Anyone who has done a weekly shop in Germany, France, Italy or Austria and compared prices to Switzerland, knows how much more it costs on the Swiss side of the border. The cost difference is sometimes pinned on the higher take-home pay paid to Swiss supermarket workers. Right? Wrong. The website barometre des prix allows the public to easily compare the […]
Swiss VAT rate to fall in 2018
The current rate of 8% is set to drop on 1 January 2018. Temporarily increased by 0.4% in 2011 to shore up funding for disability welfare, the rate will revert to 7.7%. The 0.1% difference between the new rate and pre 2011 rate of 7.6% is a new increase that will be used to help […]
No more tax free shopping online
Important note: various Swiss media initially thought the start date for these changes was 1 January 2017. It is is fact 1 January 2018. On 18 October 2017, Switzerland’s government postponed the start date until 1 January 2019. Currently, most things ordered abroad and sent through the post to Switzerland that attract VAT of less […]
Swiss referendum: replace VAT with an eco tax – Yes or No?
The latest initiative from the Liberal Green Party is a vote that aims to replace Swiss VAT with a tax on energy. The proposal would eliminate VAT and replace the revenue with a higher tax on non-renewable energy. The tax would be applied to all non-renewable energy products at percentages related to their environmental impact. […]
