The other deductions cross-border workers can claim: childcare, home help, donations, overtime, alimony and school fees 2026 Guide

Which country actually taxes your salary, and your deductions?

The answer depends on your country of residence and, in France and Italy, on the canton or the date you started. Claiming a genuine expense in a country where your income is not taxed produces nothing at all, which is why this question comes before every other one.

Why does the label credit, reduction or deduction change everything?

Because the same 1 000 euros of spending is worth between 190 and 1 000 euros depending only on how the law classifies it. Three mechanisms coexist across the three countries.

A worked example. A Geneva-based French family with two young children spends 6 000 euros on childcare, 3 000 euros on cleaning and 400 euros on donations. The childcare and home help credits produce roughly 3 250 euros refunded by bank transfer, even though their French tax bill is nil. The 264 euros of donation relief produces nothing. Same expenditure, same return, opposite outcomes.

Are childcare costs deductible if the nursery is in Switzerland?

Yes — in all three countries, and this is the single most overlooked relief. Both French tax doctrine and German practice accept Swiss childcare invoices, which matters enormously when the crèche sits next to the workplace rather than the home.

The scale difference is worth pausing on. A full-time Geneva crèche place costs around 18 000 francs a year. The French credit returns at most 1 750 euros of that; the Swiss deduction, available through quasi-resident status, can be worth several thousand francs. Where both routes are open, run both numbers before choosing.

How does relief for home help work in each country?

The reassuring answer is that this relief depends on where the household is, not where the income comes from. Your home is in France, Germany or Italy, so domestic help relief applies exactly as it would for any other resident.

Germany offers by far the most generous treatment here, because section 35a reduces the tax itself rather than the taxable base. A household that employs a cleaner, has the garden maintained and renovates a bathroom can reach up to 5 710 euros of tax reduction in a single year. In France, note that only the labour element counts, and the Italian 40 000 euro income test excludes most cross-border workers on Swiss salaries.

Do donations to Swiss charities qualify anywhere?

No — and the rule is identical in all three countries, which makes it one of the few genuinely simple points in cross-border taxation. Charitable relief is reserved for organisations established domestically or within the EU and EEA, and Switzerland belongs to neither.

The mirror image holds on the Swiss side: Swiss tax authorities only allow donations to Swiss tax-exempt institutions, within 20 per cent of net taxable income. The practical rule is therefore blunt but reliable — give in the country where your income is taxed. On a 2 000 euro gift, the difference between a French and a Swiss recipient is 1 500 euros for a French commuter, and roughly 700 euros for a German one at a 35 per cent marginal rate.

Is overtime worked in Switzerland tax-free?

Only in France. This is the widest divergence between the three countries, and the reason so much contradictory advice circulates in cross-border forums.

A worked example for the French case. A Vaud-based commuter working 42 hours a week against a 40-hour reference accumulates roughly 104 overtime hours a year. Paid at 55 francs an hour, that is about 5 700 francs, some 6 100 euros at the annual average rate used for 2025 income — fully exempt under the 7 500 euro ceiling. At a 30 per cent marginal rate the saving approaches 1 800 euros a year, and three years of amended returns frequently exceed 4 000 euros.

The employment law side, meaning how much overtime a Swiss employer may actually require and how it must be compensated, is governed by Swiss law regardless of residence and is covered in our guide to overtime and the Swiss Labour Act.

Which maintenance payments can you deduct?

All three countries allow a deduction, but they disagree on almost every parameter: who the recipient may be, how much, and even whether a payment to a child qualifies at all.

Two practical points cut across all three. First, the deduction is mirrored by taxation in the recipient's hands, so the family gain is the rate differential, not the full amount. Second, the payment method is now decisive: standing orders from your own account, with a clear reference, are what survives scrutiny. Irregular cash handovers at weekend visits are worth nothing in tax terms even when they serve exactly the same purpose.

Are school and tuition fees deductible?

Yes in France and Italy, no in Germany when the school is Swiss. This is the mirror image of the childcare rule, and it catches families who move a child into an international school in Basel or Zurich.

The underlying logic is worth stating in one line: for care, what matters is the service actually delivered, which is why Swiss crèches are accepted. For education and charitable giving, what matters is where the institution is established, which is why Swiss schools and Swiss foundations fail. Practical arrangements for paying fees in francs are covered in our guide to paying tuition fees in Switzerland.

What can you deduct on the Swiss side as a quasi-resident?

Essentially what a Swiss resident deducts. Quasi-resident status is open to any cross-border worker earning at least 90 per cent of worldwide income in Switzerland, whatever their country of residence, and gives access to subsequent ordinary assessment instead of the flat withholding scale.

The application must be filed by 31 March of the year following the tax year. The deadline is strict and admits no exception.

Interest on private debt, medical costs above a franchise and a flat 3 per cent allowance for other professional expenses complete the list. A well-prepared application typically returns between 3 000 and 8 000 francs for a Geneva commuter.

How much does currency conversion cost you?

The answer is rarely factored in: almost all of these expenses are paid in one currency and deducted in another. The Geneva crèche bills in francs but is declared in euros. The alimony leaves in euros but is funded from a franc salary. At each crossing an exchange margin applies, invisible because it is built into the rate.

First, the declaratory reflex. The French administration publishes an annual average exchange rate, reproduced in the 2047-Suisse form and set at 1.07 EUR per 1 CHF for 2025 income; you may instead use the rate on the day of receipt if it is more favourable, provided you apply one method consistently. Germany and Italy require the same consistency: pick a defensible method and document it for the whole year.

The real cost of recurring flows

Across these three flows the annual gap exceeds 1 340 euros — more than the maximum French childcare credit, more than the entire German tradesman relief. Optimising a tax return without looking at the exchange rate means winning on one side what you lose on the other.

The ibani margin is tapered: 0.40 per cent up to 10 000 CHF, 0.35 per cent from 10 000 to 50 000 CHF, 0.30 per cent from 50 000 to 100 000 CHF, 0.20 per cent from 100 000 to 250 000 CHF and 0.15 per cent above. No account opening, maintenance or transfer fees are added.

Before opening an account you can simulate exactly what you would receive with our currency converter, or read our guide to transferring a Swiss salary abroad. Related questions on insurance and family benefits are covered in our guides to cross-border health insurance and cross-border family allowances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are childcare costs paid in Switzerland deductible for cross-border workers?

Yes, in all three neighbouring countries, and this is the most commonly missed relief. French tax doctrine expressly accepts that the childcare tax credit applies to amounts paid to carers and facilities established in Switzerland: 50 per cent of expenses capped at 3 500 euros per child, so up to 1 750 euros, for children under 6 who are cared for outside the home. Germany allows 80 per cent of childcare costs as special expenses, up to 4 800 euros per child per year for children under 14, and German tax offices accept invoices from Swiss crèches provided the payment was made by bank transfer rather than in cash. Italy is far less generous, with a 19 per cent credit on a maximum of 632 euros per child, which is not cumulative with the INPS nursery bonus. On the Swiss side, a cross-border worker granted quasi-resident status deducts up to 25 500 francs per child for federal direct tax and 25 000 francs for Geneva cantonal tax.

Is overtime worked in Switzerland exempt from tax?

Only for French cross-border workers, and only in the cantons covered by the 1983 agreement: Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Jura, Bern, Solothurn, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. Article 81 quater of the French tax code exempts overtime pay up to 7 500 euros net per year, a ceiling confirmed for both 2025 and 2026 income, and the doctrine expressly extends it to workers employed abroad. The practical condition is documentary: the Swiss employer must complete form 2041-AE stating the number of overtime hours and the corresponding pay. Germany taxes overtime pay in full, exempting only night, Sunday and public holiday premiums under section 3b of the income tax act, and the planned exemption for overtime premiums was still not in force in summer 2026. Italy also taxes overtime in full for new cross-border workers.

Do donations to Swiss charities give a tax break in France, Germany or Italy?

No. All three countries restrict charitable relief to organisations established domestically or within the European Union and European Economic Area, and Switzerland belongs to neither. In France, article 200 of the tax code excludes Swiss recipients unless they hold specific approval or qualify as international organisations. In Germany, section 10b of the income tax act produces the same outcome, and the Federal Fiscal Court confirmed this again in its judgment of 1 October 2025 in case X R 20/22, stressing that the burden of proof lies with the donor. In Italy, the 30 per cent credit on up to 30 000 euros applies to organisations registered in the national third sector register. The rule is perfectly symmetrical: Swiss tax authorities only allow donations to Swiss tax-exempt institutions, up to 20 per cent of net taxable income.

What is the difference between a tax credit and a tax reduction for a cross-border worker?

A tax reduction can only wipe out tax you actually owe: if your liability is nil, or already cancelled by a treaty credit, the reduction is lost with no carry-forward and no refund. A tax credit is refundable, so the treasury pays you the excess by bank transfer. The distinction is decisive for a French cross-border worker taxed at source in Geneva, whose French tax on the Swiss salary is neutralised by the treaty credit reported in box 8TK. That worker still recovers childcare and home employment credits in cash, but generally loses reductions for donations and school fees. German cross-border workers face a different but equally important distinction between deductions from income, special expenses and the direct tax reduction under section 35a, which is worth roughly three times as much per euro spent.

What can a quasi-resident deduct in Switzerland in 2026?

Essentially what a Swiss resident deducts. Quasi-resident status is open to cross-border workers earning at least 90 per cent of their worldwide income in Switzerland and gives access to subsequent ordinary assessment. The main items for 2026 are pillar 3a contributions of 7 258 francs for an employee affiliated to a pension fund, voluntary buy-backs into the second pillar according to the certified shortfall, third-party childcare costs of up to 25 500 francs per child for federal direct tax and 25 000 francs in Geneva, commuting costs capped at 3 300 francs for federal direct tax but only around 529 francs for Geneva cantonal tax, meal costs of 15 francs per day, professional training of up to 13 000 francs, donations to Swiss tax-exempt institutions up to 20 per cent of net income, and maintenance paid to a former spouse or for minor children. The application must be filed by 31 March of the year following the tax year, and the deadline is strict.