Swiss salary certificate: complete guide to the tax form

Q: When must the employer issue the salary certificate?

The employer must provide the salary certificate to each employee no later than the end of January of the following year (for the past tax year). The same document is simultaneously transmitted to the cantonal tax authority of the employee's canton of domicile. In the event of contract termination mid-year, the certificate must be issued upon departure or shortly thereafter.

Q: What information appears on the salary certificate?

The official form contains 15 numbered boxes: gross salary (box 1), benefits in kind (2), expense reimbursements (2.3), employee participation schemes (5), statutory deductions for OASI/DI/IPR/UI (7), occupational pension LPP (8), accident insurance LAA (9), daily sickness allowance IJM (10), source tax (12), actual expenses (13), and various remarks (15). Boxes 3 (meal allowances), 4 (company car), 13 and 14 must be completed carefully to avoid tax reassessments.

Q: Is the salary certificate different from the monthly payslip?

Yes. The payslip is monthly and details the salary calculation for the month. The salary certificate is annual and consolidated — it is produced using the standardised form of the Swiss Tax Conference (STC) and has official tax-document status. It is the salary certificate (not the payslips) that is attached to the tax return.

Definition

The salary certificate (in German Lohnausweis, in Italian Certificato di salario) is a standardised annual tax document that every Swiss employer is legally required to issue to each employee. It is prepared using the official form of the Swiss Tax Conference (STC), valid in all cantons, and constitutes the key document for an employee's income tax return.

Structure of the form

The salary certificate form contains 15 numbered boxes, the main ones being:

Box	Content
1	Total gross salary (including bonuses, 13th-month salary)
2	Benefits in kind and participations (accommodation, meals, shares)
3	Meal allowances not subject to tax
4	Company car (private-use benefit value)
7	OASI/DI/IPR and UI deductions, employee share
8	Occupational pension (LPP) contributions, employee share
9	Accident insurance (LAA-ANP) premiums, employee share
10	Daily sickness allowance (IJM) premiums
11	Net salary (box 1 minus deductions)
12	Source tax withheld (for employees taxed at source)
13	Actual expense reimbursements (representation, travel)
14	Other remarks
15	Employer's remarks and declaration of accuracy

How it works

The employer prepares a salary certificate for every person who was under an employment contract during the tax year, even if they are no longer with the company at the time of issue. The certificate is:

Provided to the employee (in paper or electronic form as agreed).
Transmitted to the cantonal tax authority of the employee's canton of domicile — directly by electronic means via Swissdec ELM for employers using certified software.

The cantonal tax authority compares the income declared by the employee in their tax return with the salary certificate received from the employer. Any discrepancy may trigger a tax reassessment or a request for explanation.

Swiss context

The salary certificate is governed by the Ordinance on the Preparation of the Salary Certificate and Pension Statement and by the directives of the Swiss Tax Conference. The version of the form in use since 2005 is uniform throughout Switzerland.

Employers whose employees are subject to source tax must complete box 12 and indicate the amount withheld. The salary certificate is then used for any possible correction of the source tax assessment.

Since the introduction of the Swissdec ELM standard, most certified payroll software automatically transmits salary certificates to the cantonal tax authorities at the annual payroll closing.

How Neoffice generates it

Neoffice automatically generates salary certificates at the close of the payroll year by compiling all payslip data for the year. Each box of the STC form is pre-filled. Transmission to the cantonal tax authorities is performed via the Swissdec ELM standard, with no re-entry or manual export required.