Collect tax in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Stripe Tax supports calculation and collection of VAT. Switzerland and Liechtenstein apply the same VAT rules and are considered one country for VAT purposes.

When to register for tax collection

See Thresholds to get insights about your potential tax registration obligations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. 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.

Foreign businesses that sell to customers in Liechtenstein or Switzerland must register with the Swiss tax administration if their global taxable turnover exceeds 100,000 CHF in a calendar year. They must also register if they expect their global taxable turnover to exceed 100,000 CHF in the next 12 months.

If your business meets those criteria, then when you make your first taxable transaction in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, you must appoint a Swiss representative and register in Switzerland.

You don’t need to register in the following cases:

• Your only sales in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are to businesses (B2B), and the sales are subject to reverse charge.
• You provide only tax-exempt services to customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Threshold: 100,000 CHF (global)

Period: 12 months

Included transactions: All global taxable transactions.

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, open your Dashboard and go to Registrations to add your registrations to Stripe. That turns on tax calculation and collection in Stripe for your transactions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

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

How we calculate taxes

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

If your business is registered to collect VAT in Switzerland, you must collect VAT on all taxable services you sell in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. However, if you’re based outside of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and aren’t registered to collect VAT, then most services you provide in Switzerland or Liechtenstein are subject to reverse charge. Reverse charge applies to services provided to customers who are registered for VAT or who acquire services exceeding 10,000 CHF in a calendar year that are subject to reverse charges.

Stripe does not support the special Swiss VAT rule that mandates foreign businesses with annual sales in low-value goods to Swiss customers exceeding CHF 100,000 to levy Swiss VAT on their sales of goods. The definition of low-value goods varies based on the tax rate: it includes items priced below CHF 62 if the applicable tax rate is 8.1%, and items priced below CHF 193 if subject to a 2.6% tax rate.

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.