Tax in Switzerland: VAT, income tax, company tax, capital gains
8.1%
Switzerland charges 8.1% MWST/TVA/IVA on most goods and services. The rate is verified against Federal Tax Administration (Eidgenoessische Steuerverwaltung ESTV) on 22 September 2026; the top personal income-tax rate is 11.5% (2026 tax year, Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung ESTV), and the headline company tax rate is 8.5% (OECD Corporate Tax Statistics).
MWST/TVA/IVA in Switzerland
Value-added: MWST/TVA/IVA is charged on sales and reclaimed on purchases, so only the added value is taxed.
- Standard rate
- 8.1%
- Local name
- MWST/TVA/IVA — Value Added Tax
- Type
- VAT
- Reduced rates
- 2.6%
- Filing
- Quarterly / Monthly / Annual
- Authority
- Federal Tax Administration (Eidgenoessische Steuerverwaltung ESTV)
- Current rate since
- 1 January 2024
Introduced 1 January 1995
Switzerland was among the last countries in Western Europe to adopt a value-added tax, and not for want of trying: three earlier attempts were rejected at the ballot box before voters approved one. VAT started on 1 January 1995 at 6.5%, replacing the old goods turnover tax. Because the rates sit in the federal constitution, every increase since has needed its own nationwide vote.
What it replaced: The Warenumsatzsteuer (WUST), a single-stage tax on goods that left services untaxed and gave no input-tax credit.
Income tax in Switzerland
The top personal income-tax band is 11.5% for the 2026 tax year. Federal tax only — cantonal and communal income taxes are not included
Company tax in Switzerland
The headline corporate income tax rate is 8.5%. In effect since 1 January 2026.
Indicative only: confirm with Switzerland's national tax authority. OECD 2026: central statutory CIT 8.5%, combined (central+sub-central) 19.471871%; sub-central CIT 12.62698%
Capital gains tax in Switzerland
- Shares
- Exempt: capital gains from the sale of private assets are tax-free for the federal direct tax (DBG Art. 16(3)); cantonal/communal income taxes must likewise exempt gains on movable private assets (StHG Art. 7(4)(b)).
- Property
- No federal tax on private real-estate gains (DBG Art. 16(3)). Cantons levy a separate real estate gains tax (Grundstückgewinnsteuer) under StHG Art. 12; rates, deductions and holding-period scales are set by each canton and vary widely - not quantified here.
- Holding period
- None for private investors. Persons classified as professional securities dealers (gewerbsmässiger Wertschriftenhandel) are taxed on gains as self-employment income - criteria not verified here.
Did you know? Switzerland tax facts
Swiss VAT rates are written into the federal constitution, so no government can raise them alone — each increase goes to a nationwide vote, and three earlier attempts to introduce a VAT at all were rejected at the ballot box before one finally passed.
Voters have since approved rises tied to specific purposes: old-age and disability insurance in 1999, the transalpine railway in 2001, and a seven-year top-up for the disability insurance gap in 2011.
Source: SWI swissinfo.ch — Value added tax: the Swiss government's all-purpose tool ↗That ballot-box brake shows up in the numbers: in three decades the Swiss standard rate has travelled from 6.5% to 8.1% — a grand total of 1.6 percentage points — against an OECD average of 19.3%.
The OECD records that VAT was introduced in Switzerland in 1995 at 6.5%, and that the minimum and maximum standard rates since then have been 6.5% and 8.1%. Reduced rates of 2.6% and 3.8% sit below it.
Source: OECD Consumption Tax Trends — Switzerland ↗Switzerland taxes income three times over — by the Confederation, the canton and the commune — and each canton sets its own rates, so in one comparison the top rate ranged from 12.3% in Zug to 32.3% in Jura.
Wikipedia: taxes are 'levied by the Swiss Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities'; the federal direct tax tops out at 'the maximum rate of 11.5%'; cantons 'remain free to set their tax rates', and Zug had the lowest maximum individual rate among major cities at 12.3% against 32.3% in Jura (2011 figures); cantons also levy a wealth tax of roughly 0.3% to 0.5% on net worth.
Source: Wikipedia — Taxation in Switzerland · checked 10 October 2026 ↗In Switzerland the profit from selling shares you hold privately is tax-free: capital gains on private movable property are not taxed at all, though cantons do tax gains on real estate.
Wikipedia: 'capital gains on private property (such as profits from the sale of shares) are tax-free', except where cantons tax real estate gains.
Source: Wikipedia — Taxation in Switzerland · checked 10 October 2026 ↗The Swiss federal government's power to levy its direct tax and VAT is constitutionally temporary: it expires in 2035, and renewing it takes a nationwide referendum carried by a majority of both voters and cantons.
Wikipedia: the federal authority to levy taxes is time-limited — the constitution causes it 'to expire in 2035' — and renewal requires a constitutional amendment approved by popular referendum with a majority of voters and of cantons.
Source: Wikipedia — Taxation in Switzerland · checked 10 October 2026 ↗
More stories, for every country that has one, on the tax facts page.
Ask your AI assistant about tax in Switzerland
The figures on this page are callable by any MCP-compatible assistant through the free Tax MCP. Add https://taxmcp.ai2fin.com as a custom connector in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own agent — no login, no API key — then ask:
- “What is the MWST/TVA/IVA rate in Switzerland, and what is the source?”
- “Estimate income tax in Switzerland on CHF 60,000 for 2026.”
- “What is the company tax rate in Switzerland and how is it sourced?”
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Switzerland, answered
Questions about tax in Switzerland
- What is the MWST/TVA/IVA rate in Switzerland?
- The standard MWST/TVA/IVA (Value Added Tax) rate in Switzerland is 8.1%, verified against Federal Tax Administration (Eidgenoessische Steuerverwaltung ESTV) on 22 September 2026. A reduced rate of 2.6% applies to some categories. Value-added: MWST/TVA/IVA is charged on sales and reclaimed on purchases, so only the added value is taxed.
- What is the top income tax rate in Switzerland?
- The top personal income-tax band in Switzerland is 11.5% for the 2026 tax year, verified against Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung ESTV on 6 October 2026. The free income-tax calculator on this site works through the bands below it, and shows the rate table it used.
- What is the company tax rate in Switzerland?
- The headline corporate income tax rate in Switzerland is 8.5%, as published by OECD Corporate Tax Statistics (checked 6 October 2026, verification pending). Indicative only: confirm with Switzerland's national tax authority. OECD 2026: central statutory CIT 8.5%, combined (central+sub-central) 19.471871%; sub-central CIT 12.62698%
- How is capital gains tax charged in Switzerland?
- In Switzerland, the regime is mixed, verified against Fedlex - Bundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer (DBG, SR 642.11), Stand am 1. Januar 2026 on 6 October 2026. On shares: Exempt: capital gains from the sale of private assets are tax-free for the federal direct tax (DBG Art. 16(3)); cantonal/communal income taxes must likewise exempt gains on movable private assets (StHG Art. 7(4)(b)). Holding period: None for private investors. Persons classified as professional securities dealers (gewerbsmässiger Wertschriftenhandel) are taxed on gains as self-employment income - criteria not verified here.
- Can an AI assistant look up tax rates for Switzerland?
- Yes. The free Tax MCP at https://taxmcp.ai2fin.com gives Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP-compatible agent the same sourced figures as this page: the MWST/TVA/IVA rate, an income-tax estimate, the company tax rate, the capital gains rule and a side-by-side comparison with other countries, each answer citing the authority and the date it was checked. Add the endpoint as a custom connector; there is no login or API key.
Sources
- Federal Tax Administration (Eidgenoessische Steuerverwaltung ESTV)
- Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung ESTV
- OECD Corporate Tax Statistics
- Fedlex - Bundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer (DBG, SR 642.11), Stand am 1. Januar 2026
- SWI swissinfo.ch — Value added tax: the Swiss government's all-purpose tool
- OECD Consumption Tax Trends — Switzerland
- Wikipedia — Taxation in Switzerland
Last checked 10 October 2026. General information computed from published government rates, not tax advice. Check the linked authority or a registered adviser before relying on a figure.
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