Swiss VAT Registration: When a Company Must Register

A Swiss company does not choose when to register for VAT. It becomes liable the moment its relevant turnover reaches CHF 100,000, and from that point registration is mandatory, not optional. The threshold itself is simple to state. What trips founders up is what counts toward it and when liability actually starts, which is what this piece covers.

The CHF 100,000 threshold#

Article 10 of the Federal Act on Value Added Tax sets the standard threshold at CHF 100,000. What counts toward it is turnover from taxable supplies, services performed in Switzerland and abroad that are not tax-exempt, not just revenue billed to Swiss customers. A company selling almost entirely to customers outside Switzerland can still cross the threshold on its worldwide turnover and become liable to register here.

When liability actually starts#

The trigger differs depending on whether a company is new or already trading. A new business is liable from the start of its activity if the circumstances at that point indicate it will cross CHF 100,000 within the following twelve months, in other words, liability can start on day one based on a forward-looking estimate, not waiting for the threshold to actually be reached. An existing business that crosses the threshold during a tax period becomes liable from the start of the following tax period, not retroactively from the moment it crossed.

This asymmetry is worth planning around. A founder launching a business that is clearly going to do meaningful volume from the outset should assume VAT liability applies from day one, rather than treating CHF 100,000 as a milestone to watch for after the fact.

Foreign companies without a Swiss establishment#

A company incorporated and managed entirely outside Switzerland is not automatically exempt. The same worldwide-turnover threshold applies the moment it performs a taxable service in Switzerland, regardless of whether it has a branch, office, or resident director here. A foreign company providing exclusively tax-exempt services domestically does not trigger liability on that basis, but once it crosses into taxable Swiss activity, the CHF 100,000 rule applies on the same terms as it would to a Swiss-incorporated company.

Registering below the threshold#

Registration is not limited to companies that have crossed CHF 100,000. A company below the threshold can register voluntarily, most often because it wants to reclaim input VAT on its own costs. That trade-off, administering VAT earlier in exchange for reclaiming what it pays on purchases, is a planning decision rather than a legal requirement, and it is worth weighing against the actual costs and revenue timeline of the business rather than defaulting to either option.

Information current as of 13 August 2026, based on Article 10 of the Federal Act on Value Added Tax (MWSTG, SR 641.20) and the Federal Tax Administration's guidance on VAT liability (estv.admin.ch).