Provide for your retirement and save tax. Here’s how it works.

Everything changes when you retire. This also applies to tax optimisation. The decisive factor here is whether you want to have your pension fund assets paid out as a lump sum or draw them as a pension. Lump-sum payment with subsequent annual withdrawals is more attractive from a tax perspective – especially if you invest the lump sum. This is because the pension you draw from your pension fund is taxed in full as income. Lump-sum withdrawals, by contrast, are taxed only once – separately from your other income and at a lower rate. In other words, you can keep on saving tax until into your old age.

As a homeowner, you can deduct your running costs on your tax return. In the case of mortgages, the actual loan is deducted from your assets and the interest is deducted from your income. The costs of work in and on the house are also tax-deductible: either as a flat rate, depending on the age of the property – at federal level and in most cantons, this amounts to between 10% and 20% of the imputed rental value – or the actual costs incurred. The latter is particularly worthwhile for major renovations. Unlike extensions that increase the property’s value, value-preserving measures are fully tax-deductible.

As a condominium owner, you can deduct contributions to the association of owners’ renewal and management fund on your tax return if the fund is used for value-preserving measures.

Do you own a holiday apartment or a holiday home? Maintenance costs for these are tax-deductible. In addition, you can deduct a flat-rate wear and tear allowance of approximately 20% for furniture if you rent out your property.

You shouldn’t marry for money – that is a well-known fact. Nor should you do so for tax reasons. This is because dual earners who are married or living in a registered partnership often pay more tax. Known as the “marriage penalty”, this phenomenon particularly affects higher-earning couples on similar incomes. The two incomes are added together for tax purposes, and as a result, the couple end up in a higher tax category than if they were taxed separately. 

There are still opportunities for married couples and registered partners to save tax, though. 

You can offset the disadvantages of the progressive tax system at least in part. The federal government grants what is known as a “social deduction” of CHF 2,800 for married couples, couples in registered partnerships and single-parent families. In the cantons of Bern, Basel Stadt, Jura, Schwyz, Uri and Zug, this social deduction is combined with a preferential tax rate. In the other cantons, only the preferential rate is tax-deductible. Furthermore, if you are married or in a registered partnership, you can claim a dual-earner deduction. This is available to lower earners and, in the case of direct federal tax, amounts to half of the lower income (maximum of CHF 14,100, minimum of CHF 8,600 (as of 2026)).

Cantonal tax rates vary widely depending on the canton of residence. Altogether, the various options add up to a tidy sum that you can deduct on your tax return. You might invest the savings in a wonderful honeymoon, for example.