Canton Zürich: what has changed, and what has not

Updated: August 2026 · 13 min read · eBilanz Fabrik — information, not tax advice

Since mid-August 2025, legal entities in the Canton of Zürich have been able to complete their tax return in the ZHcorporateTax online application and transmit it to the tax office "without paper", as the Finanzdirektion's media release of 18.07.2025 puts it. What changed is the route, not the duty: § 1 Abs. 3 of Verordnung LS 631.121 (as amended by the Verfügung of 13 May 2025, in force since 1 July 2025) still states, unchanged, «Die Steuererklärung kann auch in Papierform eingereicht werden» — the tax return may also be filed on paper. This page is information; it is neither Steuerberatung (tax advice) nor Rechtsberatung (legal advice).

Every source cited here is published in German. English renderings of quotations are ours; the German original is given where the exact wording carries the point.

What went live in August 2025

The Finanzdirektion justifies the step with volume. Its media release of 18.07.2025 states that "in 2024 roughly 97'000 legal entities (mostly Aktiengesellschaften and GmbHs) were liable to tax in the Canton of Zürich — around 16 per cent more than five years earlier." The same source says the solution was procured "in a tender in summer 2024" as "standard software for an online tax declaration […] that can also be used in other cantons". From the go-live, the 2024 return could already be filed. On the postal route the release is terse: "Filing by post is discontinued."

Ringler Informatik AG announced on 13.11.2024 that it had «den Zuschlag für die Entwicklung und Bereitstellung einer modernen Online-Steuerdeklarationslösung für juristische Personen (JP) im Kanton Zürich erhalten» — won the contract for the canton's online declaration solution for legal entities — subject to "approval by the Regierungsrat". On what comes next, the same announcement says: "A particular component of the new solution is the integration of the E-Bilanz for legal entities. This function allows the data to be imported into the tax declaration directly from electronic bookkeeping in XBRL format."

At the information event of 25.08.2025, the Steueramt described the solution on slide 2 as "a complete online solution including attachments instead of paper forms · digital filing without signature · suitable for all companies, in particular SMEs". Slide 4 gives the population split: AG 46 %, GmbH 48 %, cooperatives 1 %, associations, foundations and other legal entities 5 %. Slide 8 draws the support boundary: technical questions go to the helpdesk hotline, substantive questions "through your tax adviser, Treuhänder or representative" — Treuhänder being the Swiss fiduciary accountant who typically prepares the return.

The legal basis: Verordnung LS 631.121

The Verordnung (ordinance) is dated 18 October 2011. The version in force is Nachtrag 129; the zhlex history lists the predecessor version 111 as "in force until 01.07.2025" (retrieved 04.08.2026). The footnotes show the scope of the revision: footnote 7 ("version per the Verfügung of 13 May 2025 [OS 80, 149; ABl 2025-05-23] […] in force since 1 July 2025") sits at §§ 1–5, 7, 8, 9, 11 (Abs. 1) and 12. § 10 still carries the 2020 footnote, and § 14 was repealed by the same Verfügung.

§ 1 — an application, not an obligation

Abs. 2: with these applications the return "can be filed electronically with legal effect in accordance with the requirements of this ordinance". Abs. 3: «Die Steuererklärung kann auch in Papierform eingereicht werden. Diese Verordnung regelt nur die elektronische Einreichung.» — the return may also be filed on paper, and the ordinance governs electronic filing only.

§§ 8 and 9 — confirmation instead of signature, correction without a stated deadline

Under § 8 Abs. 1 the return counts as filed once the taxpayer transmits it "and has confirmed electronically that the tax return has been completed truthfully and in full". Abs. 3: "Legal entities name in the confirmation the natural persons who give the confirmation on behalf of the legal entity." § 9 then permits the taxpayer to "open, complete and file a corrected tax return in accordance with § 8". The ordinance text names no deadline for that.

The Steueramt's questions-and-answers document of 08.09.2025 does contain one: "Yes, after a re-submission within the 5-day period, that period starts again." What those five days run for is not defined in the document, and we do not interpret it. Ringler Informatik AG documents, in its own helpdesk and for canton ZH but for the returns of natural persons, «Freigabe: Bei unterschriftsfreier Einreichung erfolgt die automatische Freigabe nach 5 Tagen» — signature-free filing is released automatically after five days (article «Online-Einreichung / Fristen einreichen», last edited 03.07.2026). Whether this is the same mechanism is stated by neither source.

§§ 11 and 12 — representation and the Treuhänder register

§ 11 Abs. 1: authority is conferred "by handing over the access credentials"; under Abs. 2 it is revoked by "requesting a new Zugangscode" from the cantonal tax office, which is then delivered by post. § 12 governs the Treuhänder register: application runs "via the ZHservices transaction platform"; the register "is not public", and admission to it may not be disclosed to third parties in advertisements, on websites, on letterhead "or in any other promotional form" (Abs. 4).

What the Wegleitung 505 for tax period 2025 says — and what it does not

The Wegleitung — the cantonal filing guide — for corporations and cooperatives 2025 (imprint "StA 505 (2025) 12.25", PDF creation date 18.11.2025) carries for the first time a chapter titled "What is new in tax period 2025?". The 2024 edition (PDF date 30.10.2024) has no such chapter. Its first entry: "Since August 2025 a user-friendly, efficient and secure online declaration solution has been available for legal entities too. It enables fully digital, signature-free filing."

Three filing routes, not two

The Wegleitung 505 (2025) names them in this order. First: "We recommend that you file the tax return, including attachments, online." Second: "If you wish to file the tax return on paper […] the paper tax return must still be signed […]". Third: "It is also possible to file tax returns produced by computer using the products of private providers."

On the deadline: the return "is to be filed by 30 September of the calendar year following the tax period", and "workload or missing documents" do not count as important grounds for an extension (both Wegleitung 505, 2025). The extension to 30 November is not in the Wegleitung but on zh.ch, along with the sentence "a deadline extension beyond 30 November must be requested by post" ("Steuererklärung für Unternehmen", retrieved 04.08.2026).

Wegleitung 2024 against Wegleitung 2025

The deadline itself is unchanged in substance; what changed is where it is published. It last appeared, for TP 2024, on a form the canton no longer sends out. One contradiction is left standing on the address: the 2025 Wegleitung says «Postfach», the paper-filing instructions on zh.ch say «Bändliweg 21» (both retrieved 04.08.2026). We do not resolve it.

A Merkblatt from 2005 that the 2025 Wegleitung still cites

The third filing route points to ZStB 109c.3, the "Merkblatt des kantonalen Steueramtes zur Erstellung der Steuererklärung mit elektronischen Hilfsmitteln (PC)" — an official guidance note on producing the return with electronic aids, issued 15 November 2005 and in force from 1 January 2006. For legal entities it requires, at margin no. 11: "The pre-printed official tax return forms are to be filed in the original." Margin no. 6 lit. g: "The barcode sheet must always be filed […] in the form of an electronically readable 2D barcode." Margin no. 2 also records "that these programs are not checked (homologated) by the cantonal tax office".

Alongside it stands the notice on zh.ch that from tax year 2025 "no tax forms will be sent by post any more" — and the fact that the 2025 Wegleitung deleted the sentence about always filing the original form. Both texts are currently published. We do not resolve the contradiction: we have never filed a paper return in the Canton of Zürich using private software.

What still runs on paper, or stays an attachment

The catalogue of attachments is unchanged. The Wegleitung 505 (2025) requires "signed copies of the resolutions of the general or shareholders' meeting approving the annual report and the Jahresrechnung", plus the Jahresrechnung including the notes under Art. 959c OR. The help centre adds that "dormant companies too must each prepare a Jahresrechnung and attach it to the tax return" (article "Pflichtbelege Jahresrechnung", 08.06.2026).

There is no obligation to file electronically

Four independent pieces of evidence, as at 04.08.2026: the ordinance (§ 1 Abs. 3); the Wegleitung 505 for TP 2025 ("We recommend…" / "If you wish to file … on paper"); zh.ch ("We recommend that you file the tax return online. That has the following advantages for you", followed by a list of advantages); and the fact that the forms for 2023, 2024 and 2025, and the part-year forms for 2026, all remain available for download.

Other cantons handle this differently. Ringler Informatik AG describes the position for legal-entity returns prepared in Dr. Tax as follows, in its own helpdesk (article «Online-Einreichung / Fristen einreichen», last edited 03.07.2026):

The E-Bilanz: announced, not documented

Slide 3 of the information event of 25.08.2025 lists as a feature «Einhalten der neuen Standards für die E-Bilanz (eCH-0276 und XBRL CH-Taxonomie)». Slide 6 is titled "E-Bilanz from tax period 2025" and labels the data flow "accounting system — export — E-Bilanz (XBRL, CH taxonomy) — import — ZHcorporateTax"; eCH-0276 does not appear on that slide. Slide 5 is measured: "ZHcorporateTax ready for the new E-Bilanz."

The media release of 18.07.2025 ties the timing to a condition rather than a date: "The online application is technically ready for the E-Bilanz […]. This will become possible for the next tax period once the necessary data standards have been built into companies' accounting systems too." On third-party software, the Q&A of 08.09.2025 says: "Implementation will be addressed in a separate project after an initial operating phase of ZHcorporateTax. Whether third-party applications will be connected via the existing ZHservices interface […] is not yet clear." The same document names, as its own watch points, "swissdec, whose goal is to build a Switzerland-wide distribution platform" and "Zürikonto, in particular with regard to an account functionality for companies".

Alongside that stands the finding from the reference texts. Exact-word counts (word-boundary matches, case-insensitive); the 70 help-centre articles were retrieved on 04.08.2026 via the public Zendesk interface, most recent edit 22.07.2026:

The method note belongs with it: a plain substring search for "ech" returns 197 hits in each of the two Wegleitungen — every one of them inside «Rechnung», «Erfolgsrechnung» or «Steuererklärung». And the help-centre article "Importieren und Exportieren" (updated 08.06.2026) describes no interchange standard but the re-reading of a file the portal produced itself: «Standardmässig sind die Dateien mit «com.riag.jp.zh20xx» erstellt.»

Missing documentation is not proof of a missing function. No source in our holdings says that ZHcorporateTax accepts an eCH-0276 file — and none says it rejects one. We have not yet seen an import into ZHcorporateTax carried out with a real cantonal login.

In short

• ZHcorporateTax has been available since mid-August 2025; the media release of 18.07.2025 gives roughly 97'000 taxable legal entities for 2024.
• Verordnung LS 631.121, amended 13.05.2025, in force since 01.07.2025; § 1 Abs. 3: «Die Steuererklärung kann auch in Papierform eingereicht werden.» There is no obligation to file electronically.
• The Wegleitung 505 for TP 2025 names three routes: online, paper, or returns "produced by computer using the products of private providers" under ZStB 109c.3 — a Merkblatt dated 15.11.2005.
• The deadline remains 30 September; what is new is that it now appears in the Wegleitung rather than on the form, because no forms are sent out from tax year 2025 onwards.
• Access code, rulings and invoices still travel by post; the Jahresrechnung and the general power of attorney remain signed attachments.
• Slide 3 of 25.08.2025 names eCH-0276 and the XBRL CH taxonomy; slide 6 shows the import with XBRL only. Neither term occurs in either Wegleitung or in any of the 70 help-centre articles.

Sources

• Canton of Zürich, Finanzdirektion, media release "Neue Online-Steuererklärung für Unternehmen", 18.07.2025.
• Canton of Zürich, Steueramt, slides from the ZHcorporateTax information event, 25.08.2025 (46 slides).
• Canton of Zürich, Steueramt, "Fragen und Antworten — Online-Infoveranstaltung vom 25.08.2025", 08.09.2025 (5 pages); accessible second rendering dated 15.10.2025, textually identical.
• Verordnung über die elektronische Einreichung der Steuererklärung, LS 631.121 / ZStB 109c.4, of 18.10.2011, Nachtrag 129, as amended by the Verfügung of 13.05.2025 (OS 80, 149; ABl 2025-05-23), in force since 01.07.2025; zhlex entry, publication date 01.07.2025.
• Canton of Zürich, Steueramt, "Wegleitung zur Steuererklärung für Kapitalgesellschaften und Genossenschaften 2025", StA 505 (2025) 12.25, PDF date 18.11.2025 — and the 2024 edition, StA 505 (2024) 12.24, PDF date 30.10.2024.
• ZStB 109c.3, "Merkblatt des kantonalen Steueramtes zur Erstellung der Steuererklärung mit elektronischen Hilfsmitteln (PC)", issued 15.11.2005, in force from 01.01.2006.
• zh.ch, "Steuererklärung für Unternehmen" and "Auf ZHcorporateTax umsteigen", retrieved 04.08.2026.
• ZHcorporateTax help centre, 70 articles, retrieved via the public Zendesk interface on 04.08.2026; oldest article created 30.05.2025, most recent edit 22.07.2026. The help centre's HTML front end answers non-browser requests with HTTP 403.
• Ringler Informatik AG, own announcement on the award by the cantonal tax office of Zürich, 13.11.2024.
• Ringler Informatik AG, helpdesk article "Online-Einreichung / Fristen einreichen", created 24.01.2017, last edited 03.07.2026.

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