Are Continuing Education Costs Tax Deductible in Switzerland?

Employees

Employees are eligible to deduct job-related training and education costs if they have:

• Completed their first upper secondary education (secondary level II), or
• Reached the age of 20, even if they haven’t completed secondary level II.

To further clarify what this means: If you're under 20, you must have completed your first upper secondary qualification before you're eligible to deduct any further training or education expenses from your tax return. If you're over 20, you can deduct other career-related training, even if you never completed an upper secondary education — but you still can't deduct the costs of pursuing your first upper secondary qualification itself. This means that the costs of your first upper secondary qualification are never deductible, no matter your age.

Important note: The deduction applies only to costs paid directly by the employee. If the employer covers the cost, it is not considered taxable income and the employee cannot deduct it. If costs are shared, only the employee's share is deductible.

Employers

Employers can deduct training and continuing education costs as personnel expenses if they are business-justified. These employer-paid costs are not taxable income for the employee and do not count as benefits in kind.

Self-Employed

Self-employed individuals may deduct education and training costs as business expenses if the training is directly related to their current activity. These are considered justified business expenses, with no fixed upper limit.

However, if the training is unrelated to their current self-employed activity (i.e., education geared towards a change of profession), it can only qualify for a tax deduction up to the maximum of CHF 13,000 provided the other criteria are met.

For example, a freelance graphic designer attending an advanced Adobe course can fully deduct the costs. However, if the same designer enrolls in a yoga teacher training program with no link to their current profession, those costs cannot be claimed as business expenses. In such cases, the fallback is to use the personal deduction under Art. 33 DBG, capped at CHF 13,000.

What education and training qualify for tax deduction?

For the education or training expense to be tax deductible, it must be vocationally motivated. This means it must be aimed at supporting your current or future ability to earn a living through employment or self-employment.

Qualifying education and training include:

• A repeated or second completion of upper secondary education (not your first qualification), such as the Matura (academic high school diploma), Fachmaturität (specialized baccalaureate), Federal VET Diploma (EFZ), Federal Vocational Certificate (EBA), or Fachmittelschulausweis (certificate from a specialized middle school)
• Courses at universities, universities of applied sciences, and teacher training colleges
• Professional certificate programs
• Job-related language courses or technical skills workshops
• Retraining programs aimed at a new career path

Non-qualifying education includes:

• First-time upper secondary school qualifications
• Hobby or leisure courses (e.g., dance, photography, art courses which are unrelated to your current or future career)
• Language courses unrelated to work
• Any course where the connection to current or future employment is not clearly established

Which expenses can be deducted?

If the education or training qualifies, you can deduct a range of related expenses from your taxes, including:

• Course, semester, and examination fees
• Books, handouts, and other learning materials
• Technical equipment required for training, and its maintenance
• Travel, accommodation, and meals related to in-person training programs

Important: the expenses must be paid personally by the taxpayer; what counts is the payment date (cash basis). Only the amount actually disbursed in the relevant tax year is deductible.

Switzerland’s generous tax relief for continued vocational education and training provides an ideal opportunity to enhance your career skills while reducing your tax burden.

To best capitalize on the available deductions, follow these simple tips:

• Make sure your training course or education program is clearly connected to your current or future job. If it’s not career-oriented, it generally won’t qualify for tax deduction.
• Keep every receipt, invoice, and confirmation, including those for travel and study materials. There are a range of related costs that may be eligible for deduction.
• Know your deduction limits. The federal cap is CHF 13,000, but your canton may allow more (or less).
• Consider the timing of your expenses. If your costs are close to the limit, spreading them across two tax years could let you claim the full amount.