Taxes
A nanny who also cleans: how much of her wage is deductible?
Only the share for childcare. Cleaning, laundry and cooking remain private living costs (Art. 34 let. a DBG).
Example24 hours per week
- 20 hours with the childrendeductible, up to the maximum
- 4 hours of houseworkCHF 0 deductible
If your household help looks after the children while you work, that part of her wage counts as third-party childcare (Art. 33 para. 3 DBG). The rest is housework and worth nothing for tax. The federal rules name no fixed percentage: what counts are the actual hours, and you have to be able to prove them.
How much of your nanny's wage is deductible?
Enter the hours, get the answer in francs.
Care share: 83 %
CHF 25,000deductible per year for federal tax
Cantonal tax Zurich: CHF 25,000
Estimate at your marginal rate (about ¾ canton and municipality, ¼ federal). The share follows your hours. The tax office may estimate it differently if proof is missing.
Next step: write the split into the employment contract. Hours and wage are already filled in.
Fill in the nanny contract for free →What the federal and cantonal rules say about the split
The rule is not in the law itself but in the instructions of the tax authorities. The four texts below say essentially the same thing, and only Basel-Landschaft names a figure.
Federal (ESTV)Kreisschreiben Nr. 30, Ziff. 8.5
Only the part for the children counts. The federal circular names no percentage.
Original wording (German)
«Wird eine Haushaltshilfe angestellt, die sich während der Erwerbstätigkeit der Eltern auch um die Kinder kümmert, kann nur dieser Teil der Kosten für die Haushaltshilfe als Kinderdrittbetreuungskosten in Abzug gebracht werden, da die übrigen Aufwendungen für die Haushaltsarbeiten nicht abzugsfähige Lebenshaltungskosten darstellen.»
Open the sourceAargauMerkblatt Kinderbetreuungskosten, Ziff. 4.5
A reasonable private share for the housework is taken off the wage. Thurgau words it the same way.
Original wording (German)
«Verrichtet eine Person neben der Kinderbetreuung noch Hausarbeiten für die steuerpflichtige Person, zählt der Lohn nach Abzug eines angemessenen Privatanteils für die Hausarbeit nur teilweise zu den Kinderbetreuungskosten.»
Open the sourceBasel-LandschaftSteuerbuch, Band 1, 29 Nr. 5, Ziff. 1.2
The share is estimated. Without documents, 50 % as a rule. The number and age of the children can point to a different key.
Original wording (German)
«Der Anteil der abzugsfähigen Betreuungskosten von Haushaltshilfe bzw. Au-Pairs ist in diesem Fall sachgerecht zu schätzen. Sofern eine sachgerechte Schätzung aufgrund der vorliegenden Unterlagen nicht vorgenommen werden kann, sind grundsätzlich nur Kosten im Umfang von 50 % zum Abzug zuzulassen.»
Open the sourceSt. GallenSteuerbuch, StB 45 Nr. 14, Ziff. 2
With cleaning, laundry, shopping or gardening, only part of the total cost counts.
Original wording (German)
«Erledigt die betreuende Person zusätzlich zur Kinderbetreuung Arbeiten im Haushalt der Kindseltern, wie Reinigung, Wäsche, Einkauf, Gartenarbeit usw., wird für die Kinderbetreuung von den Gesamtkosten nur ein Teil berücksichtigt.»
Open the source
So 50 % is not a legal value. Basel-Landschaft applies it only when the share cannot be estimated from the documents. Which other costs for help at home count is answered in Can you deduct your cleaner from your taxes?. The care share is then limited by the maximum per child: How high is the childcare deduction in your canton?. For the federal and cantonal deduction in detail, use the nanny tax deduction calculator.
How to prove the split
The proof is up to you (Circular No. 30, section 8.6): a statement of the costs and of the person providing the care, plus receipts. These three papers make the split traceable.
Employment contract
With a task list and hours per week. It shows what the wage is paid for.
Proof of wage
The salary certificate or, in the simplified procedure, the statement from the compensation office (Ausgleichskasse). The recipient must be identifiable.
Hours log
A simple weekly list shows that the care falls within your working or study time.
Wording for the contract
An example: adapt the days and hours to your own week.
Duties and working time
Childcare: Monday to Thursday, 1 pm to 6 pm, 20 hours per week, during the working time of both parents.
Housework (cleaning, laundry, cooking for the family): Friday, 8 am to 12 noon, 4 hours per week.
Of the 24 hours per week, 20 hours are for childcare. If the split changes, the parties record it in writing.
Which other sentences belong in the contract is shown in Which clauses belong in a nanny contract?. How the proof of wage comes about is explained in How do I fill in the salary certificate for household help?, and for smaller workloads in Is the simplified procedure worth it for a nanny?. If she does more housework than childcare, Housekeeper or cleaner: what is the difference? helps.
Three common mistakes
Deducting the whole wage
Housework is a non-deductible living cost. Only the part of the wage paid for childcare is deductible.
Circular No. 30, section 8.5
Not recording any hours
Without documents the tax office can only estimate. Basel-Landschaft then allows only 50 % as a rule.
Basel-Landschaft tax manual, 29 Nr. 5
Counting evenings and leisure time
Care outside your working or study time, such as babysitting in the evening, is not deductible.
Circular No. 30, section 8.5
Contract, payslip and salary certificate in one place
All of this can be done by hand, directly with the compensation office (Ausgleichskasse). More convenient: Clino prepares your nanny's social security (AHV) registration and you submit it. After that the payslip is produced every month and, at year end, the salary certificate that proves the care share. CHF 19.90/month.
Four digits are enough
Common questions
Can I deduct my nanny's whole wage?Only if she looks after the children exclusively, and does so during your working or study time.
If she also cleans, does laundry or cooks for the family, only the care share counts. The other expenses are non-deductible living costs (Circular No. 30 of the Federal Tax Administration ESTV, section 8.5).
How do I prove the care share?With a statement of the costs and of the person providing the care, plus the salary certificate, payslips or receipts.
In the simplified procedure the statement from the compensation office (Ausgleichskasse) takes the place of the salary certificate. An employment contract with tasks and hours and a simple hours log show which part is for the children.
Is there a fixed percentage, for example 50 %?Not at federal level: there, the part of the cost that goes to childcare counts.
Aargau and Thurgau take off a reasonable private share for the housework, St. Gallen takes only part of the total cost into account. Basel-Landschaft allows 50 % as a rule when the share cannot be estimated from the documents.
Does cooking for the children count as care?The instructions do not settle this explicitly.
What is clear: the cost of the food itself is a living cost, and cooking or shopping for the whole family is housework. How lunch with the children during the care hours is classified is decided by the tax office case by case. A clear task list in the contract helps.
Does this also apply to an au pair?Yes. St. Gallen expressly lists care by an au pair as third-party childcare, and the Basel-Landschaft tax manual names au pairs alongside household help: the share of deductible care costs has to be estimated appropriately.
Here too, only the hours when both parents work count.
Do care hours in the evening or at the weekend count?Only if you are working or studying during that time.
Babysitting in the evening or for leisure activities is not deductible under Circular No. 30.
What is the most I can deduct?For direct federal tax CHF 25,800 per child per year, and for cantonal tax each canton has its own maximum.
The calculator above cuts the care share down to both maxima.
Sources
- Federal Tax Administration ESTV, Circular No. 30 of 21 December 2010 (taxation of couples and families), sections 8.5 and 8.6: www.estv.admin.ch
- Federal Act on Direct Federal Tax (DBG), Art. 33 para. 3 and Art. 34 let. a: www.fedlex.admin.ch
- Canton of Aargau, leaflet on childcare costs, as of 1 January 2026, sections 4.3 and 4.5: www.ag.ch
- Basel-Landschaft tax manual, volume 1, 29 Nr. 5 childcare deduction, section 1.2: kanton.baselland.ch
- St. Gallen tax manual, StB 45 Nr. 14 childcare costs: www.sg.ch
- Thurgau tax practice, StP 34 Nr. 24 third-party care costs, section 5.3: steuerpraxis.tg.ch