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Switzerland: standard rate: 8.1% reduced and special rates: 3.8% 2.6%
VAT Calculator calculates the VAT amount as well as the price with and without VAT. The VAT % is pre-filled, but you can change it or clear the value. The results are rounded to your desired precision. You can also make a currency conversion.
You can also choose the VAT% by clicking the percentages in the tables below.
Switzerland | |
| standard rate | 8.1% All taxable supplies not subject to the reduced rate or the special accommodation rate. This includes most goods and services, alcoholic beverages and restaurant services; food supplied as part of restaurant services is also subject to the standard rate. |
| reduced and special rates | 3.8% Accommodation services in the hotel and similar accommodation sector. The special rate covers accommodation including breakfast, even when breakfast is invoiced separately. 2.6% Includes foodstuffs other than alcoholic beverages, tap water, cattle, poultry and fish for human consumption, grains, seeds and plants, animal feed, fertilisers and pesticides, medicines, non-advertising books, newspapers and magazines in printed or electronic form, and menstrual hygiene products. Certain agricultural services and non-commercial services supplied by radio and television companies are also subject to the reduced rate. |
| exempt with deduction | Subject to the statutory conditions, tax-exempt supplies include exports of goods and certain international transport and related services. Input VAT attributable to these supplies generally remains deductible. |
| exempt without deduction | Subject to the statutory conditions, exclusions from VAT include healthcare, education and cultural services, certain insurance and financial services, specified gambling activities and many real-estate transactions. Related input VAT is generally not deductible. Many excluded supplies may be voluntarily taxed by option, although this is not permitted in every case. |
| out of scope | Activities outside an independent business activity and amounts that do not constitute consideration, such as donations and subsidies where they are not payment for a supply, are outside VAT. Transactions between members of the same Swiss VAT group are also not taxed. |
| reverse charge | Under acquisition tax, the Swiss recipient accounts for VAT on specified supplies instead of the foreign supplier. This particularly covers services taxable under the recipient-location principle when supplied by a foreign business that is not registered for Swiss VAT, as well as certain supplies under contracts for work. Since 1 January 2025, transfers of emission allowances and similar rights are also subject to acquisition tax, in certain cases even when supplied by a Swiss business. Acquisition tax is not a zero rate. |
| margin scheme | The margin taxation regime under Article 24a of the Swiss VAT Act applies to collectors’ items such as works of art, antiques and similar items. If no input VAT was deducted on purchase, the purchase price may be deducted from the selling price when calculating VAT, so that in principle the positive margin is taxed. This margin regime does not generally apply to ordinary second-hand movable goods; subject to the statutory conditions, those goods instead use the fictitious input-tax deduction system. |
| exemption from VAT liability | Businesses are generally exempt from compulsory Swiss VAT liability if their relevant worldwide annual turnover is below CHF 100,000. A CHF 250,000 threshold generally applies to non-profit, voluntarily managed sports and cultural associations and to charitable institutions. Subject to the statutory conditions, a business may waive the exemption and register voluntarily. |
For supplies of goods, the valleys of Samnaun and Sampuoir are treated as outside Swiss VAT territory. Services supplied there, such as hotel, restaurant and consultancy services, are nevertheless treated as domestic supplies. Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein form a common VAT territory.
| Upcoming changes: | |
| 29 Nov 2026 | Swiss voters will decide whether to increase the standard VAT rate from 8.1% to 8.5% and the special accommodation rate from 3.8% to 4% to help finance the 13th AHV pension. The reduced rate would remain at 2.6%. If approved, the increase is not expected to take effect before 2028. Swiss Federal Social Insurance Office |
| Past changes: | |
| 1 Jan 2025 | Menstrual hygiene products move to the reduced 2.6% VAT rate. A wider VAT reform also introduces platform taxation for qualifying online marketplaces, new VAT exemptions including certain resold travel services, and the option for eligible businesses to file VAT annually. Swiss Federal Tax Administration |
| 1 Jan 2024 | The standard VAT rate increases from 7.7% to 8.1%, the reduced rate from 2.5% to 2.6%, and the special accommodation rate from 3.7% to 3.8%. Swiss Federal Tax Administration |
Note! The VAT information on this page is general information, not tax advice. The information is not exhaustive. VAT rules include many exceptions and special cases. Check the treatment of your situation in the tax administration's guidelines. The information was checked on 22 Sep 2026.
VAT rounding: the EU, the UK and other European countries
The EU VAT Directive and the Court of Justice of the European Union leave VAT rounding rules to be decided at national level. National rules vary. In the UK, HMRC allows VAT on B2B invoices to be rounded down to the nearest whole penny.
Roundings in VAT calculation: Mathematically impossible prices?
There are a whole range of VAT-inclusive prices that cannot be mathematically arrived at if the tax is calculated from the VAT-free price. One example is 3.99. These prices are also possible, but then the VAT-free price must be interpreted as rounded.
VAT Gap - How much VAT is left uncollected in EU countries?
9.5% of VAT was left uncollected in EU countries. See the list of EU countries and candidate countries.
In Europe there is VAT - in the US sales tax
In Europe, companies belonging to the production chain account for the VAT paid by the consumer to the state in proportion to their value added. The US sales tax, on the other hand, is billed entirely by the company that made the consumer sale. Sales tax is paid to local operators, not to the state.
Many of today's taxes were already in use in Antiquity. Deciding on taxation has moved from autocrats to parliaments and the level of taxation has risen. In earlier times taxes were used to wage wars, today taxes are used to maintain welfare states.
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