Services bought abroad: the acquisition tax
A consultant based in France, a communications agency in London, a training course from a German provider. None of them charges Swiss VAT, and that is exactly why you may owe it.
The short answer
When you buy a service from a business based abroad that is not on the Swiss VAT register, you owe the VAT on that service (impôt sur les acquisitions, a reverse charge). If you are VAT-registered, you declare it in your return. If you are not, it applies from a threshold: more than CHF 10,000 of such services acquired in a calendar year.Source: Art. 45 para. 2 let. b VAT Act · checked on 27 September 2026
Key point: not being VAT-registered does not exempt you from acquisition tax.
Which services are concerned
Services supplied by a foreign business that is not registered, where the law places the supply in Switzerland. That is the general rule for a service provided to a business or organisation based in Switzerland: consulting, communications, translation, training, recruitment.
A counter-intuitive exception. Excluded are
telecommunications or IT services supplied to a recipient who is not VAT-registered: the foreign supplier must then charge Swiss VAT itself.Source: art. 45(1)(a) VAT Act · checked on 4 October 2026
If you are VAT-registered
You declare these purchases in your VAT return as acquisition tax. If the service is used for your taxable activity, you can in principle deduct the same amount as input tax. The transaction is then neutral, but it must still appear in your return.
If you are not VAT-registered
That is the case for many associations, healthcare professions, exempt activities and businesses below the registration threshold. As long as your purchases of services from abroad stay below the annual threshold, nothing changes. Above it:
- you owe VAT on all those purchases for the year, not only on the part above the threshold;
- you cannot recover it: for you, it is a cost;
- you must report to the tax authority: written notice to the FTA within 60 days of the end of the calendar year, together with the declaration of the acquisitions art. 66(3) VAT Act.
Key point: exceeding the threshold does not make you VAT-registered in general. You only owe VAT on those purchases.
What this guide does not cover
Imported goods, which go through customs and import tax, the other cases of acquisition tax set out in the law (real estate, energy, emission rights), and the rate that applies to each service.
Checked on 27 September 2026.