Getting Your Swiss Tax Return Done: Costs in 2026

Updated on 27.07.2026

Having your Swiss tax return done costs between CHF 35 and over CHF 1'500 in 2026, depending on the route. The lowest fixed prices at the filing services are for apprentices and students: CHF 35 at steuermacher.ch, CHF 90 at SimpleTax. For a standard situation, the filing services charge about CHF 99 to CHF 299 (steuermacher.ch from CHF 99, SimpleTax CHF 140 to 170, taxea.ch from CHF 99 excl. VAT, packages up to CHF 499 excl. VAT). A fiduciary (Treuhänder) or tax advisor typically charges around CHF 150 to 800 for private individuals and couples; with home ownership, securities or self-employment, CHF 800 to 1'500 and more are quoted. Doing it yourself in the official online portal of your canton remains free. Also in that middle band sits TaxWize: for CHF 39 per declaration per tax year it reads your documents and shows which deductions are worth checking; you still file through the cantonal portal. Every price below comes with its source and date.

Why does the same tax return cost CHF 35 in one place and over CHF 1'500 in another?

Think of a moving quote. The price hangs on two things: how much you own, and how well it is packed. A studio with boxes ready to go is moved in no time; a full house where nothing is packed costs a multiple. A tax return works the same way: a single salary certificate with standard deductions is the studio with packed boxes. Home ownership, a securities portfolio, an inheritance or self-employment is the full house, and a bundle of unsorted receipts is the unpacked household the professional bills by the hour for.

That is why there is no single price, but a price landscape: fixed-price services for the simple cases, hourly rates at the fiduciary for everything that needs clarification.

What does each route cost? The 2026 overview

Worth checking: the service and software prices come from the linked provider pages, as of 12.07.2026; the headline prices were re-checked on 26.07.2026. The fiduciary guide figures come from independent overviews (gryps.ch, retrieved 13.07.2026; Beobachter, as of 09.03.2026) and a provider guide (ClaroTax, as of 16.02.2026). Prices change constantly; confirm the current figures directly with the provider.

How much does a filing service cost?

Filing services work with fixed prices by situation, plus surcharges. Three frequently named providers, as of 12.07.2026:

• steuermacher.ch (remote, all 26 cantons): apprentices and students CHF 35, employees CHF 99, married couples CHF 149; plus CHF 65 per property, 72-hour express CHF 100. Finished return within 10 to 14 days, submission included.
• SimpleTax (around 10 branches in the Zurich, Aargau and St. Gallen regions, online nationwide): singles CHF 140, couples CHF 170, apprentices CHF 90; plus CHF 30 per residential unit, express (7 working days) CHF 50, additional work CHF 180 per hour.
• taxea.ch (digital): Basic from CHF 99 excl. VAT (processed by 30.09.2026), Bestseller CHF 299 excl. VAT (within 5 weeks, incl. review of the assessment and representation), Prime CHF 499 excl. VAT (within 10 working days, incl. personal consultation).

There is also a cheaper middle form in which you file at the end yourself: Steuern59 charges CHF 59.90 to have the return prepared and reviewed. It is delivered ready to send, and you submit it (as of 26.07.2026).

The real final price with surcharges often sits above the entry price: a married couple with their own home pays CHF 214 at steuermacher.ch (CHF 149 plus CHF 65 property) and CHF 200 at SimpleTax (CHF 170 plus CHF 30 residential unit). How the services differ in detail, and how they stack up against software and the cantonal portal, is covered in our full 2026 comparison of software and services.

How much does a fiduciary charge for the tax return?

At a fiduciary or tax advisory firm there are rarely list prices; billing usually follows the effort. The available independent guide figures:

• The quote platform gryps.ch cites CHF 150 to 800 for the tax return of a private individual or a married couple, with hourly rates from CHF 80 for simple cases to over CHF 250 for specialist expertise (retrieved 13.07.2026).
• The consumer magazine Beobachter cites usual hourly rates between CHF 80 and CHF 420, depending on the complexity of the case, and recommends getting a written quote up front (as of 09.03.2026).
• The guide published by the advisory firm ClaroTax tiers, by its own account, as follows: simple return (employees, no property) CHF 300 to 800, medium complexity (home ownership, securities, child deductions) CHF 800 to 1'500, complex cases (self-employment, several income sources) from CHF 1'500 (as of 16.02.2026).

As a rule of thumb for tax year 2025/2026: an ordinary private tax return at a fiduciary costs a few hundred francs; once properties, larger portfolios or self-employment enter, four-figure amounts are realistic. These are guide figures, not quotes; the actual price depends on your situation and the provider.

What drives the price at a tax advisor?

Four drivers come up in the sources again and again:

1. Complexity of the situation: properties, securities, inheritances, assets abroad or self-employment increase the effort and with it the price (gryps.ch, ClaroTax).
2. State of your paperwork: a folder sorted by topic saves billable hours; the proverbial shoebox full of receipts costs extra, because the professional has to sort first (Beobachter).
3. Follow-up questions and clarifications: missing documents and open questions stretch the work, and the clock runs at the hourly rate (Beobachter).
4. Type of provider and region: hourly rates differ widely between the small fiduciary office and the specialised advisory firm, and the region plays a role too (Beobachter cites CHF 80 to 420 per hour).

The good news: you control the first two drivers yourself. Delivering complete, well-ordered documents lowers the bill with every provider.

A worked example: the same tax return, four prices

Take Sandra: single, employed, renting in Baden in the canton of Aargau, one salary certificate, pillar 3a, health-insurance premiums, no property. Her options for tax year 2025 (guide figures, as of July 2026):

The fee is only half the calculation, though; the other half is the deductions. Suppose Sandra forgets her continuing-education costs of CHF 1'200. At a marginal tax rate around 25 % she overpays roughly CHF 300 in tax, more than the cheaper options in her table cost. Paying someone to prepare the return, or using a preparation layer, buys not just saved time but also more confidence that no deduction gets left behind. The amounts are guide figures for tax year 2025; check the current limits and tariffs with your canton.

For a married couple with their own home and a securities portfolio, the numbers shift upward: filing services with surcharges CHF 200 to about CHF 300 (taxea Bestseller CHF 299 excl. VAT), and at a fiduciary CHF 800 to 1'500 depending on complexity, per the guide figures above. And the tax bill itself depends heavily on where you live: what the municipal multiplier does to it is visible on the municipality page of Baden or directly in the free tax comparison for every municipality in the seven cantons we cover.

Can you deduct the cost of having the return prepared?

That depends on the canton, and practice varies: some cantons allow costs for preparing the tax return under certain conditions, sometimes only up to a limit, while others treat them as non-deductible living costs. Before entering the amount, it is worth a look at your canton's guidance (Wegleitung) or a quick question to the tax office.

When is which route worth it?

• Very simple situation, small budget: the official online portal of your canton, free of charge. For apprentices and students, the entry rates of the services (CHF 35 to 90) are made for exactly this case.
• Standard situation with a stack of documents, resident in a canton we cover: TaxWize as the preparation layer for CHF 39; the documents are read automatically, the deductions checked, and you file in the official portal.
• You want to do as little as possible yourself: a filing service from CHF 99; the providers and their differences are ranked in our 2026 comparison.
• Genuinely complex circumstances (self-employment, several properties, international elements): professional tax advice; here the hourly rate pays for experience with exactly such cases. A written quote up front is part of the deal.

Where TaxWize helps

In this price landscape TaxWize sits between filling it in yourself for free and handing it off from CHF 99: for CHF 39 per declaration per tax year you upload your documents, Swiss-hosted AI reads them, you verify every value, and the tax calculation is a deterministic rule set built on the actual cantonal tariffs. At the end you see your expected tax burden and which deductions are worth checking, with full preparation currently for seven cantons. You still file through the official cantonal portal. If that sounds like your situation, try it at taxwize.ch.