For the 2025 fiscal year, Swiss companies must continue to use either the effective method (based on 4 VAT returns) or the net tax rate (NTR) method (2 VAT returns), as previously applied.
Key features of the annual VAT settlement
- Changing your VAT accounting method requires notifying the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) at the beginning of each tax period, within 60 days (for 2026: between 01.01.2026 and 28.02.2026 for a first change). The new method must be maintained for at least one full tax period for companies with a turnover of less than CHF 5,005,000.
- Other conditions: all tax debts must be paid in full and all returns submitted on time for the three previous tax periods.
- The FTA determines the amount of advance payments, invoiced in three installments. These can be adjusted up to 10 days before the relevant due date.
- Extensions of time remain possible.
- The FTA may revoke the authorization if:
- it has had to initiate a debt collection procedure against the taxpayer,
- the taxpayer has exceeded the CHF 5,005,000 turnover limit for three consecutive periods,
- the FTA has had to estimate the taxes due to missing returns.
Points of attention
- If the advance payments are too low, late payment interest (4.5%) will be charged.
- No possibility of claiming prior tax refunds based on advance payments.
- Authorization may be revoked if the advance payments deviate too much from the amounts actually due.
- If there is a tax credit, it can only be refunded the following year (in March).