Business expenses during the lockdown
- Angie Mecke
- Apr 14, 2021
- 1 min read
During the COVID-19 lockdown, most employees worked from home. Now almost all cantons have an answer to the question of which business expenses may be deducted in the 2020 Swiss tax return for the period of the lockdown.
No consideration of home office deductions for the period of the lockdown
Basically, there are two different approaches. Some cantons allow the continuous declaration of business expenses as if the employees had not worked from home during the lockdown but continued to work at their regular workplace. This means that the costs of travel between home and workplace and additional expenses for meals may be deducted for the entire tax year 2020.
The cantons that support this approach include:
Basel-District
Basel-City
Fribourg
Geneva
Neuchâtel
Schaffhausen
Schwyz
Solothurn
Uri
Valais
Zurich
Zug
Home office costs during the lockdown are deductible
Other cantons allow a deduction of home office costs during the lockdown period. This means that instead of the travel costs between home and work and the additional expenses for meals, the costs for the private office can be claimed. If the actual costs are deducted, the flat rate for other business expenses is not deductible.
The effective deductible costs include, among other things, the pro rata rent for the private study, software and hardware (if not provided by the employer), internet and telephone charges.
The cantons that support this approach include:
Aargau
Appenzell Outer-Rhodes
Bern
Glarus
Lucerne
Nidwalden
Obwalden
St Gallen
Thurgau
Ticino
The remaining cantons have not yet published their decision on this issue.
