The January 2024 Swiss VAT increase
A referendum in September 2022 approved the AVS 21 reform, and part of financing it was an increase in VAT. All three rates moved on 1 January 2024: the standard rate from 7.7% to 8.1%, the reduced rate from 2.5% to 2.6%, and the accommodation rate from 3.7% to 3.8%. Which rate applies to an invoice is decided by when the supply was made rather than when it was billed, so work spanning the change has to be split.
The same amount in each Swiss band
| The rate you typed | 7.70% | 77/1077 | CHF 100.00 | CHF 7.70 | CHF 107.70 |
| Normalsatz | 8.10% | 81/1081 | CHF 100.00 | CHF 8.10 | CHF 108.10 |
| Beherbergung | 3.80% | 19/519 | CHF 100.00 | CHF 3.80 | CHF 103.80 |
| Reduziert | 2.60% | 13/513 | CHF 100.00 | CHF 2.60 | CHF 102.60 |
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.
All three rates rose at once on 1 January 2024, by 0.4, 0.1 and 0.1 points respectively.
The date of supply decides the rate, not the invoice date — a service delivered in December 2023 stays at 7.7% however late it is billed.
Even at 8.1% Switzerland has the lowest standard VAT rate in Europe by a wide margin.
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
Which rate applies to work spanning the change?
The rate follows the period in which the supply was actually performed, so a contract running across 1 January 2024 has to be apportioned — the part delivered in 2023 at the old rates and the part delivered afterwards at the new. Invoicing the whole thing at one rate because it was billed on one date is the common error, and it is the supplier's liability to get right.
Is Switzerland in the EU VAT system?
No. Switzerland is outside the EU and runs its own VAT under its own law, which is why its rates bear no relation to the EU minimums and why a sale from the EU into Switzerland is an export rather than an intra-community supply. Liechtenstein applies the Swiss rates under a customs union treaty.
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.