2025 tax return in the canton of Vaud: deductions not to overlook

A Vaud tax return involves more than importing a salary certificate and a few bank statements. VaudTax calculates some deductions automatically, but only if the underlying information is correct. Others must be entered, documented or compared with a flat-rate allowance.

For the 2025 tax period, the statutory filing deadline for individuals is March 15, 2026. However, the canton grants a grace period until June 30. Beyond that date, an extension must be requested in accordance with the prescribed procedures and deadlines.

The amounts below mainly concern Vaud cantonal and communal tax (ICC). Where the ceiling for direct federal tax (IFD) differs significantly, we flag it. This distinction is more than cosmetic: the same expense may produce two different deductions.

Main Vaud deduction limits for 2025

These figures are ceilings, not automatic entitlements. The amount allowed remains limited to expenses actually borne and the conditions specific to each deduction.

1. Employment expenses: recalculate rather than copy

Travel between home and work

Employees may deduct the necessary costs of traveling to work when these are not reimbursed by their employer. In cases of remote working, temporary unemployment, a break in employment or work performed during only part of the year, the number of days must be reduced.

For public transport, Vaud applies a flat-rate standard based on distance. Use of a private car is not accepted simply because it is faster or more comfortable. In particular, taxpayers must demonstrate the absence of reasonably usable public transport, a work-related requirement or another objective circumstance. The administration could therefore reject a mileage calculation if public transport remains usable; saving time alone is not enough.

For IFD, the commuting deduction is capped at CHF 3’300 per employee, even if the allowable cantonal deduction is higher.

Meals away from home

The maximum deduction is CHF 3’200 per year. It falls to CHF 1’600 when a canteen is available or the employer contributes to the cost of meals. If that contribution eliminates practically all additional cost compared with a meal at home, no deduction is available.

Here too, actual days must be counted. Deducting 240 meals while working remotely four days a week would be a fairly direct invitation to a tax adjustment.

Other employment expenses: flat rate or actual costs

The flat rate is 3% of net income, with a minimum of CHF 2’000 and a maximum of CHF 4’000. Unlike commuting and meal expenses, it is not reduced because of remote working.

Actual expenses may be claimed if they exceed the flat rate, but they must be necessary to earn the income and supported by evidence. The flat rate and actual costs cannot be combined. An overall comparison is therefore required, rather than quietly adding together the best of both options.

2. Pensions and insurance: check certificates, not just payments

Pillar 3a

Contributions actually paid in 2025 are deductible up to:

• CHF 7’258 for a person affiliated to a second-pillar pension plan;
• 20% of net income from gainful employment, up to CHF 36’288, for a person not affiliated to a second-pillar pension plan.

The official certificate must be attached. A payment order entered in late December but executed in January 2026 does not become a 2025 contribution through enthusiasm alone.

Since 2026, a catch-up contribution can fill a pillar 3a gap arising from 2025 onward, subject to conditions. However, it is deductible in the year in which it is paid: a catch-up contribution paid in 2026 therefore does not change the 2025 return.

Second-pillar pension buy-in

A personal buy-in not already deducted on the salary certificate is generally deductible on the basis of the pension fund’s certificate. The certificate must accompany the return when the buy-in reaches CHF 10’000; it must be retained in all cases.

A buy-in must be coordinated with any lump-sum withdrawal, retirement, divorce or property project. The immediate deduction must not obscure pension rules and the risk of a tax challenge depending on the sequence of transactions.

Health, accident and life insurance premiums

For ICC in 2025, the ceiling is CHF 5’000 for a single person, CHF 9’900 for a couple and CHF 1’300 per child qualifying for a family quotient share. Subsidies for compulsory insurance must be subtracted from premiums.

VaudTax applies the ceilings, but only on the basis of correctly entered amounts. Both premiums and subsidies must therefore be declared. IFD ceilings are significantly lower.

3. Children and family: the position on December 31 is decisive

Third-party childcare expenses

The Vaud deduction reaches CHF 15’200 per child under 14 living in the same household; the federal ceiling is CHF 25’800. The expenses must arise from employment, training or incapacity to earn, be invoiced by a third party and be documented.

Only the childcare component is deductible. Food, housework, teaching or leisure activities must be subtracted where identifiable.

In judgment 9C_156/2025 of January 29, 2026, the Federal Supreme Court accepted that certain camps or supervised activities may constitute childcare expenses when their main purpose is to meet a childcare need linked to the parents’ work. This does not turn every holiday camp into a tax-creative nursery. The authority may challenge the deduction if the recreational or educational activity predominates, if the connection with work is not established or if the invoice does not allow maintenance costs to be identified separately.

Adult children, alternating custody and single-parent families

An adult child still in an apprenticeship or studying may continue to qualify for certain deductions and family quotient shares. Their education must be declared and the relevant certificate retained.

In cases of separation, alternating custody or shared maintenance, not all deductions are allocated in the same way. Maintenance paid for a minor child is generally deductible for the payer and taxable for the receiving parent. From the month after the child reaches adulthood, it is no longer deductible or taxable under this regime.

The authority will examine, among other things, who provides maintenance, whom the child lives with, whether maintenance payments exist and whether the parent actually runs an independent household alone. Alternating custody alone does not give both parents the single-parent deduction.

4. The social deduction for housing: Vaud’s easily overlooked allowance

Code 660 applies both to tenants and to owners occupying their main home. Broadly speaking, the deduction corresponds to the difference between annual net rent — or the relevant imputed rental value — and 20% of net income under code 650, with maximum rents taken into account depending on family circumstances. The deduction cannot exceed CHF 6’800.

Simplified official example: for a couple with two children, net income of CHF 80’000 and annual net rent of CHF 18’000, the deduction is CHF 2’000, i.e. CHF 18’000 minus 20% of CHF 80’000.

This deduction applies only to ICC. For it to be calculated, rent excluding service charges or the imputed rental value of the main home must be entered correctly.

5. Healthcare, disability, education and donations: keep useful evidence

Medical and dental expenses

Illness or accident expenses borne by taxpayers for themselves or a person legally dependent on them are deductible to the extent that they exceed 5% of intermediate income under code 700. These include doctors, dentists, glasses, prostheses and prescribed medication, after deducting insurance reimbursements.

Recognized disability-related expenses benefit from more favorable treatment: they may be deducted in full, without the 5% threshold, if they arise from the disability and remain borne by the taxpayer.

Before giving up because the expenses seem small, add up the entire year, especially if it includes substantial dental treatment. Conversely, wellness expenses or treatments without an established medical need may be rejected.

Education, continuing training and retraining

Expenses paid personally in 2025 are deductible up to CHF 12’000 per person for ICC and CHF 13’000 for IFD. Initial education is not eligible. In principle, taxpayers must hold an upper-secondary qualification or, from age 20, undertake training that does not lead to a first qualification at that level.

Employer reimbursements, subsidies and other funding must be subtracted. Courses taken purely for personal interest remain private expenses, however fascinating they may be.

Donations and political contributions

Donations totaling at least CHF 100 to Swiss institutions exempt from tax on public-benefit grounds may be deducted up to 20% of intermediate income. A membership fee entitling the payer to something in return, or a donation to a private individual, does not meet this definition.

Payments to certain political parties form a separate category: the 2025 ceiling is CHF 10’100 for ICC and CHF 10’600 for IFD.

6. Property owners and investors: compare the options

Property maintenance

For each privately owned property and each year, taxpayers may choose between actual expenses and the Vaud flat rate:

• owner-occupied housing: 20% of imputed rental value if the property is 20 years old or less, 30% if it is more than 20 years old;
• rented property: 10% of gross yield if the property is 20 years old or less, 20% if it is more than 20 years old, subject to the limits in the instructions.

Repairs and renovations that maintain value are generally deductible. Expenditure that adds value is not deductible as maintenance. Energy-related investments in an existing building benefit from special rules and must be reduced by subsidies.

The correct approach is to total the eligible invoices and compare the result with the flat rate for each property. The choice can be changed from one year to the next.

Interest, securities expenses and non-deductible costs

Private debt interest is deductible up to the gross return on assets plus CHF 50’000. Repayment of debt principal and leasing payments are not deductible.

For securities entrusted to a third party, Vaud generally allows a flat rate of 1.5‰ of their value for ordinary custody and administration costs. Purchase and sale costs, investment advice, asset management and tax-return preparation fees are not deductible. Yes, even when the return is particularly elegant.

A practical method before submitting VaudTax

1. Reconstruct the facts of 2025: employment, remote working, moving home, marriage, separation, a birth, a child’s studies, purchase or sale of an asset.
2. Check certificates: salary, banks, pillar 3a, occupational pension buy-ins, insurance, childcare, donations, education and medical expenses.
3. Compare alternatives: public transport or justified vehicle use, flat-rate or actual employment expenses, flat-rate or actual property maintenance.
4. Check ICC/IFD differences: travel, dual employment, insurance, education, childcare and social deductions.
5. Review assets and liabilities: accounts, securities, cryptocurrencies, vehicles, insurance policies with a surrender value, properties and debts as at December 31, 2025.
6. Check mandatory attachments and keep the other supporting documents for ten years.
7. Where there is material uncertainty, attach a clear explanation. A documented position is easier to defend than an isolated figure plucked from the tax heavens.

How Delta Conseil SA can support you

Delta Conseil SA can prepare or review your 2025 return, identify missing supporting documents, compare flat rates with actual expenses and handle specific situations: self-employment, property, securities, pensions, separation, alternating custody or international income.

Frequently asked questions

Is the March 15, 2026 deadline mandatory?

It is the statutory deadline. However, Vaud taxpayers with unlimited tax liability have a grace period until June 30. Any request for a further extension must be submitted by June 30 using the e-Délai procedure.

Can I pay a pillar 3a contribution missed in 2025 during 2026 and deduct it on the 2025 return?

No. A catch-up contribution for a 2025 gap may, subject to conditions, be made from 2026, but it is deductible in the year of payment. It will therefore appear on the 2026 return, not the 2025 return.

Can I deduct my car expenses if driving saves me a lot of time?

Not for that reason alone. Vaud requires objective justification for using a private vehicle. If public transport is reasonably usable, the administration may limit the deduction to the corresponding flat rate.

Must I attach all medical and maintenance invoices?

No. Some documents are mandatory at filing, while others are submitted only on request. They must nevertheless be retained and available. Tax supporting documents should generally be kept for ten years.

Are fees paid for preparing a tax return deductible?

No. Vaud’s instructions exclude tax-return preparation and tax advice costs from deductible securities administration or property maintenance expenses.

Official sources

• 2025 general instructions – Cantonal Tax Administration
• Table of main Vaud deductions for 2025
• 2025 supplementary instructions on real estate ownership
• Filing deadlines and e-Délai service – Canton of Vaud
• Supporting documents – Canton of Vaud
• Federal Supreme Court judgment 9C_156/2025 of January 29, 2026
• Pillar 3a catch-up contributions – Federal Social Insurance Office
• Federal Act on Direct Federal Tax (LIFD in French)

Last legal review: March 6, 2026.