rules. What counts is your canton's guide to the tax return. Whether it will adopt the new amounts from 2027 is still open.
Frequently asked questions
Can I deduct the flat rate and the actual costs together?
I care for my mother without pay. Can I deduct anything?
What records do I need?
Does this also apply to a nanny?
What if the EL already reimburses the carer?
Sources
- DBG Art. 33 para. 1 let. h and hbis, para. 3 - fedlex.admin.ch
- ESTV circular No. 11 of 31.08.2005 (up to tax year 2026), sections 4 and 5 - estv2.admin.ch
- ESTV circular No. 11a of 26.05.2026 (from tax year 2027), sections 4, 5 and 7 - estv.admin.ch
- Federal Supreme Court 9C_655/2022 of 31.10.2023 (splitting care and housework) - bger.ch