Car tax Switzerland - every canton explained

Switzerland has no tax on a car that changes hands inside the country. A car already on Swiss plates has paid its one-off tax, and buying it second-hand costs you no registration tax at all. Two taxes matter instead. The federal automobile tax (Automobilsteuer) of 4% is paid once, when a car is imported or built in Switzerland. The cantonal motor vehicle tax is paid every year, and each of the 26 cantons sets its own.

Buying a car already in Switzerland

The automobile tax is a single-stage tax. It is levied when a car first enters the Swiss market, and a later resale is not taxed again. Even a manufacturer selling a used car pays no automobile tax on it.

What you pay on top of the price depends on who sells:

A private seller charges no VAT
A dealer registered for VAT charges 8.1% VAT on the whole price. Switzerland has no margin scheme for ordinary used cars. Since 2010 a dealer who buys a car without VAT deducts the VAT notionally contained in the purchase price, then charges full VAT on the resale
A car first registered more than 30 years before the sale counts as a collector's item, and a dealer may charge VAT on the margin only. The invoice then shows no VAT

A business with less than CHF 100,000 of turnover a year does not have to register for VAT, so its sales usually carry none.

The automobile tax on an imported car

The automobile tax is 4% of the car's value. It is set by the Federal Act on Automobile Tax (SR 641.51) and collected by the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) when the car is imported.

The value is the price paid or owed. With no sale, as with a gift, it is the market value: what a third party would pay
It includes transport and other costs up to the first destination in Switzerland
It excludes VAT, Swiss or foreign
You prove the value with the invoice. If it is doubtful, customs may estimate it
A used car pays 4% of its price, just like a new one. There is no depreciation table and no age limit
Electric cars pay it too, since 1 January 2024
A car that is not roadworthy is taxed on its value plus the estimated repair cost. You declare repairs up to CHF 5,000 yourself; above that you need a garage's estimate
A car first registered or built more than 30 years ago is taxed on its invoice, with no addition for missing parts or repairs
If the price changes within a year of import, the difference is charged or refunded on request

Customs duty and import VAT

Switzerland abolished its industrial tariffs on 1 January 2024, and cars are included. An imported car pays no customs duty.

It does pay import VAT of 8.1%. The VAT is worked out on the price paid, including any trade-in, plus every cost up to the Swiss destination, plus the import charges, which means the automobile tax and fees. A price in a foreign currency is converted at the customs selling rate. The customs clearance certificate costs CHF 20.

Customs then stamps form 13.20 A, the test report that proves the car has been cleared and the automobile tax paid. You need it to register the car. Since 3 December 2024 it can also be issued digitally.

The CO₂ sanction on a nearly new import

Switzerland caps the CO₂ emissions of newly registered cars. A private importer may have to pay a CO₂ sanction to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (BFE) before the car can be registered. The target for 2025 to 2029 is 93.6 g/km on WLTP, adjusted for each car's weight, so a car below 93.6 g can still owe something. In 2025 the sanction was CHF 95 per g/km over the target.

A used import is exempt when it was first registered abroad:

more than 12 months before the customs declaration, or
more than 6 months before, and has covered more than 5,000 km

When no automobile tax is due

Moving to Switzerland: a car you have used yourself abroad for at least 6 months before the move, and keep using, is cleared as household goods on form 18.44. Import it within about two years of the move
Inheritance and trousseau goods
Diplomats, and disabled persons, who are refunded
Swiss goods coming back, and a car imported temporarily

A worked example

The BAZG publishes no numeric example. Following its rules, a used car bought abroad for CHF 20,000, with CHF 500 of transport to the border:

Automobile tax base: 20,000 + 500 = CHF 20,500
Automobile tax at 4%: CHF 820.00
VAT base: 20,500 + 820 + 20 (certificate fee) = CHF 21,340
Import VAT at 8.1%: CHF 1,728.54
Due at the border, with the fee: CHF 2,568.54

The cantonal motor vehicle tax

Every canton taxes a car for each year it is on the road. The tax is paid by the holder, the person named on the vehicle registration document (Fahrzeugausweis), to the canton where the car is registered, which is where the holder lives. It is billed once a year and counted by the days the car is registered.

The cantons measure different things: displacement, power, total or empty weight, CO₂, the energy label, or a mix. The same car can pay very different amounts. Worked out from each canton's tariff, a VW Tiguan 2.0 TDI (1,968 cc, 110 kW, 1,690 kg empty weight, 2,160 kg total weight, 139 g/km), newly registered in 2026, pays:

Vaud — CHF 210 · Schaffhausen — CHF 264 · Geneva — CHF 294
Zürich — CHF 338 · Lucerne — CHF 404 · Ticino — CHF 444
Bern — CHF 475 · St. Gallen — CHF 533 · Graubünden — CHF 570

Many cantons cut the tax for an electric car or a car in energy label A or B, usually for its first few years, and several charge more for the least efficient. Several have moved from displacement to weight and power since 2024, so check which year a rate applies to.

The registration document gives the inputs: field 30 is the empty weight, 33 the total weight, 36 the date of first registration, 37 the displacement and 76 the power in kW.

The rules in each canton

The 2026 rules for a private passenger car:

Aargau: from 2026, CHF 90 for the first 1,400 kg of total weight plus CHF 0.085 per further kg, and CHF 90 for the first 60 kW plus CHF 1 per further kW. An electric or fuel-cell car counts 20% less weight and 30% less power, a plug-in hybrid 10% and 15% less. No CO₂ or label rule
Appenzell Ausserrhoden: total weight. CHF 142 up to 500 kg, then CHF 2.85 per started 10 kg up to 1,500 kg and CHF 3.35 above. No rebate for electric or efficient cars
Appenzell Innerrhoden: total weight, rounded up to 10 kg. CHF 200 for the first 1,000 kg, then CHF 3 per 10 kg. No rebate for electric or efficient cars
Basel-Landschaft: CHF 0.288641 per kg of total weight in 2026, indexed each year. A car first registered from 2021 gets CHF 300 off below 125 g/km, or CHF 150 off at 125–139 g, in its first year and the three after. From 170 g it pays CHF 75 to 300 more for good, with lower thresholds for cars registered from 2014 to 2020. Minimum CHF 60
Basel-Stadt: CHF 1.25 per 10 kg of empty weight plus CHF 1.60 per g/km of CO₂. An electric car pays the weight part only, halved. That rebate runs for at most ten years from 2018, and only while electric cars stay under 5% of the fleet
Bern: total weight. CHF 240 for the first 1,000 kg, then each further tonne 14% cheaper per kg than the one before. Label A gets 40% off and B 20% off, in the first year and the three after. An electric car pays half the rate and gets 60% off in the same years
Fribourg: power, in bands from CHF 259 up to 25 kW to CHF 1,495 from 351 kW; 101–125 kW costs CHF 532. Label A takes 30% off, electric or hydrogen 30% and a hybrid or gas car 15%, and the reductions add up
Geneva: CHF 120, plus for a petrol, diesel or hybrid car a charge per g/km of CO₂ that rises by band, from CHF 0.25 up to 120 g to CHF 12 above 300 g. An electric car pays a surcharge by empty weight instead, from CHF 50 above 1,400 kg to CHF 1,400 above 2,600 kg. With no CO₂ figure the surcharge is CHF 500. A car registered before 2025 pays at most twice its 2024 tax until 2027
Glarus: displacement. CHF 220 up to 900 cc, then CHF 17 per started 100 cc up to 2,700 cc and CHF 19 above. Label A is exempt and B gets 75% off, in the first year and the two after; F pays 20% more and G or no label 30% more. Electric cars are exempt. A tax on weight and power is planned from 2027
Graubünden: displacement. CHF 331.80 up to 1,078 cc, then CHF 47.70 per started 196.35 cc. An electric car is taxed on total weight: CHF 450.50 up to 2,000 kg, then CHF 15.10 per started 100 kg. At 100 g/km WLTP or less the tax drops by 60%, and at 90 g or less by 80%, so an electric car pays a fifth. A switch to weight and power from 2027 is proposed but not confirmed
Jura: total weight, power and CO₂, each charged in rising slices, with a cap of CHF 1,015. A car registered before 2021 is taxed on its NEDC figure plus 23 g. Electric cars get 20% off until 30 June 2027
Lucerne: CHF 0.139 per kg of total weight, plus CHF 0.81 per kW for the first 75 kW, CHF 1.215 for the next 75 and CHF 1.62 above. Electric and hydrogen cars get 20% off. Label A or B with CO₂ below 46.8 g/km gets 80% off for five years. Euro 3 or worse, or 187.2 g or more, pays 15% more
Neuchâtel: CO₂ and age. CHF 250, plus 4 × CO₂ − 15 × the age in years − 253 when that is positive. A car registered from 2021 uses its WLTP figure minus 23 g. Electric and hydrogen cars pay CHF 250
Nidwalden: displacement. CHF 160 up to 800 cc, then CHF 15 per started 100 cc up to 2,500 cc. An electric car is taxed on total weight and pays 25% of that; a hybrid pays 50%, with no time limit. A car in the best energy category is exempt for 36 months
Obwalden: displacement. CHF 200 up to 800 cc, rising to CHF 228 at 1,000 cc, then CHF 14 per started 100 cc. Electric cars pay a flat CHF 125. For 24 months a hybrid pays 50%, the best label gets 50% off and the second best 25%. The worst label, or none, adds CHF 60
Schaffhausen: displacement. CHF 120 up to 800 cc, then CHF 12 per started 100 cc. An electric car pays CHF 120 up to 30 kW, then CHF 3 per started 5 kW. No rebates
Schwyz: power and total weight, as 7.125 × kW^0.9 ÷ kg^0.05, at least CHF 160. Electric cars pay the same. No rebates
Solothurn: displacement, in 100 cc bands from CHF 172.50 up to 600 cc to CHF 276 at 1,400–1,499 cc, then CHF 15 per further 100 cc. Electric cars are exempt. From 2027 the tax moves to CHF 0.10 per kg plus CHF 1.15 per kW, with electric cars on weight only
St. Gallen: from 2026, CHF 182 per 1,000 kg of total weight plus CHF 1.27 per kW. Label A gets 50% off and B 25%, in the first year and the three after. F pays 12.5% more, and G, no label or a first registration before October 2002 25% more, for good. Electric cars pay the same formula
Thurgau: displacement. CHF 96 up to 450 cc, then CHF 24 per started 200 cc. Label A gets 50% off and B 25%, in the first year and the four after; F and G pay 50% more. An electric car pays the CHF 96 base, adjusted the same way
Ticino: empty weight × 0.1, plus kW × a fuel factor: 2.4 for petrol, 2.5 for diesel, 1.4 for a petrol hybrid, 1.9 for a diesel hybrid and 0.2 for electric. A petrol car of 1,450 kg and 110 kW pays CHF 409
Uri: total weight, rounded up to 10 kg, at CHF 1.80 per 10 kg up to 1,500 kg, CHF 2.00 up to 2,000 kg and CHF 2.20 above, applied to the whole weight. Electric cars pay two thirds. Minimum CHF 50
Valais: displacement. CHF 145 up to 1,000 cc, then CHF 11.50 per started 100 cc, with higher bases from 1,301 cc (CHF 200) and 2,901 cc (CHF 400). An electric car pays CHF 90 up to 10 kW plus CHF 15 per started 30 kW. No rebates
Vaud: CHF 0.15 per kg of total weight up to 2,500 kg and CHF 0.30 above, plus CHF 1.60 per kW up to 100 kW and CHF 4.00 above. CO₂ then adjusts it, on WLTP for a car registered from 2021: 90% off below 118 g, 75% off up to 124 g, 60% off up to 148 g, 15% to 50% more from 187 g, and 25% more with no figure. A new electric car is exempt for 24 months, then counts 25% less weight and gets 90% off
Zug: in 2026, CHF 100 plus CHF 11.50 per 100 cc; an electric car pays half the weight scale. From 2027, CHF 8.30 per 100 kg of total weight plus CHF 1.20 per kW
Zürich: a displacement amount plus a total-weight amount, both from tables; 1,801–2,000 cc adds CHF 148 and 1,801–2,000 kg adds CHF 160. Label A at 130 g/km or less gets 80% off and B 50% off, in the first year and the three after. Electric and fuel-cell cars are exempt

Obwalden and Nidwalden collect the tax jointly, through their road safety centre.

Examples from the cantons

Bern: a car of 2,300 kg total weight in label B, registered all year. The first 1,000 kg cost CHF 240.00, the next 1,000 kg CHF 206.40 and the last 300 kg CHF 53.25, for CHF 499.65. The 20% rebate takes off CHF 99.95, so the tax is CHF 399.70. Bern rounds to 5 centimes
Aargau: a petrol car of 2,120 kg and 110 kW. The weight part is 90 + 720 × 0.085, shown as CHF 151, and the power part 90 + 50 = CHF 140, for CHF 291
Lucerne: a car of 1,500 kg and 160 kW. The weight part is CHF 208.50 and the power part 60.75 + 91.13 + 16.20, for CHF 377. As an electric car it pays CHF 301
Basel-Stadt: the canton's average car of 2017, with 1,480 kg empty weight and 168 g/km: 148 × 1.25 + 168 × 1.60 = CHF 453.80

Geneva's disputed CO₂ charge

Geneva's vehicle office (OCV) multiplies a car's whole CO₂ figure by the rate of the band it falls in. On 15 June 2026 the first-instance administrative court ruled that each band should be taxed only on the grams inside it, like slices of income tax. The ruling is under appeal, so the OCV's bills still stand.

For a Renault Modus at 185 g/km, the OCV bills 120 + 185 × 3.50 = CHF 767.50. Taxed in slices it would pay CHF 266.25.

The motorway vignette

To drive on motorways you also need the motorway vignette, CHF 40 a year, as a sticker or an e-vignette. It is valid from 1 December of the year before to 31 January of the year after.

Interchangeable plates

With interchangeable plates, several cars of the same category, holder and canton share one plate number. Most cantons tax the most expensive of them.

What you will need

The Fahrzeugausweis, which carries the weights, power, displacement and date of first registration
The energy label category and the CO₂ figure, for the cantons that use them
For an import: the invoice, proof of transport costs, the foreign registration certificate, and form 13.20 A after customs

Before you buy

A car on Swiss plates carries no registration tax, so compare the annual tax in your canton, not the seller's: the tax follows the holder. A heavy, powerful car can cost several hundred francs a year more in a canton that taxes weight and power than in one that taxes displacement, and an electric car is free in some cantons and fully taxed in others.

On an import, add 4% automobile tax and 8.1% VAT to the price and transport, and check whether the car is young enough to owe a CO₂ sanction.

The rates above are those in force in 2026.

Vehicle tax in Switzerland