Hi all,
My wife would like to work part-time in a coffee shop or something similar.
I don’t want her to, as this would put me in the married, both people working, tax bracket. I don’t make millions, but roughly her first CHF 10k of salary would go to the taxman - and that’s just from Geneva taxes, not including federal and communal taxes
https://www.ge.ch/document/baremes-p…ot-source-2023
Question: is there a maximum amount of hours my wife can work part-time to still be considered as not employed for tax purposes? Or the second she works just one hour in the year it would hit us?
Thanks in advance!
I think there's some tax exempt amount, but it was rather peanuts, like 3k pa.
Well on top she will get some contribution to her pension as well as be able to deduct third pillar contributions and possibly be happier if that is what she wants to do.
It's not all about money....
So what? It's her money. Equally you could consider her money first, then it's you paying an extra 10k, not her.
Even on a marginal rate of 33% that's still another 20k going into the household coffers. Not to be sneezed at.
From the 20Min a few days ago, perhaps there might be a change on the horizons:
https://www.20min.ch/story/ehepaare-…n-982438349364
More here:
https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/do…-id-97555.html
The Bundesrat wants to change to individual taxation. (This is a Gegenvorschlag to a referendum.) This is seen as an incentive to get more people into the workforce.
For married couples with similar incomes, this would likely result in a lower tax. However, couples with only one income, or those with one low income, might be disadvantaged. Those with high incomes may see a slight increase.
Which is to say: Don’t let tax issues discourage your wife from working.
Your golden years may be far away, but it would be wise to keep an eye on the larger future: Your wife needs the security of her own pension. Coupling onto yours will leave her with very little, even if you are paying in many multiples of the maximum. A non-working spouse will be left ever-more vulnerable in tomorrow’s Switzerland.
No taxation systems can be ever be entirely fair. Joint/separate taxation benefit some groups and disadvantage others. In the UK (separate taxation), a couple on 45k each, pay significantly less tax than a couple where one earns 55k, and the other earns 35k (or less). But the UK tax system is egregiously complicated and silly.
I don't know about other cantons, but if they want to get more people into the workforce they should look at providing lunch for school kids. Mothers (and it's usually the mothers) have to pick them up at 1130, bring them back by 2pm, then collect them again at 4pm. What with having to shop and prepare lunch, it makes having a job very difficult.
We were fortunate that the school caretaker's wife used to provide lunch for about 12 children for about CHF 12 or 15 (can't recall) each, and keep them entertained till 2pm, but for most of the rest of the school this was not possible.
My wife was getting school lunches in Lugano back in the early '70s!
Tom
Issue is we are still saying "mother's" have to pick them up.... And not parents? Why is it automatically a mother's job?
(I agree with you that it mostly will be but this is part of the issue and perhaps when it's also the men who are inconvenienced things start changing....)
My kids walked home at lunch, no need to pick them up.
Tom