Every dividend a Swiss company pays triggers a federal withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) of 35%. The company, not the shareholder, has to withhold it, report it within 30 days, and remit it to the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV). A Swiss-resident shareholder who declares the income recovers the full 35%; a foreign shareholder recovers part or all […]
Equity is one of the most effective ways a Swiss SME can attract and retain talent it could not otherwise afford in cash. But stock options and employee shares are also one of the most misunderstood areas of Swiss tax and payroll. Get the timing and valuation wrong and you create unexpected income-tax bills, social-security […]
What Changed: The Retroactive Pillar 3a Buy-In Rule On 6 November 2024, the Federal Council adopted an amendment to Art. 7a BVV3, introducing the legal basis for retroactive Pillar 3a contributions – also known as nachträglicher Einkauf. The new rule entered into force on 1 January 2025. Before this amendment, any year in which you […]
From 1 January 2026, the default interest rate the Swiss Confederation charges on overdue federal taxes falls from 4.5% to 4.0%. The reimbursement rate the state pays you on overpaid amounts drops in step, and one quieter change removes an old cash-management trick entirely. For a Swiss SME, the headline looks like good news. The […]
In 2026, the annual VAT reporting option reaches its first real test: SMEs that opted in for the 2025 tax year must file their first annual return, and settle any balance, by the end of February 2026. Annual reporting, available since 1 January 2025, lets qualifying businesses file VAT once a year instead of four […]
Swiss corporate insolvencies are running at record levels in 2026, and a significant part of the reason is a change to debt enforcement law that took effect on 1 January 2025. Since then, falling behind on your VAT, taxes or social security contributions is no longer just an enforcement inconvenience: for a company entered in […]
Many innovative Swiss SMEs pay more cantonal tax than they need to, because they assume the patent box and the research and development super-deduction are instruments for large corporations. They are not. Both were built into ordinary cantonal tax law by the 2020 tax reform, and a MedTech, hardware, software or manufacturing SME with genuine […]
When a Swiss company distributes a dividend, it cannot simply pay the full amount to its shareholders. It must first deduct 35% federal withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) and remit it to the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV). For many owner-managed Swiss SMEs, that 35% deduction on their own dividend comes as a shock. The good news: for […]
Last updated: July 2026 Post-COVID hybrid work has permanently changed where Swiss employees work. A Zug-based SME now routinely employs a software developer living in Bern, a finance manager commuting from Basel, and a sales executive working from home in St. Gallen. Each arrangement creates distinct tax and social security obligations. Swiss cantonal tax law […]
Quick Answer: The Swiss National Council voted on 17 June 2026 to advance a VAT rate increase from 8.1% to 8.5%, targeting an effective date of 1 January 2028 – subject to a public referendum. Separately, the default interest rate on overdue MWST payments dropped from 4.5% to 4% as of July 2026. Swiss SMEs […]