The FABI bill was implemented on 1 January 2016. The bill limits the annual deduction of travel costs between the place of work and the place of residence to CHF 3,000 at the level of direct federal tax and in the canton of Berne to CHF 6,700 at the level of cantonal and communal tax. An employee who commuted daily between Bern and Biel (49 km) by private car was able to claim the following travel expenses in form 6 of the tax return until 2015:

Kilometres per day * working days per year * kilometre rate = 98 km * 220 days * 70 Rp/km = CHF 15,092.00

However, as of 2016, the employee can only claim the travel expenses deduction in the amount of CHF 3,000.00 for direct federal tax or CHF 6,700.00 for cantonal and community taxes, and his or her taxable income will thus increase by the difference. The situation becomes more complicated for employees who are provided with a company car by their employer. As before, they must pay tax on 9.6% of the acquisition value of the vehicle as a benefit in kind (private share of vehicle) (point 2.2. in the wage statement). In addition, field F in the salary statement must be marked with a cross (see section number 9 of the wage statement guidelines). The private share only covers the benefit in kind for private use, but not the pecuniary benefit for the paid commute. Employees must now declare this pecuniary benefit in point 2.21 of form 2 of the Bernese tax return.
If, in the case described above, the employee uses a business vehicle free of charge for commuting to work, he or she must pay tax on the following amount as taxable income in addition to the private share:

The situation is different for field staff who drive directly from their place of residence to the client in their company car. For these, the employer must indicate the percentage of field service days in point 15 (see section number 70 of the wage statement guidelines), whereby the following rules apply:

• Field service days are those days where the employee travels from the place of residence directly to the client and from the customer directly back to the place of residence.
• If the employee drives the company car first to the place of work and only then to the client and in the evening directly from the customer to the place of residence, this is considered half a field service day. This is also the case if the field service employee drives from the place of residence to the client in the morning and from the customer to the place of work.
• Home office days count as field service days.
• Interruptions in employment (maternity, illness, WS, etc.) must also be declared in point 15 with the exact duration.

When calculating the percentage share, the field service days are given as a percentage of the total of 220 working days. In the case of part-time work, the percentage of field service is calculated as a percentage of the degree of employment.

In order to relieve employers, the tax administration alternatively provides a list of occupational groups with flat rates. The following must be declared in point 15 of the wage statement:

• Percentage of field staff XX% actual
• Share of field staff XX% flat rate according to function/occupation group list

It is important to note that the legislator does not define what is considered field service.

If the employer declares a share of field service of 40% in the above example in point 15 (i.e. 60% at the place of work), this results in the following taxable pecuniary benefit:

For direct federal tax: (98 km * 220 days * 70 Rp/km * 60%) – CHF 3,000.00 = CHF 6,055.20

For cantonal and community taxes (Bern): (98 km * 220 days * 70 Rp/km * 60%) – CHF 6,700.00 = CHF 2,355.20

For cantonal and community taxes, the respective cantonal regulations must be observed. Self-employed persons and those who are subject to withholding tax are not affected by this new regulation.