The salary statement (Lohnausweis) is the document in which you, as the employer, confirm what a person received from you in a calendar year. It is the basis for their tax return – and for you, a legal obligation backed by criminal penalties. It is issued on the official Form 11, and how to fill it in is set out in the guidelines of the Swiss Tax Conference (SSK). This guide goes through the form box by box, shows the ticks that are most often forgotten and lists the amounts above which a benefit must be declared.
What the salary statement is – and why it is mandatory
The legal basis is Art. 127 para. 1 let. a of the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DBG): employers must issue their employees with a written certificate of their income. The official Form 11 must be used, and the guidelines for completing the salary statement are binding – not merely a recommendation. There is also an FAQ document that clarifies individual cases.
The obligation applies with no minimum. There is no exemption threshold: a salary statement must be issued for all income from employment, including part-time, temporary and casual work. The Bern cantonal tax administration confirms this too. There is one exception: no salary statement is issued for wages settled under the simplified settlement procedure – these employees receive confirmation from the compensation fund that withholding tax has been paid.
Anyone who fails to fill in a salary statement, or fills it in incorrectly, can be fined and held liable. The guidelines refer to Art. 127, 174 and 186 DBG, Art. 43, 55 and 59 of the Tax Harmonisation Act (StHG) and Art. 251 of the Swiss Criminal Code (StGB) – the salary statement is a document within the meaning of criminal law.
The distinction matters: your employees receive a payslip with every salary payment, and it covers a single pay period. The salary statement is the annual certificate for the tax return. Incidentally, the same form also covers board of directors' fees, occupational pension (BVG) annuities and unemployment insurance benefits.
When the salary statement must be issued
There is no fixed federal date. The guidelines require the salary statement to be issued annually and to cover all benefits received in the calendar year concerned. In practice, it goes out together with the annual salary declaration, which must reach the compensation fund by 30 January.
Two special cases are expressly regulated. If an employee moves abroad or dies, the salary statement must be issued immediately – not at the end of the year. And splitting it into several separate statements is generally not permitted. If several are nevertheless issued for operational reasons, box 15 must contain the note "One of two salary statements".
On top of that come cantonal deadlines if the canton where your company is based requires a copy. The canton of Bern, for example, sets 31 January for the previous year's salary statements.
The salary statement box by box
The form has fields A to I for the ticks and master data, and boxes 1 to 15 for the amounts. You can hold this table directly against an existing salary statement.
| Box | What goes in it | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base salary, all allowances incl. family allowances, commissions, 13th-month salary, daily allowances paid by the employer | Contractual 13th-month salary declared under box 3 |
| 2.1 | Free meals and accommodation at the rates in leaflet N2 | A whole flat instead of a room – that belongs at market value under 2.3 |
| 2.2 | Private use of a company car | Flat rate calculated incorrectly or field F not ticked |
| 2.3 | Other fringe benefits that can be valued, at market value | General travelcard (GA) without business necessity not declared |
| 3 | Irregular benefits: bonus, signing and severance payments, loyalty bonuses, long-service awards, flat-rate relocation | Confused with contractually agreed additional payments |
| 4 | Lump-sum benefits of a pension nature, back pay | Pension fund benefits reported here instead of on Form 563 |
| 5 | Income from employee participation plans | Supplementary sheet to the salary statement missing |
| 6 | Board of directors' fees, attendance fees, profit shares | Mixed in with salary under box 1 |
| 7 | Health insurance premiums, pillar 3b, withholding tax borne by the employer, school fees, tips | Employer contributions to mandatory accident insurance (UVG) declared |
| 8 | Total gross salary, i.e. the total of boxes 1 to 7 | Expenses included, although they do not belong there |
| 9 | Only the employee share of AHV/IV/EO/ALV/NBUV | Daily sickness allowance and supplementary UVG premiums also deducted |
| 10 | Occupational pension deductions: ordinary contributions (10.1) and buy-ins (10.2) | Buy-ins paid in personally certified here instead of via Form 21 |
| 11 | Net salary: box 8 minus boxes 9 and 10 | Not recalculated after corrections |
| 12 | Gross amount of withholding tax deducted | Withholding tax borne by the employer not also reported in box 7 |
| 13 | Expenses: actual (13.1), flat-rate (13.2) and training and continuing education (13.3) | Flat-rate expenses not stated as an amount despite approved expense rules |
| 14 | Fringe benefits that cannot be valued, without an amount | Perks of more than CHF 2’500 per year not mentioned |
| 15 | Remarks: expense regulations, part-time work, several salary statements, corrected statement | Note on the approved expense regulations missing |
In principle, you must sign the salary statement. Salary statements produced fully automatically can be issued without a signature – if you print from payroll software, you are on the safe side.
The two ticks most often missing
Besides the amounts, two tick boxes decide whether the salary statement is complete.
Field F, free transport between home and workplace. Tick it if your employee incurs no costs for the commute. This is the case, among others, with a company car unless the employee pays at least 75 centimes per kilometre for the commute, with shared transport, with reimbursement of actual car kilometres to field staff who drive straight from home to customers, and with a general travelcard (GA) needed for business. With a company car, field F must in principle be ticked in all cases. Reimbursement of a half-fare travelcard does not have to be certified.
Field G, canteen meals and lunch cheques. Tick it if lunch cheques are handed out or if you offer reduced-price meals in a staff restaurant – even if you do not know whether the offer is used. Lunch cheques up to the AHV limit of CHF 180 per month are covered by the tick in field G; anything above that also goes into box 1. The tick also applies to employees who work 40 to 60 percent of their working time away from their usual workplace and receive a lunch allowance for it. Above 60 percent, box 15 instead gets the note "Lunch paid by employer".
Calculating the private use of a company car correctly
The private share is the item that involves the most calculation. If you cover all costs and the employee only pays for fuel on longer private trips, the amount to declare per month is 0.9 percent of the purchase price including optional extras and excluding VAT – but at least CHF 150 per month if the purchase price is below CHF 16’667.
An example from the guidelines: with a purchase price of CHF 43’000, that is CHF 387 per month, or CHF 4’644 for a full year of private use. For leased vehicles, the cash purchase price excluding VAT stated in the contract replaces the purchase price.
Alternatively, you can record private use on an actual basis. This requires a logbook: the kilometres driven privately, including the commute, times the rate per kilometre – 8’500 kilometres at 75 centimes gives CHF 6’375. And if your employees bear substantial costs themselves – maintenance, insurance, fuel and repairs – no amount is added; box 15 then gets the note "Private use of company car to be clarified in the assessment procedure". Fuel alone is not enough for this.
Expenses: when a tick is enough
Expenses are not salary and do not belong in the gross salary. For actual expense reimbursements, you may omit the amount and simply tick the small box next to box 13.1.1 – but only if all of the following requirements are met.
- Overnight expenses are reimbursed against receipts
- Lunch or dinner: actual costs generally no more than CHF 35, flat rate per main meal no more than CHF 30
- Client entertainment is settled against original receipts
- Train, air and other public transport against receipts
- Business use of a private vehicle: no more than 75 centimes per kilometre
- Minor expenses against receipts or as a daily flat rate of no more than CHF 20
- There is genuine business travel
Extrapolating the individual flat rates to all working days is not permitted. And one point that is often overlooked: flat-rate expense allowances – such as monthly car or representation allowances – must always be stated as an amount, even if approved expense regulations are in place.
What is newly relevant is the external workplace: actual compensation for working from home, co-working or office infrastructure must always be stated as an amount, with the note "Expenses for external workplace". How to settle and book the underlying expenses correctly is covered in our guide to expense claims. If you want legal certainty, have expense regulations approved by the canton where your company is based – ideally based on the templates of the Swiss Tax Conference. Box 15 then gets a note with the canton and approval date, and box 13.1.1 gets no tick.
The deduction most often wrong
Watch out: In box 9, only the employee share for AHV, IV, EO, ALV and NBUV may be deducted. Contributions to daily sickness allowance insurance and premiums for supplementary UVG insurance are not deductible and must not reduce the gross salary – but they can be shown in box 15. Employer contributions never belong in box 9 anyway.
What does not belong on the salary statement
In principle, all benefits are taxable. For practical reasons, however, the guidelines list exceptions with clear thresholds:
- Half-fare travelcards provided free of charge
- Discounts on third-party products of up to 20 percent per benefit and up to CHF 600 per year
- Customary Christmas, birthday and similar gifts in kind up to CHF 600 per calendar year – if the amount is exceeded, the full amount must be declared. Cash gifts are always salary.
- Tickets for cultural and sporting events up to CHF 600 per calendar year
- Contributions to association and club memberships up to CHF 1’000 per case – gym memberships excluded
- Private use of work tools such as a mobile phone or computer within the usual scope
- A free parking space at the workplace, air miles, medical check-ups at the employer's request
- Travel costs for an accompanying partner on business trips
For box 14, there is also a de minimis threshold: for a minor annual perk of up to CHF 2’500, no mention is required. The amount is based on the AHV rule for minor annual salaries.
What is new in the 2026 guidelines
The guidelines are revised every year. The most important change as of 1 January 2026: the tax-recognised mileage allowance for business use of a private vehicle rises from 70 to 75 centimes per kilometre. This has an effect in three places at once – field F, the logbook rate for the private share, and the limit up to which actual car expenses may be reported without an amount. If you have stored the rates in your payroll software, check them. Changed margin numbers are marked with a black bar in the guidelines.
The cantons where a copy goes to the tax office
The salary statement is intended first and foremost for the employees. Some cantons additionally require employers to send a copy directly to the cantonal tax administration: Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchâtel, Solothurn, Vaud and Valais. In the canton of Lucerne, direct submission is voluntary.
If your company is based in one of these cantons, submission is not a nice-to-have. Several cantons accept salary statements electronically via the uniform salary reporting procedure ELM – the report then goes from Swissdec-certified payroll software to tax offices and social insurers in one step.
Creating salary statements: by hand or from software
For small numbers of employees, the ESTV and SSK provide the free eLohnausweis SSK, which lets you fill in and print salary statements on your computer. You will find the form itself and all documents on the ESTV page on the salary statement, and the rates for meals and accommodation in leaflet N2.
From a handful of employees upwards, running it through payroll pays off, because the boxes are then filled from the payroll runs during the year and do not have to be reconstructed at year-end. Infinity Payroll calculates AHV, ALV, BVG, UVG and withholding tax to Swiss standards and posts the payroll entries to your accounting automatically. All processes run through a Swissdec-certified partner, which means ELM 5.0 is supported too. The add-on costs CHF 9 per employee per month excl. VAT; to set it up, you need your BUR number and an ELM profile from your social insurers. Details are in the handbook.
Frequently asked questions about the salary statement
Is a salary statement mandatory even for very small salaries?
Yes. There is no exemption threshold: every employer must issue a salary statement to every employee, regardless of the amount and duration of the employment. The exception is salaries under the simplified settlement procedure – for these, employees receive a confirmation from the compensation fund.
By when must the salary statement be issued?
There is no uniform federal date. The salary statement must be issued annually and, in practice, goes out with the annual salary declaration, which must reach the compensation fund by 30 January. If an employee moves abroad or dies, it must be issued immediately. Cantons that require a copy set their own deadlines – the canton of Bern, for example, 31 January.
Does the salary statement have to be signed?
In principle, yes. Salary statements produced fully automatically – that is, printed directly from payroll software – can be issued without a signature.
How high is the private share for a company car?
0.9 percent of the purchase price per month, including optional extras and excluding VAT, but at least CHF 150 per month if the purchase price is below CHF 16’667. With a purchase price of CHF 43’000, that is CHF 4’644 per year. Alternatively, actual use can be recorded with a logbook.
Do home office allowances have to be declared?
Yes. Actual compensation for an external workplace such as a home office, co-working or office infrastructure must always be stated as an amount, with the note "Expenses for external workplace".
Does the salary statement also go directly to the tax office?
In Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchâtel, Solothurn, Vaud and Valais, the cantons require a copy directly from the employer. In the canton of Lucerne, submission is voluntary. In all other cantons, employees submit the salary statement with their tax return.
Salary statements without a year-end sprint
When payroll runs smoothly throughout the year, the salary statement at year-end is just a click away. Try Infinity free for 14 days, no credit card required, and see how payroll and accounting work together. What the payroll add-on costs is shown on the pricing page.