Switzerland (Canton Zürich) Self-Employment Worksheet — Commercial Bookkeeping (Hilfsblatt A mit kaufmännischer Buchführung)

This file is the source-review record for this document version, per the manual-source-review-v1 practice.

Current claim

• status: draft
• verification.method: manual-source-review-v1
• verification.lastVerifiedAt: 2026-07-09
• maturity.level: structural-reference

Why this cycle picked up Form 329

This is the recurring "GovSchema Standard Research" cycle (GOV-1910). The prior cycle (GOV-1903, Hilfsblatt A — vereinfachte Buchführung, Form 328) left Form 329 (Hilfsblatt A's own kaufmännische-Buchhaltung variant), Hilfsblatt B (Form 330, an agricultural questionnaire), and Hilfsblatt G (Form 331, agricultural/forestry) as the three remaining CH-ZH companion-schedule backlog candidates, none yet screened for tractability. This cycle screened all three against the same zh.ch "Formulare für Selbständigerwerbende" listing used by every prior CH-ZH cycle and pursued only Form 329 — the direct sibling of the already-published Form 328, serving the same self-employed-filer population but under the opposite bookkeeping method (full commercial accounts rather than simplified/single-entry books), and by far the most tractable of the three: a 2-page worksheet versus the two agricultural forms' own 4 pages each of livestock/crop-specific detail serving a materially smaller and more specialized filer population (farmers). Hilfsblatt B and Hilfsblatt G remain open, unscreened-in-depth backlog candidates for a future cycle. This document closes the Form 329 gap specifically. It does not open a new vertical or jurisdiction — Switzerland remains at 2 of 6 verticals (DMV, Taxes) — but it further deepens the Taxes vertical's coverage of an already-open jurisdiction.

Sources examined

• Document (id, version): ch/zh/sta/hilfsblatt-a-kaufmaennische-buchfuehrung / 1.0.0
• Spec version: GovSchema 0.3.0
• Authority: Kanton Zürich — Finanzdirektion, Kantonales Steueramt Zürich (same authority as the main return and its eight other companion schedules; this form's own printed issuer is "StA Form. 329").
• Primary source: https://www.zh.ch/content/dam/zhweb/bilder-dokumente/themen/steuern-finanzen/steuern/natuerlichepersonen/jahrunabhaengig/selbstaendig-erwerbende/329_hilfsblatt_a_kaufmaennischer_zh_2021_def.pdf — "StA Form. 329 (2021) 12.21 — Hilfsblatt A für Selbständigerwerbende mit kaufmännischer Buchführung," fetched directly (HTTP 200, %PDF-1.4, 112,995 bytes, 2 pages, no /Encrypt, no login/CAPTCHA/WAF gate) from the "Formulare für Selbständigerwerbende" listing on the same zh.ch tax-forms hub page every prior CH-ZH cycle has used (https://www.zh.ch/de/steuern-finanzen/steuern/steuern-natuerliche-personen/steuererklaerung-natuerliche-personen.html). A byte-level scan of the raw PDF for the literal strings /AcroForm and /Widget returned zero matches for both — confirming this is a flat, non-AcroForm print/reference-facsimile PDF, the same shape as all eight of its CH-ZH sibling schedules.
• A note on this form's apparently stale filename date, and how currency was actually confirmed. Form 329's own PDF filename (329_hilfsblatt_a_kaufmaennischer_zh_2021_def.pdf) carries a 2021 date stamp, and Hilfsblatt B/G's own filenames (330_hib_zh_2020_def.pdf, 331_hig_zh_2020_def.pdf) carry 2020 date stamps — at first glance these could look superseded, the same way the zh.ch listing page separately links an explicitly-labelled-obsolete 2021-dated copy of Form 328 itself ("Hilfsblatt A mit vereinfachter Buchführung bis 2023"). This cycle re-fetched the raw listing page HTML directly and inspected each download link's own on-page label text (not just the filename): Form 328's current 2024-edition copy is labelled plainly "Hilfsblatt A mit vereinfachter Buchführung" (no cutoff year), while its superseded 2021 copy is explicitly labelled "... bis 2023." Forms 329, 330, and 331 are each labelled plainly, with no "bis <year>" qualifier anywhere — "Hilfsblatt A mit kaufmännischer Buchhaltung," "Hilfsblatt B Fragebogen für Land- und Forstwirtschaft," and "Hilfsblatt G für Land- und Forstwirtschaft" respectively — confirming all three are zh.ch's own current, unsuperseded editions despite their older internal print-run date stamps (these evidently need less frequent republication than the main return's own year-specific schedules). This label-vs-filename check is a useful, previously-undocumented technique for any future zh.ch candidate whose filename date looks old.
• Sibling forms identified but deliberately not pursued this cycle: the same listing page also links Form 330 ("Hilfsblatt B Fragebogen für Land- und Forstwirtschaft," 4 pages) and Form 331 ("Hilfsblatt G für Land- und Forstwirtschaft," 4 pages) — see "Why this cycle picked up Form 329" above for the scope decision to defer both.
• A note on this form's year-independent URL, matching its Form-328 sibling. Like Form 328, this form is hosted at a year-independent .../jahrunabhaengig/selbstaendig-erwerbende/... path and its cover page carries a standalone filer-entered "Jahr" box rather than a year baked into the title. This document accordingly models the "Jahr" box as its own required jahr field, for the same reason disclosed in Form 328's own VERIFICATION.md: the tax year is genuinely filer-entered data on this form, not an assumption baked into the schema version.
• Companion Wegleitung, examined for rule confirmation and a worked specimen: https://www.zh.ch/content/dam/zhweb/bilder-dokumente/themen/steuern-finanzen/steuern/natuerlichepersonen/2025/est-wegleitungen/305_Wegleitung_ZH_2025_HA%20bf%20DEF.pdf — the same "Wegleitung zur Steuererklärung 2025" every prior CH-ZH cycle has used, re-fetched the same way (HTTP 200, 1,497,565 bytes, %PDF-1.7, extracted via pdfjs-dist's getTextContent()). A search for "329", "kaufmännisch", "Hilfsblatt A", and "Ziffer 32"/"Ziffer 2" across the extracted text found:
  • The Wegleitung's own reprint of the main return's Ziffer 2 confirms: "Steuerpflichtige, die eine selbständige Erwerbstätigkeit ausüben, geben ihre Einkünfte mit dem Hilfsblatt A für Selbständigerwerbende mit kaufmännischer Buchführung oder dem Hilfsblatt A für Selbständigerwerbende mit vereinfachter Buchführung an" — confirming this document's own einkuenfteSelbstaendigeErwerbstaetigkeit (Ziffer 5) transfers to the main return's Ziffer 2, exactly as printed on this form's own Ziffer 2 transfer caption ("Zu übertragen in die Steuererklärung Seite 2, Ziffer 2").
  • The Wegleitung's own reprint of the main return's Ziffer 32 states verbatim: "Selbständigerwerbende mit kaufmännischer Buchführung übertragen das Eigenkapital laut Hilfsblatt A (Ziff. 10.4) auf die Seite 4 der Steuererklärung in die Ziff. 32. Selbständigerwerbende mit vereinfachter Buchführung übertragen das Eigenkapital laut Hilfsblatt A (Ziff. 14.4) auf die Seite 4 der Steuererklärung in die Ziff. 32" — an exact, independent confirmation of this document's own eigenkapitalSelbstaendigerwerbenderOhneGeschaeftswertschriften (Ziffer 10.4) transfer, distinguishing it by Ziffer number from its Form-328 sibling's own Ziffer 14.4 transfer, in the very same sentence. This directly corroborates the structural distinctness already established by the prior GOV-1903 cycle.
  • The form's own printed transfer captions independently corroborate the Ziffer 16.1 transfer for einkaufsbeitragVorsorgeeinrichtung ("Zu übertragen in die Steuererklärung Seite 3, Ziffer 16.1," printed directly beneath Ziffer 4.1 on the form's own face).
  • No worked specimen of this form's own internal Ziffer 1-12 lines was found anywhere in the Wegleitung — the same class of negative finding the GOV-1903 cycle already made for Form 328, and several other CH-ZH cycles have made for their own forms. This negative finding is disclosed explicitly: this schema's own worked mock-data example (below) is independently constructed and its arithmetic hand-recomputed end-to-end, not matched against an official specimen.
• Extraction method. Both PDFs' text content was extracted with pdfjs-dist's legacy build (getTextContent(), text-only, no canvas needed), consistent with the reviewer-confirmed lesson from the GOV-1903 cycle that this technique is the more reliable default for CH-ZH PDFs of any size, rather than a manual zlib/octal-escape fallback. Both PDFs (2-page form, 40-page Wegleitung) extracted cleanly in one pass with no garbling.
• Retrieved / reviewed: 2026-07-09.
• Reviewer: GovSchema Engineering (Standards Engineer — initial authoring source review).

Scope decision: the depreciation table (Ziffer 7.1-7.14) collapsed to one free-text field

GovSchema v0.3 fields are flat: there is no array/nested-object element type yet (array/nested object are proposed only in GSP-0009, not accepted). This form's own depreciation table cross-tabulates 5 asset categories (Geschäftsliegenschaft, Fahrzeuge, Maschinen/Werkzeuge, Einrichtungen, Mobilien) against 7 metrics (opening book value, additions, disposals, value before depreciation, booked depreciation, rate, closing book value) — 35 cells, structurally identical to the depreciation table already collapsed in Form 328's own depreciationScheduleSummary. Per this registry's established treatment of unbounded/multi-dimensional repeating tables, the whole table is collapsed into one depreciationScheduleSummary free-text field. Unlike Form 328, no aggregate booked-depreciation figure is separately modelled here, because this form's own depreciation table does not feed forward into any other computed line: commercial-bookkeeping filers' depreciation is already reflected in the signed balance sheet's own asset value (aktivenLautBilanz, Ziffer 8.1), so the table exists here purely as supplementary supporting detail, not as an input to any of this worksheet's own totals.

Scope decision: four duplicate same-value lines are modelled once, not twice

This form re-prints several figures a second (and, in one case, third) time at a later Ziffer, purely as a same-page cross-reference rather than as an independently-sourced value: Ziffer 10.1 re-prints the same figure as totalGeschaeftsaktivenOhneWertschriften (Ziffer 8.5); Ziffer 10.2 and Ziffer 11.2 both re-print the same figure as totalFremdkapital (Ziffer 9.3); and Ziffer 11.1 re-prints the same figure as totalGeschaeftsaktiven (Ziffer 8.3). Per this registry's convention of not re-declaring an identical value under two field names (the same convention Form 328 itself applied to its own five duplicate re-prints), none of these four duplicate re-prints has its own field; the field description of the value each re-prints cross-references every Ziffer it reappears at.

Scope decision: the three Steuerausscheidung disclosure figures are modelled but do not feed any computed total

Unlike Form 328, this form's own header block prints three summary figures (Bruttoumsatz, Aufwand für Material/Waren/Drittleistungen, Schuldzinsen gemäss Erfolgsrechnung) explicitly captioned "für Steuerausscheidungszwecke" — disclosure detail used only for inter-cantonal tax-allocation purposes when a business has establishments or real estate in more than one canton, not inputs to this worksheet's own income or equity computation. All three are modelled as fields (bruttoumsatz, aufwandMaterialWarenDrittleistungen, schuldzinsenGemaessErfolgsrechnung) since each carries its own printed box number, but each field's own description states plainly that it does not feed any computed total on this worksheet — consistent with this registry's "spec precision over cleverness" standard of not implying a transfer relationship that the source does not itself establish.

Field-by-field source mapping

• Business/household header (Firmenname und Sitz, Branche, Geschäftsjahr dates, AHVN13, Gemeinde, Name, Vorname, Erwerbsart, Jahr, UID, Nebensteuerdomizile) → firmennameUndSitz, brancheOderArtDerGeschaeftstaetigkeit, namenUndAdressenMitgesellschafter, geschaeftsjahrVon, geschaeftsjahrBis, ahvn13RemainingDigits, gemeinde, name, vorname, erwerbsart, jahr, uidChe, nebensteuerdomizile. Unlike Form 328, this form's own header prints no Abrechnungsart (cash/accrual method) selector — commercial-bookkeeping filers' accounting method is fixed by their own signed accounts, not a worksheet-level election.
• Header boxes 1800-1802 (Steuerausscheidungszwecke) → bruttoumsatz, aufwandMaterialWarenDrittleistungen, schuldzinsenGemaessErfolgsrechnung. See scope decision above.
• Ziffer 1 (Einkünfte) → reingewinnOderVerlustGemaessErfolgsrechnung.
• Ziffer 2 (Korrekturen) → barbezuegeEigensalaereEigenkapitalzinsen, persoenlicheVorsorgebeitraege2Und3SaeuleA, weitereAufrechnungen, naturalbezuegeUndPrivatanteileUnkosten, weitereKorrekturen.
• Ziffer 3 (Subtotal AHV-Zwecke) → subtotalEinkuenfteSelbstaendigeErwerbstaetigkeitAhv.
• Ziffer 4 (Zusätzliche Korrekturen für Steuerzwecke) → persoenlicheAhvIvEoBeitraege, abzueglichBruttoertraegeGeschaeftswertschriften, weitereAbzuege.
• Ziffer 5 (Einkünfte aus selbständiger Erwerbstätigkeit) → einkuenfteSelbstaendigeErwerbstaetigkeit — transfers to the main return's Ziffer 2 (confirmed via the Wegleitung, see "Sources examined" above).
• Ziffer 6 (Angaben über das Warenlager) → warenlagerAnschaffungskostenBeginn/Ende, warenlagerBuchwertBeginn/Ende, warenlagerUnterbewertungBeginn/Ende, warenlagerUnterbewertungProzentBeginn/Ende — modelled individually since this is a bounded 4-metric x 2-timepoint table (8 cells), not an unbounded repeating structure. Note Form 329's own Ziffer 6.2 is captioned "Buchwert" (book value), not Form 328's "Deklarierter Wert" (declared value) — a genuine wording difference between the two sibling forms, not a transcription error.
• Ziffer 7 (Abschreibungstabelle) → depreciationScheduleSummary. See scope decision above.
• Ziffer 8 (Geschäftsaktiven) → aktivenLautBilanz, alsEinkommenVersteuerteStilleReservenAktiven, totalGeschaeftsaktiven, abzueglichGeschaeftswertschriftenAktiven, totalGeschaeftsaktivenOhneWertschriften.
• Ziffer 9 (Fremdkapital) → fremdkapitalLautBilanz, alsEinkommenVersteuerteStilleReservenFremdkapital, totalFremdkapital.
• Ziffer 10 (Eigenkapital) → differenzEinkommenssteuerwertVermoegenssteuerwertGeschaeftsliegenschaften, eigenkapitalSelbstaendigerwerbenderOhneGeschaeftswertschriften (Ziffer 10.1/10.2 excluded as duplicates, see scope decision above); eigenkapitalSelbstaendigerwerbenderOhneGeschaeftswertschriften transfers to the main return's Ziffer 32 (confirmed via the Wegleitung, see "Sources examined" above).
• Ziffer 11 (Eigenkapital für AHV-Zwecke) → differenzEinkommenssteuerwertRepartitionswertGeschaeftsliegenschaften, ahvMeldendesEigenkapital (Ziffer 11.1/11.2 excluded as duplicates, see scope decision above).
• Ziffer 12 (Einkaufsbeitrag) → einkaufsbeitragVorsorgeeinrichtung — transfers to the main return's Ziffer 16.1 (per this form's own printed transfer caption, "Zu übertragen in die Steuererklärung Seite 3, Ziffer 16.1," printed beneath Ziffer 4.1).
• Signature block → placeOfSigning, dateOfSigning, plus a declarationAttestation documents[] entry for "Das Hilfsblatt ist vollständig und wahrheitsgetreu ausgefüllt."

Mock-data test run

Per the issue's phase-3/phase-4 instruction to document field-level detail and test-run the schema with valid mock data, a complete, internally consistent worked example was constructed and hand-recomputed end-to-end (a small consultancy with full commercial books, "Muster Consulting GmbH-Inh.," Zürich, main occupation, tax year 2025):

• Ziffer 1.1: Reingewinn gemäss Erfolgsrechnung = 180,000.
• Ziffer 2 (Korrekturen): Barbezüge/Eigensaläre/Eigenkapitalzinsen 60,000 + persönliche Vorsorgebeiträge 15,000 + weitere Aufrechnungen 5,000 + Naturalbezüge/Privatanteile 3,000 + weitere Korrekturen 2,000.
• Ziffer 3: Subtotal AHV-Zwecke = 180,000 + 60,000 + 15,000 + 5,000 + 3,000 + 2,000 = 265,000. Verified: exact.
• Ziffer 4 (Korrekturen für Steuerzwecke): + persönliche AHV/IV/EO 12,000 − Bruttoerträge Geschäftswertschriften 4,000 − weitere Abzüge 6,000.
• Ziffer 5: Einkünfte aus selbständiger Erwerbstätigkeit = 265,000 + 12,000 − 4,000 − 6,000 = 267,000. Verified: exact. Transfers to the main return's own Ziffer 2.
• Ziffer 6 (Warenlager): Anschaffungskosten Beginn 90,000 / Ende 100,000; Buchwert Beginn 80,000 / Ende 88,000; Unterbewertung Beginn 10,000 (= 11.11% of 90,000, within the 1/3 = 33.33% cap) / Ende 12,000 (= 12.00% of 100,000, within cap). Verified: 10,000 / 90,000 = 0.1111 → 11.11%; 12,000 / 100,000 = 0.12 → 12.00% (both exact, both ≤ 33.33).
• Ziffer 8 (Geschäftsaktiven): Aktiven laut Bilanz 420,000 + als Einkommen versteuerte stille Reserven 15,000 = Total Geschäftsaktiven 435,000; minus Geschäftswertschriften 25,000 = Total Geschäftsaktiven ohne Geschäftswertschriften 410,000. Verified: 420,000 + 15,000 = 435,000; 435,000 − 25,000 = 410,000 (both exact).
• Ziffer 9 (Fremdkapital): Fremdkapital laut Bilanz 150,000 − als Einkommen versteuerte stille Reserven 5,000 = Total Fremdkapital 145,000. Verified: exact.
• Ziffer 10 (Eigenkapital): Total Geschäftsaktiven ohne Geschäftswertschriften 410,000 (= Ziffer 8.5 exactly) − Total Fremdkapital 145,000 (= Ziffer 9.3 exactly) + Differenz Einkommenssteuerwert/Vermögenssteuerwert 8,000 = Eigenkapital Selbständigerwerbender ohne Geschäftswertschriften 273,000. Verified: 410,000 − 145,000 + 8,000 = 273,000 (exact). Transfers to the main return's own Ziffer 32.
• Ziffer 11 (Eigenkapital für AHV-Zwecke): Total Geschäftsaktiven 435,000 (= Ziffer 8.3 exactly) − Total Fremdkapital 145,000 (= Ziffer 9.3 exactly) + Differenz Einkommenssteuerwert/Repartitionswert 6,000 = der AHV zu meldendes Eigenkapital 296,000. Verified: 435,000 − 145,000 + 6,000 = 296,000 (exact).
• Ziffer 12: Einkaufsbeitrag Vorsorgeeinrichtung = 20,000, transfers to the main return's own Ziffer 16.1.
• Header disclosure figures: Bruttoumsatz 850,000, Aufwand für Material/Waren/Drittleistungen 520,000, Schuldzinsen gemäss Erfolgsrechnung 8,000 — disclosed for Steuerausscheidung purposes only, independent of the above computation chain by design (see scope decision above).
• Every validation constraint (AHVN13 10-digit pattern, jahr range 2000-2100, UID pattern, inventory-percentage 0-33.33 range, maxLength bounds) was also checked by hand against the mock values above. OK.

Both registry validators were run against the schema document itself and pass:

``` $ node tools/validate.mjs registry/ch/zh/sta/hilfsblatt-a-kaufmaennische-buchfuehrung/1.0.0/schema.json ok registry/ch/zh/sta/hilfsblatt-a-kaufmaennische-buchfuehrung/1.0.0/schema.json

1/1 document(s) passed.

$ node tools/validate-ajv.mjs registry/ch/zh/sta/hilfsblatt-a-kaufmaennische-buchfuehrung/1.0.0/schema.json ok registry/ch/zh/sta/hilfsblatt-a-kaufmaennische-buchfuehrung/1.0.0/schema.json [v0.3]

1/1 document(s) validated against the meta-schema (ajv 2020-12). ```

tools/verify-sources.mjs was also run against this document's registry directory and confirms every cited URL is live and independently reachable (see "Access notes" below for the exact output).

What is NOT modelled (out of scope), and why

• The depreciation table's own 35-cell per-category breakdown — collapsed into depreciationScheduleSummary. See scope decision above.
• Four duplicate same-page re-prints (Ziffer 10.1, 10.2, 11.1, 11.2) — each is the identical value to a field already modelled once elsewhere. See scope decision above.
• Form 330 (Hilfsblatt B, agricultural questionnaire) and Form 331 (Hilfsblatt G, agricultural/forestry) — each a distinct, larger form serving a different filer population (farmers), deliberately deferred as separate future candidates. See "Why this cycle picked up Form 329" above.
• Any office-only field (none observed on this form).

Judgment calls

1. depreciationScheduleSummary collapses its 35-cell table into one free-text field, consistent with Form 328 and every other collapsed repeating table in this registry, but unlike Form 328 it does not carry a separately-modelled aggregate transfer figure, since this form's own depreciation table does not feed any computed total. See scope decision above.
2. Four same-page duplicate re-prints are each modelled once, not twice — the same judgment call Form 328 itself applied to its own five duplicates. See scope decision above.
3. The three Steuerausscheidung disclosure figures are modelled as plain fields with no transfer relationship implied, since the source itself establishes none. See scope decision above.
4. erwerbsart is modelled as a required enum across the form's own four checkbox options (Haupterwerb/Nebenerwerb x Person 1/Person 2), mirroring Form 328's own header structure — this form's own Nebensteuerdomizile block prints the identical box numbers (1690-1693) and wording as Form 328's, confirmed by direct extraction of both forms' header text.
5. Amounts are modelled as plain number fields, consistent with every other CH-ZH companion schedule.
6. jurisdiction.level is subnational with subdivision: "CH-ZH", identical to the main return and its eight other companion schedules.
7. jahr is modelled as a required field, matching the Form 328 precedent: this form is likewise hosted at a year-independent URL with a genuinely filer-entered tax-year box.
8. No live submission was attempted — filing a real Swiss cantonal tax return attachment is a real legal act with a real cantonal tax authority, not a safe or reversible action to simulate against a live government process, consistent with this registry's standing discipline.

Access notes

No access blocks: zh.ch was reachable directly from this environment with plain curl for both this form and the Wegleitung — no TCP-level reset, WAF, or CAPTCHA gate encountered, consistent with every prior CH-ZH cycle's finding that zh.ch's own tax-forms domain is unblocked.

Scope and jurisdiction notes

• This is Switzerland's ninth Taxes-vertical document (a companion schedule to the main return, ch/zh/sta/steuererklaerung-natuerliche-personen), not a new vertical or jurisdiction; Switzerland remains at 2 of 6 verticals.
• id reuses the sta authority-directory segment (the same cantonal tax office) and the form's own official title, ASCII-folded, as its slug: hilfsblatt-a-kaufmaennische-buchfuehrung. This slug deliberately mirrors its Form-328 sibling's own naming pattern (hilfsblatt-a-vereinfachte-buchfuehrung) while naming its own distinct bookkeeping variant, since the two forms are structurally distinct (their own equity lines are Ziffer 10.4 vs. 14.4, confirmed above) and are therefore modelled as sibling documents rather than as alternate editions of one document.
• No edition member is used, consistent with this registry's existing treatment of the other CH-ZH companion schedules — even though this particular form's own hosting path is year-independent, its content (the tax year a given filing covers) is still scoped by the filer-entered jahr field, not by a schema-version edition axis.

Re-verification

Per the practice's cadence, nextReviewBy is set to 2027-01-09 (6 months), the same cadence as the main return and its other companion schedules. Because status remains draft, a future review should prioritize: confirming the next tax year's edition of the main return keeps the same Ziffer numbering (2, 16.1, 32) for this schedule's own transfer lines, confirming this form's own year-independent hosting path and "Jahr" box convention persists, and re-screening whether Hilfsblatt B (Form 330) or Hilfsblatt G (Form 331) has become a tractable next candidate.