Your VAT, done right. And always on time.

As soon as your annual turnover from taxable supplies reaches CHF 100'000. This amount also includes your supplies abroad that would be taxable in Switzerland: CHF 80'000 in Switzerland and CHF 30'000 abroad makes CHF 110'000. Activities excluded from VAT, such as healthcare, education or renting out housing, don’t count. For an existing business, VAT liability starts at the beginning of the financial year after the one in which the threshold is reached, and you register with the SFTA within 30 days. Below the threshold, you can register voluntarily.

Yes, if you can reasonably expect at least CHF 100'000 of taxable turnover in the first 12 months: VAT liability then starts from day one of your business. If you’re not sure, you review it after three months by projecting your turnover over twelve months. Registering from the start also lets you recover the VAT on your set-up costs.

Register without delay. The SFTA can claim VAT for past periods, even if you didn’t charge it to your clients, plus late-payment interest. The sooner you put it right, the simpler it is. We go through the invoices concerned with you.

Sometimes. If you have a lot of purchases or investments that carry VAT, or clients who are VAT-registered themselves, registering lets you recover input tax at no cost to your clients. If you mostly sell to private individuals, it usually makes your final price higher. The VAT check-up above gives you a first answer.

Since 1 January 2024: 8.1% for the standard rate, 2.6% for the reduced rate (food, non-alcoholic drinks, books and newspapers, medicines, among others) and 3.8% for accommodation. Watch how you sell: a takeaway meal is taxed at 2.6%, the same meal eaten in at 8.1%. The “Which rate applies?” tool above gives you the rate for your activity.

With the effective method, you charge VAT and deduct the VAT paid on your purchases, document by document, with one return per quarter. With the net tax rate method, you apply a flat rate specific to your sector to your turnover, without deducting input tax, with one return per half-year. It’s simpler, but only open to businesses under certain limits, and not always cheaper. Either way, you charge your clients the legal rate, for example 8.1%: your sector’s rate is only used to calculate your return.

A service bought from a foreign supplier not registered in Switzerland, such as online software, Google or Meta ads, or a freelancer based outside Switzerland, is subject to the reverse charge (acquisition tax): you are the one who declares Swiss VAT, usually at 8.1%. Under the effective method, you declare it and deduct it in the same return, so it’s neutral. With the net tax rate method, you pay it without being able to deduct it: that’s a real cost, to weigh up when choosing your method. If you’re not registered for VAT, you have to register and declare this tax as soon as these purchases exceed CHF 10'000 a year.

By default, VAT is due on the amounts invoiced (agreed consideration), even if your client hasn’t paid yet. You can ask to report on the amounts actually received (received consideration), which takes pressure off your cash when clients pay late.

60 days after the end of each reporting period, for both filing and payment. Since 2025, returns are filed online, on the SFTA portal. If you’re late, the SFTA charges late-payment interest.

Yes, since 1 January 2025, on request. Annual reporting is open to businesses whose turnover doesn’t exceed CHF 5'005'000 and that have met their obligations over the last three periods. You then pay instalments during the year and settle up with the annual return.