Consider travel expenses in the sole proprietorship
Häufig werden wir gefragt, wie Fahrtkosten in der Einzelfirma berücksichtigt werden können. Lesen Sie in unserem Beitrag, welche zwei Varianten zur Verfügung stehen.
In order to present the vehicle costs for carrying out the entrepreneurial activity in the accounts, there are basically two options:
a) Vehicle remains in private ownership
If the vehicle is to remain privately owned, all costs are also paid privately. Alongside this, a driver's logbook can be used to record business trips (date, purpose of the trip such as meeting with client XY, starting point and destination, kilometres).
At the end of the business year, the kilometres can then be transferred to the bookkeeping at the rate accepted in the respective canton (max. CHF 0.70 / km).
Calculation example:
In the corresponding year, business trips amounting to 19,500 km were made. In the canton of St. Gallen, a mileage allowance of CHF 0.50/km applies up to 22,500 km. Accordingly, CHF 9,750 (19,500 km x CHF 0.50 / km) can be declared as business travel expenses.
b) Declaration as a business vehicle
If the car is mainly used for the conduct of business, it can be declared as a business vehicle. In this case, all costs can be paid via the business and thus be taken into account as an expense when determining the profit.
However, since the vehicle continues to be used partly for private purposes, a so-called private share must be taken into account. This amounts to 0.8% of the purchase price of the vehicle without VAT per month or 9.6% for a whole year and is shown as a reduction in expenses.
Calculation example:
Total expenses for petrol, insurance etc.: CHF 10‘000
Private share: CHF – 3‘840 (40‘000 x 9.6%)*
Total vehicle costs: CHF 6'160 allowed as deduction
*Assumption: The purchase price of the vehicle is CHF 43,200 incl. VAT, i.e. CHF 40,000 excl. VAT.
Travel expenses: Unequal treatment of self-employed workers
Since the enactment of the FABI bill on 1 January 2016, the tax authorities have encountered a problem: While the deduction of travel expenses for employed persons is now limited to CHF 3000, self-employed persons are not affected by the limitation of the deduction of travel expenses. This leads to an objectively unjustified unequal treatment.
If the travel costs of self-employed persons exceed the flat rate of CHF 3000, some tax authorities intend to add the difference to the taxable income.
