How to declare side gig income and can I deduct expenses?

In 2020 I did a side gig where I was paid CHF5400. I don’t have an official one-man business (Einzelunternehmen). How do I declare this in the tax declaration (is “Weitere steuerbare Einkünfte” correct or is it “selbstständige Erwerbstätigkeit”)?

Additionally: I use quite some equipment to do my side job, can I deduct following purchases because of the side gig?

  • photo equipment: camera and lenses, filters
  • headset
  • tablet
  • monitor arm
  • some cables
  • mobile phone with cover
  • floor protection mat

All this is about CHF6500 versus the default/normal deduction, which is about half of it.

A side gig that only incurred losses will very likely not be accepted by the tax office, especially if it’s declared over multiple years… You also risk paying extra AHV on the income…

Mhm… I’d think that the majority of companies do that to avoid paying taxes.

My side business (an official registered Einzelfirma) was declared as “none serious business” after 4 years and I had to retroactively pay taxes on the deductions…

My side gig is 100% non-serious. I don’t actively search for customers and I have maximum one job/assignment per year. That’s why I am confused about taxes in my case. The CHF5400 are just added to my income if I declare it as “weitere steuerbare Einkünfte” and I have to pay more taxes. It would be cool if I could deduct my equipment from taxes but of course I use it privately to some degree as well.

If I understand it correctly they’ll send me AHV documents if needed when I earn more than CHF2300?

I’d like to bum this questions because I’m still quite unsure how/where exactly to declare the amount I side hustled.

From Baltax 2020

Abgezogen werden 20% der Einkünfte aus Nebenerwerb, mindestens CHF 800.-, höchstens CHF 2’400.-, jedoch nicht mehr als der ausgewiesene Nebenerwerb.

Yes, but this is the flat-rate deduction (Pauschalabzug) which I don’t want to apply here.
https://www.wegleitung.fin.be.ch/wegleitung_fin/de/index/np2020/np2020/berufskosten/uebrige-berufskosten/pauschalabzug_uebrige_berufskosten.html