Collect tax in Switzerland

In Switzerland, Stripe Tax supports calculation and collection of VAT.

When to register for tax collection

See Thresholds to get insights about your potential tax registration obligations in Switzerland. Stripe also notifies you with email and Dashboard alerts when you need to register to collect tax. Learn more about how the monitoring tool works.

If your global taxable turnover exceeds 100,000 CHF in a calendar year and you’re based outside Switzerland, appoint a fiscal representative and register in Switzerland with your first taxable transaction there. You don’t need to register if:

• You only sell to Swiss businesses (B2B sales) and the sales are subject to reverse charge in Switzerland.
• You only provide tax exempt services to customers in Switzerland.

If you operate outside Switzerland and perform a taxable sale within Switzerland while your global taxable turnover remains below 100,000 CHF, you must register if it’s probable that your global taxable turnover surpasses 100,000 CHF in the next 12 months.

Threshold: 100,000 CHF (global)

Period: 12 months

Included transactions: Taxable transactions performed in and outside Switzerland.

Register to collect tax

Foreign businesses must appoint a fiscal representative to register for VAT purposes in Switzerland and provide cash or bank guarantee for future VAT liabilities.

Find more information on how to register for VAT in Switzerland on the government website.

After you’ve registered to collect tax in Switzerland, go to Registrations to add your registrations to Stripe in the Dashboard. This turns on tax calculation and collection in Stripe for your transactions in Switzerland.

Learn more about how to add your registration in the Dashboard.

How we calculate taxes

Stripe calculates VAT for your transactions in Switzerland. Stripe considers most goods or services sales taxable unless explicitly exempted.

Most services provided by foreign businesses that aren’t registered for VAT in Switzerland are subject to reverse charge. Switzerland applies reverse charge to sales of services to both VAT-registered businesses and individuals who acquire services exceed more than 10,000 CHF in a calendar from abroad. However, after foreign sellers register for Swiss VAT, they must charge VAT on all taxable services to Swiss businesses and individuals because the reverse charge no longer applies.

Stripe doesn’t support the special rules requiring foreign businesses to charge Swiss VAT on the sale of goods to Swiss customers if their sales of low-value goods exempt from import VAT exceed the annual threshold of 100,000 CHF. Swiss law categorizes low-value goods as those where import VAT would be less than 5 CHF. Depending on the VAT rate, this includes goods valued up to 62 CHF (if taxed at 8.1%) or up to 193 CHF (if taxed at 2.6%).

Report and file your taxes

Stripe provides reports of your completed tax transactions. Go to Registrations to access these reports. Learn more about the different types of reports.

You’re responsible for filing and remitting your taxes to Switzerland. Stripe doesn’t file taxes on your behalf. However, we do have trusted partners who can help manage your filing and remittance.