Glarus: ten years to offset tax losses

Context

TL;DR

• The Government proposes a tax revision to the Landsgemeinde.
• Losses could be offset for ten years.
• Parents would split various tax reliefs equally.
• New reporting obligations are planned.

Key facts

• Date → September 29, 2026
• Procedure → the Landrat must submit the text to the Landsgemeinde
• Losses → ten instead of seven years
• Period → losses from tax period 2020
• Child deductions → half to each parent in the cases provided for
• Notifications → unemployment funds, tax authorities and commercial register
• Publication → Landrat's business database

The cantonal government's proposal

On September 29, 2026, at the meeting of the Regierungsrat, the cantonal government of Glarus adopted the proposal to amend the tax law intended for the Landsgemeinde. The Government asks the Landrat to submit the text for approval by the assembly. The proposal is published in the Landrat's business database.

The revision serves to align cantonal tax law with changes in federal law. The draft sets out three objectives: greater legal certainty, more comprehensible rules and simpler tax assessment procedures. The text also addresses adjustments that remained pending and revises some provisions specific to the Canton.

The most significant change concerns the offsetting of losses. The draft provides that losses may be offset for tax purposes for ten years, instead of the seven specified to date. The extended period would apply to losses from tax period 2020. The proposal also addresses the calculation of the taxable income share of life annuities and the taxation of cross-border telework. Federal provisions relating to certain investment funds and systemically important banks are also incorporated.

A separate section concerns families. For parents who are not taxed jointly, have joint parental authority and do not claim maintenance contributions for tax purposes, the child deduction would be divided equally. The same division would apply to the additional deduction for education away from home, the increase in the insurance deduction linked to children and the exemption for children in wealth tax. The income and assets of minor children would also be attributed half to each parent in the cases provided for.

The package finally includes procedures and notifications: obligations of unemployment funds toward the tax administration and of the tax administration toward the commercial register office when a legal entity does not submit its annual accounts. Anyone legally required to conduct digital dealings with the authorities would also have to submit the dichiarazione delle imposte electronically for other persons.

Operational details

Which tax positions are affected

The impact of the revision is not the same for everyone. For those carrying forward tax losses, the operational point is the time window: the proposal extends from seven to ten years the possibility of offsetting them and includes those relating to tax period 2020. The check to perform is therefore twofold: identify the period to which the loss belongs and distinguish it from the years in which the offsetting is used. The proposal thus describes an extension of the duration, not a new expense item or an additional amount.

For parents not taxed jointly, the proposal creates a link between several items. The 50% share would apply not only to the child deduction: the same logic would apply to education away from home, the increase in the insurance deduction relating to children, and the exemption for children in wealth tax. In the cases envisaged, the minor's income and assets would also not remain assigned to just one parent, but would be attributed to both in equal shares. This is distinct from the tax-rate relief, for which the key factor is who primarily supports the child.

The distinction becomes concrete when parents who are not taxed jointly live with the child, share parental authority and split the deduction. In this situation, according to the proposal, the tax-rate relief would go to the parent who primarily supports the child. The deduction and the tax-rate reduction, therefore, do not necessarily follow the same criterion.

Procedures, telework and businesses

The revision then has an organizational effect. Unemployment funds would have a reporting obligation toward the tax administration; conversely, the administration should inform the commercial register if a legal entity does not submit the annual accounts. For persons required to use the digital channel, the proposal also provides for electronic submission of returns filed by other parties. To relate the reading to the income situation, calcolatore stipendio can serve as a starting point, without replacing the text of the proposal.

Cross-border telework appears among the areas to be adjusted, alongside life annuities, investment funds and systemic banks. The topics of one's own tax position therefore determine which part of the proposal to read more carefully, rather than a single rule valid for everyone.

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Key points

How to follow the dossier

The safest procedure starts with the text of the draft. The proposal is published in the Landrat's database of affairs: this is the reference indicated by the source for consulting the dossier and distinguishing the federal rules incorporated from the autonomous amendments to cantonal law. Before reading the details, it is advisable to identify which group one's situation falls into: tax losses, parents not taxed jointly, cross-border telework, legal entity, or obligation to use the digital channel.

For losses, the check can follow a simple sequence. First: identify the tax period of the loss. Second: verify whether it concerns 2020 or a subsequent period. Third: compare the rule indicated in the proposal, ten years instead of seven, with the situation under consideration. This step serves to distinguish the duration of the offsetting from the other tax amendments, which the communiqué lists separately.

Families and electronic submissions

For parents, the steps must be separated. Verify whether taxation is separate, whether parental authority is exercised jointly, and whether maintenance contributions are claimed for tax purposes. Then consider the allocation by half of the deductions linked to the children and, separately, who predominantly supports the children for the tariff reduction. If the child lives with the parents, the proposal indicates this element together with joint parental authority and the shared deduction to assign the tariff benefit to the parent who provides the greater share of support.

For a legal entity, the point to monitor is the submission of the annual accounts, because failure to submit them would result in the tax administration notifying the commercial register. Anyone subject to the legal obligation to conduct digital transactions with the authorities must prepare, according to the draft, to submit other people's tax returns electronically as well. Anyone working in cross-border telework should instead follow the section of the dossier dedicated to the relevant taxation, without extending to other cases details that the source does not indicate.

dichiarazione delle imposte helps connect reading the draft with tax compliance, while the Landrat dossier remains the reference for the text of the proposal. For an indicative check of income and taxes, use calcolatore stipendio.

Source: gl.ch