Zurich tax return: ZHprivateTax 2026
for the self-employed

As a self-employed person, you complete your Zurich tax return online in ZHprivateTax. You attach Hilfsblatt A (supplementary form A for self-employment) and a signed statement of your business figures. The deadline is 31 March 2027.

For the self-employed, the municipality extends it on its own to 30 September 2027.

This guide is for you if you live in the canton of Zurich and run a sole proprietorship, work as a freelancer or are self-employed on the side. By the end, you'll have filed your 2026 tax return: profit in the right field, AHV and pillar 3a in the right place, mandatory enclosures uploaded, deadline met. The Zurich forms and the canton's pages are in German, so we keep the German names of forms, fields and Ziffern (line numbers), with a translation in brackets. As of November 2026.

Most pages about the Zurich tax return are written for employees.

If you're self-employed, you end up in February in front of Hilfsblatt A, wondering where the figure in Ziffer 4.1 is supposed to come from. We're self-employed ourselves and know that moment. That's why we go through the form here line by line.

The essentials in 30 seconds

• Where: in ZHprivateTax, free, in your browser. The downloadable Private Tax software no longer exists since the 2025 tax period. Paper is still possible.
• Login: via AGOV (app or FIDO2 security key), plus your personal access code (Zugangscode) from your tax documents.
• Mandatory for the self-employed: Hilfsblatt A plus the signed statements of assets and liabilities, income and expenses, and private withdrawals and contributions. With commercial bookkeeping: the signed annual financial statements.
• Deadline: 31 March 2027. For the self-employed, automatically 30 September 2027. On request, up to 30 November 2027 at the latest.
• Help: technical questions to the ZHprivateTax hotline 0800 22 88 11 (free). Tax questions to your municipal tax office (Gemeindesteueramt).

2027 deadlines: when do the self-employed have to file their Zurich tax return?

Many guides to the Zurich tax return miss this.

For the self-employed, the deadline isn't simply 31 March. The cantonal directive on the tax return procedure (Weisung zum Steuererklärungsverfahren) says: the municipal tax offices extend the deadline «von Amtes wegen» (ex officio, i.e. automatically) to 30 September for self-employed people living in the canton. You don't have to apply for it.

Sources (in German): ZStB 133.1, Aufforderung 2027 (Zurich tax manual, 2027 filing notice); ZStB 132.1, Abschnitt G (section G).

Newly self-employed since 2026? The directive ties the automatic extension to your self-employment. In your first year, though, your municipality may not know about it yet. So don't rely on it blindly.

Check the deadline on your letter or call your municipal tax office. If in doubt, submit a request before 31 March. It takes you two minutes.

The extension to 30 April 2025 was an exception. For the 2024 tax return, the canton moved the general deadline as a one-off. For 2026, 31 March 2027 applies again.

Requesting an extension: from the municipality, before the deadline

You request an extension (Fristerstreckung) from your municipal tax office, not from the canton. Many municipalities offer an online form for it. In the city of Zurich, you scan the «E-Frist» QR code on the tax return or on the letter with your access details and land directly on the online extension request (Fristerstreckung online).

Two rules matter. A first request that arrives on time is deemed approved unless you hear otherwise.

A request made after the deadline, on the other hand, is rejected, because an expired deadline can no longer be extended. Beyond 30 November, you need extraordinary reasons. General reasons such as your fiduciary being very busy or «fehlende Unterlagen» (missing documents) are explicitly not enough.

Does the extension cost anything? The cantonal directive provides for no fee, and the cities of Zurich, Winterthur and Uster don't mention one on their pages. Whether your municipality charges something is on its website.

What happens if you're late?

You'll receive a formal reminder (Mahnung), possibly preceded by a simple request with a 20-day deadline. The reminder period is 10 days and cannot be extended. If you still don't file anything, the tax office assesses you at its discretion. On top of that comes a fine of up to CHF 1,000, or up to CHF 10,000 in serious or repeat cases. The reminder itself is free of charge.

Your figures for Hilfsblatt A don't have to come together in March. If you record invoices and expenses in the same place all year, all you do in spring is export. Try Magic Heidi for free →

ZHprivateTax, not ZHcorporateTax: which portal applies to your sole proprietorship?

If you search for «ZHprivateTax selbständig», you often end up on ZHcorporateTax help pages. That's the wrong portal.

ZHcorporateTax is for legal entities such as a GmbH or AG. For tax purposes, your sole proprietorship isn't a separate person. You declare the profit in your personal tax return in ZHprivateTax, with Hilfsblatt A.

The 2026 tax return is the second year without the downloadable Private Tax software. If you switched to ZHprivateTax last year, you'll find last year's data pre-filled automatically.

Filing online needs no signature. After submitting, you have five days to make corrections. After that, you can resubmit the tax return at any time.

On zhprivatetax.ch you'll find a demo version and the canton's explainer videos, such as «Steuererklärung eröffnen» (opening a tax return; video below).

Before you start: what to have ready for your Zurich tax return

You'll find the Swiss basic list of documents in our tax return checklist for the self-employed. For Zurich, add these points:

• Access code from your municipal tax office's letter, and an AGOV account. The documents arrive in January 2027. If you don't receive any, you have to request them yourself.
• Your 2026 business figures: revenue, expenses by category, profit (next section).
• 2026 AHV documents from your compensation fund. More on this: AHV contributions for the self-employed.
• Pillar 3a certificate, if you paid in.
• Business account balance at 31.12.2026 and, if you use the accrual method, the list of open customer invoices at 31.12.

Preparing your business figures for the Zurich tax return

Simplified or commercial bookkeeping?

The threshold is CHF 500,000 in revenue in the last financial year (Art. 957 of the Code of Obligations, OR/CO). Below it, simplified bookkeeping is enough: income, expenses and financial position. You then complete the Hilfsblatt A for simplified bookkeeping (form 328).

Above it, you need commercial bookkeeping, form 329 and signed annual financial statements. Most freelancers are clearly in the first case. What the closing looks like in practice is shown in our guide to the year-end closing of a sole proprietorship.

Only started in the autumn?

Picture Marco, a fictional IT consultant in Uster. He started his sole proprietorship in October 2026 and sent two invoices.

A little-known rule applies to him: no business closing has to be prepared if the activity only began in the last quarter (§ 50 para. 3 StG, the Zurich Tax Act). His first closing can then cover the period from October 2026 to the end of 2027. He declares the result with the 2027 tax return, because what counts are the closings that fall within the tax period (§ 50 para. 2 StG). Marco checks with his municipal tax office how to complete the 2026 tax return, and saves himself a closing for three months.

Cash or accrual method: choose one and stick with it

With simplified bookkeeping, you may record income and expenses when paid (cash method, Ist-Methode) or when invoiced (accrual method, Soll-Methode). The method you choose applies to all income and expenses and stays the same year after year. If you show open supplier invoices or provisions, you must also record your open customer invoices. Mixing the two is the classic mistake.

Revenue, expenses by category, profit: from your annual figures

This is where you save the most time. If you recorded your invoices and expenses in Magic Heidi in 2026, you see your revenue, your expenses by category and your profit for the year. Export these figures. They are the basis for two things: the signed statement of income and expenses that Zurich requires, and the lines in Hilfsblatt A.

While doing so, check that the revenue matches your method. In Magic Heidi, the annual profit counts only paid invoices by default. With simplified bookkeeping, Zurich accepts both methods:

• Accrual method (Soll): all invoices issued in 2026 belong in revenue, including those still open at 31.12. So include the year's open invoices in your figures. In Hilfsblatt A, payments received go in 4.1 and open invoices in 4.3 (table below).
• Cash method (Ist): what counts is what was actually received in 2026. Check December invoices that were only paid in January, and previous-year invoices that were paid in 2026.

If you keep track of creditors or provisions, the Merkblatt (official leaflet) requires the accrual method.

What the export doesn't do for you still has to be done:

• write the statement and sign it (your signature, not ours),
• deduct private shares for car, phone or home office (private contributions in a sole proprietorship),
• depreciation on your laptop, furniture or vehicle,
• the asset side: bank balances, open invoices and business debts at 31.12.

Magic Heidi doesn't complete your tax return and doesn't file it. It also doesn't create an income statement or balance sheet, and there is no interface to ZHprivateTax.

You type the amounts into Hilfsblatt A yourself. You upload the statement as a PDF. If you want to keep things in order all year, here's more on accounting for the self-employed.

VAT-registered? How your figures fit Ziffer 4.1 and 4.6

Hilfsblatt A asks in Ziffer 4.1 for income including VAT (MWST) and deducts in Ziffer 4.6 the VAT owed or paid. If you're VAT-registered, revenue and expenses in Magic Heidi are excluding VAT. Your export shows the VAT figures (charged, paid, owed) separately.

This is how we read the form:

• Not VAT-registered: no issue. Your amounts contain no VAT that you pass on to the tax authority. Ziffer 4.6 stays empty.
• Effective method: for 4.1, add the VAT on your invoices back to your revenue. In 4.6, deduct the VAT that, according to your VAT returns, you owed or paid to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA/ESTV). Your expenses then count including VAT: if they are recorded excluding VAT, add the input tax on them back.
• Net tax rate method (Saldosteuersatz): you don't deduct input tax. In 4.6 goes the net-rate VAT you actually paid, and your expenses count including VAT. If your expenses are recorded excluding VAT, add the VAT on them back.

If you're unsure, ask your municipal tax office or your fiduciary before you file.

Hilfsblatt A Zurich line by line (simplified bookkeeping)

We refer to the 2024 edition of form 328, the current version on zh.ch. In ZHprivateTax, the same fields appear online in the section for self-employment. The Ziffern may change slightly for 2026. What counts is what you see in ZHprivateTax in January 2027.

With the accrual method, 4.1 plus 4.3 minus 4.5 gives the total of all invoices issued in 2026 (Merkblatt: payments received plus change in receivables). With the cash method, 4.3 and 4.5 usually stay empty.

Why AHV appears twice: in Ziffer 9.2, it reduces the income for AHV purposes (Ziffer 10). In 11.1, you add it back, because according to the form it is deducted «in Ziff. 16.1 der Steuererklärung» (in Ziffer 16.1 of the tax return).

Ziffer 10 is used for the report to the AHV authorities. So your final AHV contributions depend on these figures.

Take Lea, a fictional graphic designer with a sole proprietorship in Winterthur. She isn't VAT-registered and uses the cash method. Her export for 2026 shows CHF 68,000 in revenue and CHF 14,500 in expenses by category. Checking the December and January payments changes nothing.

She puts CHF 68,000 in 4.1, and 4.6 stays empty. She spreads her categories across Ziffer 9 and writes up the list as the «separate Aufstellung» (separate statement) for 9.8.

The AHV contributions go in 9.2, the private shares for car and phone in 9.6 and 9.9. She enters the result from Ziffer 12 in Ziffer 2.1, and her pillar 3a contribution in Ziffer 14. After one evening, she's done.

With commercial bookkeeping, you use form 329. You also upload the signed annual financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, notes; small sole proprietorships may leave out the notes). You can offset losses from the last seven financial years: in Ziffer 11.3 of form 328 or Ziffer 4.3 of form 329.

AHV and pillar 3a: where do they go in the Zurich tax return?

As a self-employed person, you pay 10.0% AHV/IV/EO (old-age, disability and loss-of-earnings insurance; AVS/AI/APG in French) in 2026. Below CHF 60,500 of income, a sliding scale from 5.371% applies, and the minimum contribution is CHF 530 (AHV leaflet 2.02, as of 1 January 2026). In Hilfsblatt A, you enter the contributions in 9.2, add them back in 11.1 and deduct them in Ziffer 16.1 of the tax return.

Pillar 3a is not a business expense. It belongs in Ziffer 14 of the tax return.

Without a pension fund, you may deduct up to 20% of your earned income in 2026, at most CHF 36,288. With a pension fund, it's CHF 7,258. How to calculate your amount and fill gaps is explained in our article on how much you can pay into pillar 3a as a self-employed person. We've collected all the other deductions for the self-employed separately.

ZHprivateTax step by step

1. Log in with AGOV and your access code.
2. Check last year's data. It's carried over, but that doesn't make it automatically correct.
3. Enter personal details and salary, if you're also employed (Ziffer 1).
4. Self-employment: complete Hilfsblatt A, choose main activity (Haupterwerb, 2.1) or side activity (Nebenerwerb, 2.2).
5. Deductions: pillar 3a in Ziffer 14, AHV in Ziffer 16.1, then the rest.
6. Assets: securities and accounts. Business assets come in via Hilfsblatt A (Ziffer 32).
7. Upload mandatory documents: signed statement or annual financial statements, pillar 3a certificate, salary certificate. PDF via drag and drop, or a photo with your smartphone.
8. Submit without a signature, and save the PDF of the tax return. Use the five-day correction window.

Only mandatory documents need to be uploaded. You don't have to send anything on paper afterwards. But keep all receipts until the final tax bill is definitive. For business books, there is a ten-year retention obligation anyway.

Prefer paper? That's still possible. You then have to sign the tax return and send it to: Zürcher Gemeinden – Steuererklärung, c/o Scan-Center, Postfach, 8010 Zürich.

The most common mistakes in the Zurich tax return for the self-employed

1. Opening ZHcorporateTax instead of ZHprivateTax. The sole proprietorship belongs in the private tax return.
2. Statement not signed or not uploaded. It's one of the mandatory enclosures under § 134 StG.
3. Inconsistent VAT: 4.1 including VAT, but 4.6 forgotten, or gross and net amounts mixed.
4. Pillar 3a booked as a business expense instead of in Ziffer 14.
5. Cash and accrual methods mixed, for example December invoices counted twice or not at all.
6. Extension requested too late. Once the deadline has passed, nothing more can be done.
7. Private share of car or phone forgotten. The tax office then usually adds it back itself.

Nina, a fictional copywriter in Zurich-Oerlikon, has been VAT-registered since 2025 and uses the effective method. In 2026, she had revenue of CHF 120,000 excluding VAT and charged CHF 9,720 VAT on it. All invoices are paid.

In her first draft, she enters the CHF 120,000 in 4.1 and still deducts the VAT in 4.6. Her revenue would then be CHF 9,720 too low. When cross-checking with the export, she corrects it: 4.1 = CHF 129,720 including VAT, in 4.6 the VAT she owed for 2026 according to her VAT returns, and her expenses including VAT in Ziffer 9.

So that next spring all you do is export: record invoices and receipts as soon as they come in. Start Magic Heidi for free →

When a fiduciary makes sense

With the cash method and a few categories, you can usually manage Hilfsblatt A on your own. Get help if any of these apply: commercial bookkeeping, VAT with a switch between the net tax rate and effective methods, a property in your business assets, closing down the business with a liquidation gain, or activity in several cantons. Our comparison of digital fiduciaries in Zurich gives you an overview.

And honestly: if something is unclear, call your municipal tax office. The people there are usually helpful, and a question before you file costs nothing.

Other cantons: St. Gallen, Vaud (VaudTax), Geneva (GeTax) and the tax return for the self-employed in other cantons.

Summary: your Zurich tax return in four steps

• Note the deadline: 30 September 2027 for the self-employed; in your first year, check with your municipality.
• Export your figures: revenue, expenses by category and profit as the basis of the signed statement.
• Complete Hilfsblatt A: 4.1 including VAT, AHV in 9.2 and 11.1, result in Ziffer 2, pillar 3a in Ziffer 14.
• Upload and submit: mandatory documents as PDF, no signature, five-day correction window.

A Zurich tax return as a self-employed person isn't rocket science once the figures are already there. What takes the most time is hunting everything down in March. Try Magic Heidi for free: invoices, expenses and receipts in one place all year, with the free plan covering 3 invoices and 3 expenses, no credit card needed. In spring, you export your annual figures and complete Hilfsblatt A in one evening.

Official links (in German)

• ZHprivateTax (app) and zhprivatetax.ch with FAQ and videos
• Steuererklärung natürliche Personen (tax return for individuals, zh.ch)
• Merkblatt zum Hilfsblatt A (leaflet on Hilfsblatt A, form 321)
• Hilfsblatt A mit vereinfachter Buchführung (Hilfsblatt A for simplified bookkeeping, form 328)
• ZStB 132.1, Weisung zum Steuererklärungsverfahren (directive on the tax return procedure) and ZStB 133.1, Aufforderung 2027 (2027 filing notice)
• Fristerstreckung Stadt Zürich (City of Zurich extension request)
• AHV leaflet 2.02, contributions of the self-employed (in English)