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Tax guides

Taken literally: 21 Swiss tax return terms, explained in brief (2026)

Eigenmietwert, marginal rate, Einsprache, NOV: 21 terms from the Swiss tax return, each explained in two or three sentences, with the law behind it and the article that goes deeper.

Updated on 22.10.2026 · 7 min read

Swiss tax forms are written in official German. The 21 terms below turn up in cantonal guides, tax bills and letters from the tax office, two or three sentences each, with a link where one of our articles goes deeper.

A glossary is the key on a hiking map. The map is the form, and without the key a dashed trail looks like a stream. Franc figures below belong to the tax year named next to them; for any other year, the current amount is in your canton's guide.

What you declare

Eigenmietwert (imputed rental value). If you live in a home you own, you declare a rental value as income even though no money changes hands. The law treats living in your own place as rent you pay yourself. When it ends and what applies until then: the imputed rental value article.

Wertschriftenverzeichnis (securities and assets register). The attachment to your return listing accounts, shares, funds and bonds with their value on 31 December and the income they paid during the year. It feeds into your taxable assets and your investment income.

Steuerwert and Kursliste (tax value and price list). The tax value of a listed security isn't the figure on your bank's custody statement. It's the price in the Federal Tax Administration's (FTA) price list, and the FTA states that these prices count as the tax value on 31 December. More in the securities register article.

Verrechnungssteuer (withholding tax). Whoever pays out Swiss interest or dividends, your bank or the company, holds back 35 % and passes it to the Confederation, so 65 % reaches your account. It works like a deposit, and one condition for the refund is that you declare the income and the assets in your return. Leave either out unlawfully and the claim is lost. An account you simply forgot through negligence can still be reported while the procedure isn't final.

Quellensteuer (tax at source). Employees living or staying in Switzerland without a C permit have salary tax taken out by the employer from each pay. Married people living together with a spouse who's Swiss or holds a C permit are exempt.

NOV (subsequent ordinary assessment). This puts someone taxed at source through the normal procedure after the fact, with their own return and the tax at source credited. It's mandatory above a gross income set by the Confederation, or when there's income that isn't taxed at source. Otherwise you can request it, by 31 March of the following year; the route is in the tax at source article.

What you deduct

Berufsauslagen (work expenses). Costs your job causes: the commute, the extra cost of meals away from home, and other costs such as tools or professional books. The federal act calls them Berufskosten. For direct federal tax in tax years 2025 and 2026, the commute deduction is capped at CHF 3'300, and each canton sets its own limits.

Pauschalabzug (flat-rate deduction). A fixed amount instead of individual receipts. The law provides flat rates for meals and for other work costs, and for other work costs you can prove higher actual costs instead. When receipts win is in the commute and work costs article.

Liegenschaftsunterhalt (property maintenance). Upkeep costs for a house or flat you hold privately, plus insurance premiums and third-party management. As a rule, what keeps the value is deductible (a new heating system replacing the old one), what adds value isn't (an extension). Where the line runs is in the property maintenance article.

Säule 3a (pillar 3a). Tied private pension savings: payments into a 3a account or policy reduce your taxable income up to a ceiling. If you're in a pension fund, that's CHF 7'258 for tax year 2026 and CHF 7'373 from 2027. Which amount goes on which return: see the pillar 3a maximum article.

How does income turn into tax?

Grenzsteuersatz (marginal rate). The rate on your last franc of income; it decides what a deduction saves. Take an assumed marginal rate of 25 % across canton, municipality and Confederation: an extra CHF 1'000 deduction cuts your tax by about CHF 250, not CHF 1'000. What a tax deduction actually saves works through three incomes.

Steuerfuss (tax multiplier). The factor the canton and the municipality apply to the so-called simple tax. In Canton Zurich, the cantonal multiplier is 95 % of the simple cantonal tax for 2026 and 2027, down from 98 % in 2024 and 2025, and each municipality sets its own. The tax comparison shows how far municipalities sit apart.

Kalte Progression (bracket creep). If your salary only rises with inflation, it can still slip into a higher bracket, and then your tax grows faster than your purchasing power. The Confederation offsets this every year by indexing its brackets and franc deductions to the consumer price index. Cantons run their own schedules; see why deduction limits change.

What comes after you file

Fristerstreckung (filing extension). More time to hand in your return, called Fristverlängerung in some cantons. It moves the date and leaves the tax itself untouched. The seven cantons' deadlines and fees are in the deadline extension article.

Provisorische Rechnung (provisional bill). A bill for the estimated tax, sent before your return is checked. For direct federal tax, Canton Zurich says the estimate is usually based on the previous period's figures, and you can ask for a correction if you expect a different income.

Veranlagung (in Zurich: Einschätzung). The tax office's decision once it has checked your return. For direct federal tax, the written decision (Veranlagungsverfügung) sets your taxable income, the rate and the tax due.

Schlussrechnung (final bill). The definitive bill, based on the assessment. It offsets what you've already paid provisionally and shows either a balance due or a credit. The order of bills is in the provisional and final bill article.

Einsprache (objection). Your written challenge to an assessment, filed with the tax office. For direct federal tax you have 30 days from delivery.

When something's missing

Ermessensveranlagung (discretionary assessment). If your return is still missing after a reminder, or there are no reliable records, the tax office estimates your income and assets itself. You can then only challenge it for obvious incorrectness, with reasons and evidence. More in the discretionary assessment article.

Nachsteuer (back tax). Tax that wasn't charged earlier because the tax office lacked the facts, collected later with interest. It's not a fine but the tax itself.

Straflose Selbstanzeige (penalty-free voluntary disclosure). If you report evasion yourself for the first time, before any tax authority knows about it, you pay the back tax with interest but no fine. You also have to cooperate fully in setting the back tax and make a genuine effort to pay it. More in the voluntary disclosure article.

The terms are already in your documents

Most of these terms already sit in your paperwork: the salary certificate, the bank's tax statement, the 3a certificate. TaxWize reads those documents, works out the flat rates for work expenses and the pillar 3a deduction for Aargau, Zurich, Lucerne, Solothurn, Bern, Zug and Schwyz, and only asks about what the documents don't show. Whether a particular deduction applies on top depends on your circumstances.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between the marginal rate and the average rate?
The average rate is your whole tax divided by your whole income. The marginal rate applies only to the last franc added or removed. So when you ask what a deduction saves, the marginal rate is the one that counts. Because Swiss income tax is progressive, it usually sits above the average rate.
Is it Veranlagung or Einschätzung?
Both mean the tax office's decision on your tax. The federal direct tax act calls it Veranlagung and the written decision a Veranlagungsverfügung. Canton Zurich calls the same step Einschätzung for cantonal and municipal tax. You can file an objection against either.
Do I have to reclaim Swiss withholding tax in my return?
The refund runs through your tax return. The payer holds back 35 % withholding tax on Swiss interest and dividends, and one condition for getting it back is that you declare the income and the assets. Anyone who unlawfully leaves out the income or the assets loses the claim. A negligent omission can still be put right while the procedure isn't final.
What is a NOV?
NOV stands for nachträgliche ordentliche Veranlagung, a subsequent ordinary assessment. Someone taxed at source files a normal tax return after the fact, and the tax already withheld is credited. It's mandatory above a gross income set by the Confederation or with income not taxed at source; otherwise it's on request by 31 March of the following year.

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