Tax rates

Tax rates

From January 1, 2024, the following tax rates will apply:

The decisive factor for the applicable tax rate is neither the date of invoicing nor the date of payment, but the date or period of performance.

Reduced tax rate

The tax is levied at the reduced rate:

1.   on the turnover (and import) of the following items:

• Water in pipes;
• Foodstuffs according to the Swiss Foodstuffs Act with the exception of alcoholic beverages;
• Livestock, poultry, fish;
• Cereals;
• Seeds, seed tubers and bulbs, live plants, cuttings, grafts and cut flowers and branches, including grafted into arrangements, bouquets, wreaths and the like;
• Fodder, silage acids, litter for animals;
• Fertilizers, pesticides, mulch and other plant cover material;
• Medicines;
• Newspapers, magazines, books and other printed matter of a non-advertising nature of the species to be determined by the government;
• On electronic newspapers, magazines and books without advertising character of the species to be determined by the government;

2.   on the services of radio and television companies, excluding services of a commercial nature;

3.   on the services referred to in Art. 21  para. 2 items 14 to 16 of the VAT Act, provided that the taxation thereof has been opted for;

4.   on the services in the field of Agriculture, which consist in working the land directly related to the primary production or working the products of primary production related to the land.

Special rate for accommodation

This applies to accommodation services (bed and breakfast) in the hotel industry (hotel and spa establishments) and in the parahotel industry.

Normal rate

This applies to transactions (and importation) of  all other goods, as well as on all other services subject to the tax.

Balance tax rates

With the application of the balance tax rates, administrative work with regard to accounting and tax settlement is significantly simplified, because the input tax chargeable to the tax on the turnover no longer has to be determined.

Balance tax rates are not the tax rates as they are to be indicated in the invoices to taxable persons, but merely aids to facilitate the tax calculation in the accounting.

The balance tax rates were determined in such a way that they are to be applied in the tax calculation in the sense of multipliers. Therefore, in the tax settlement, the total taxable turnover including tax must be declared and multiplied by the balance tax rate.

Who may apply balance tax rates?

• Balance tax rates can be applied semi-annually to taxpayers who fulfill both of the following conditions cumulatively and whose corresponding application has been approved:
• The taxable annual turnover (including tax) must not exceed 5,024,000 francs.
• The tax payment burden must not exceed 108,000 francs per year. It is determined by multiplying the total taxable turnover by the balance tax rate applicable to the industry concerned.