Valuable ideas and support

Lucas Bennett - The SSPM is one of the founding members of the Verom compensation fund. Verom is the compensation fund and contact point for SSPM members, the central committee and the sections for all questions relating to the first pillar. This one-day course, led by Roger Schuhmacher and Marco Rauber (Verom), was originally intended for sections that regularly employ staff. But it turned out to be just as interesting for employees as it was for the self-employed and employers. A particularly important aspect for music teachers is the distinction between dependent and independent activity. Criteria such as providing services in one's own name, bearing the economic risk, etc. play a decisive role here. Self-employed activities must always be declared to and approved by the compensation fund. In such cases, AVS contributions are payable entirely by the teacher. Working in a music school is generally a dependent activity. In this case, contributions are shared between employer and employee. Important: even if the annual income from an employer is less than the annual contribution-free amount of 2300 francs, the teacher can ask the employer to collect the AHV contributions. Within the SSPM, the employer's point of view mainly concerns the administrations of the central association and the sections. In addition to declaring and settling employees' salaries, it is important to ensure that small and irregular payments are also handled correctly in terms of AHV obligations. In practice, this regularly raises questions, particularly with regard to compensation for committee work. Such work is considered to be dependent gainful employment. If mandates are entrusted to self-employed workers, they must prove their self-employed status by presenting a certificate from the relevant compensation fund. The dependent or self-employed status of each activity must be determined. In case of doubt, it is advisable to request an assessment from the compensation fund, bearing in mind that contributions which have not been deducted may be collected retroactively by the fund and invoiced with interest on arrears of 5 % per year. It is important to know that AVS contributions must be deducted for all activities relating to musical practice (e.g. participation in concerts, use of co-repetitiors), as the usual limit of 2300 francs does not apply in this area.

In addition to individual advice, Verom offers an online portal for data entry, as well as a low-cost payroll accounting program, which can be of particular interest to branches with small staffs. All in all, the one-day course showed that there is a great deal of interest in questions relating to the situation of the self-employed and employees, and the administration of an association, and that there is a great need for information in this field. This is why the Central Committee is planning to offer further courses on AHV and pension funds.

The above examples reflect only a few aspects of the course. For accurate and reliable information, we recommend that you contact the Verom pension fund directly:

Tel. 044 253 93 91 or info@verom.ch.