Swiss MWST on accommodation at 3.8%
Accommodation is taxed at 3.8%, a rate that exists for hotel nights and nothing else — Switzerland is the only country in this catalogue with one. Breakfast included in the room price is treated as part of the accommodation and takes the same rate; a meal charged separately is a restaurant supply at the standard 8.1%. The rate rose from 3.7% at the start of 2024 along with the other two.
The same amount in each Swiss band
| Normalsatz | 8.10% | 81/1081 | CHF 192.04 | CHF 15.56 | CHF 207.60 |
| Beherbergung | 3.80% | 19/519 | CHF 200.00 | CHF 7.60 | CHF 207.60 |
| Reduziert | 2.60% | 13/513 | CHF 202.34 | CHF 5.26 | CHF 207.60 |
An estimate, not legal advice. Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Check the current position with a qualified professional before relying on it.
A hotel night is 3.8%, not the 2.6% reduced rate and not the 8.1% standard one.
Breakfast bundled into the room price follows the room. Billed separately it is 8.1%.
3.8% is unusually low for accommodation in Europe and is a deliberate support for the tourism sector.
How it works
The formula
Adding VAT to a net amount:
vat = round(net x rate / 100)
gross = net + vat
Removing VAT from a gross amount:
vat = round(gross x rate / (100 + rate))
net = gross - vat
Swiss rates and their VAT fractions:
Normalsatz 8.1% 81/1081
Beherbergung 3.8% 19/519
Reduziert 2.6% 13/513
Normalsatz to 2023 7.7% 77/1077
Not one of them reduces to anything you could
use on paper. That is normal; 20% giving one
sixth is the exception.
round = to the nearest centime, half up.
Only the VAT is rounded. The third figure is derived
from the other two, so net + vat = gross to the centime.
What it assumes
- The three rates are those in force from 1 January 2024. The AHV 21 reform raised all of them at once — 7.7% to 8.1%, 3.7% to 3.8% and 2.5% to 2.6% — so an invoice from 2023 or earlier uses the older set and needs the rate typing in.
- Beherbergung is a rate for a supply, not a discount for a business. It covers overnight accommodation including breakfast, and the meals a hotel serves the rest of the day are at the Normalsatz.
- Rounding is half up to the centime with no option. The five-centime rounding a Swiss till does at the end is a cash-payment convention applied to the total, not a VAT rule, and this tool does not apply it.
- Figures are in Swiss francs because Swiss VAT is denominated in them. Nothing is converted and no exchange rate is applied anywhere.
- Liechtenstein applies these same rates under its customs treaty with Switzerland, but it is a separate tax authority with its own administration, and this tool does not model that relationship.
Common questions
Does the 3.8% rate cover holiday flats and campsites?
It covers accommodation supplied with services, so hotels, guesthouses and serviced holiday lets sit in it. A bare long-term letting of property is exempt rather than rated, which is a different treatment entirely — the distinction is whether accommodation is being supplied as a service or property is being let.
Why does Switzerland have a rate no other country has?
It is a sectoral support measure for tourism, set in the VAT Act alongside the standard and reduced rates rather than granted as a temporary relief. It has been renewed repeatedly and moved with the other rates in January 2024, so it behaves like a permanent third band rather than a concession with an expiry date.
Sources
Method written and checked by Tessalor on Jul 31, 2026.
The full method, worked example and every assumption behind this figure are on Swiss VAT Calculator.