Just getting the tax forms sorted out and I'm not sure if I can claim the cost of replacing my old oven/hob as maintenance or not. Old oven decided not to work properly after 30-40 years so had to be replaced, but is this maintenance which is claimable or improvement which is not.

My experience in SZ, which may or may not apply to FR:

If the new oven/hob is a replacement of a similar appliance - quality, price (adjusted), etc, then it is deductible. If the new oven is of a better quality then it is an improvement and thus not deductable.

For instance:

Replacing a replacing a 25 year old 4 burner electric stovetop with a 6 burner induction unit is an improvement and thus not fully deductible. However, because the old unit was not functional, a deduction could be made up to the value of the old unit. If the old unit was functional, be prepared for a discussion with the tax folks.

Go ahead and try - for this amount of money it might not be questioned. The worst that can happen is a negotiation and/or correction on the tax return.

It wouldn't do any harm to try and claim for it anyway. They may not agree, but you won't get anything at all if you don't.

I have never had any problems deducting the full price from maintenance - we did 3 in a year.

If you don't regularly try to deduct a new cooker it shouldn't be an issue

What happened was the oven decided not to be an oven any more. It was only able to grill items, but the baking heat element gave out. As I use the bake part the most I eventually decided to replace it. Because the controls for the hob were built into the oven part the hob had to be replaced as well which took some finding as it's an odd size.

Obviously given the age differences the new oven does have some more features that the old one didn't, but basically I still have a 4 plate hob and oven which is what the old one was. Both electric models so no upgrades there either.

Total cost including installation and removal of the old unit was CHF2,829.

Don't bother with the story - just attach the invoice and claim full amount as maintenance.

Unless you have taken the piss before (like a new kitchen 2 years ago) they won't care.

No, that was just for y'all's info. I wouldn't do anything but attach the invoice unless they come asking questions.

There is a possibility it might not be worth claiming for your replacement cooker. If you claim the % pauschal tax deduction you might find it is more than the price of the cooker. It may be different in your canton, but I just deduct the 20% pauschal and it is always more than the price of small repairs or replacement of fridges, cookers etc.

Just updating this to say yes the claim for the replacement oven/hob was accepted by the canton.

Nixi, thanks for the post about the paushal tax. I've not really looked into that, but I certainly will in future.