Understanding VAT Rules in Switzerland - Overview

VAT applies in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Büsingen. Taxable persons generate income via goods/services. Standard rate: 7.7%. Registration threshold: CHF 100,000. Monthly/quarterly returns due last day of following month. Electronic invoicing optional.

VAT applies throughout the entire Swiss customs territory (“Inland”), including:

• Switzerland
• Customs and bonded warehouses at Swiss ports
• Principality of Liechtenstein
• German municipality of Büsingen am Hochrhein

Taxable Persons (Art. 10 Swiss VAT Law)

A taxable person is anyone who, under their own name and independently, carries on a business with the aim of generating sustainable income from the supply of goods or services on an ongoing basis. This includes professional/commercial activities, bearing entrepreneurial risk, and not merely temporary operations.

Switzerland – General VAT Information

• Tax authority: Federal Tax Administration
• VAT in local languages: Mehrwertsteuer (MWST) / Taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA) / Imposta sul valore aggiunto (IVA)
• Currency: CHF (Swiss Franc)
• VAT number format: CHE-123.456.789 MWST

VAT rates

• Standard: 7%
• Reduced: 5% and 3.7%
• Zero-rated (0%) and exempt supplies exist

Registration thresholds

• Established businesses: CHF 100,000 turnover
• Non-established businesses: CHF 100,000 turnover (also applies to intra-EU distance sales and electronically supplied services under OSS)

Other rules

• VAT grouping: Allowed (treated as single taxable person)
• Voluntary registration: Permitted
• Intra-EU dispatches/arrivals: N/A (Switzerland is not in the EU)
• Recovery of VAT by non-established businesses: Yes

Compliance

• VAT returns: Due last day of the month following the reporting period (monthly or quarterly)
• European Sales Listing / Intrastat: Not applicable
• Electronic invoicing: Optional for B2B/B2C; mandatory for supplies to federal administration if contract value ≥ CHF 5,000