Switzerland

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Annual circulation tax (cantonal): the so called "Verkehrsabgabe" needs to be paid, if you own a car.

This can be a private person or a company. The amount of the tax depends on the canton in which the car is officially registered. Most cantons calculate the "Verkehrsabgabe" on the cubic capacity and the weight of the car. The "Verkehrsabgabe" needs to be paid annually. Certain cantons have special tax exemptions for electric powered cars.

An exact list for the cantonal tax reductions can be reached under the following link:

http://www.bfe.admin.ch/energieetikette/00886/02038/index.html?lang=de&dossier_id=02083

Car tax (federal): There is no direct federal car tax in Switzerland. The only kind of federal tax is the annual fee which needs to be paid for the usage of the Swiss highways. The holder of the car needs to pay the fee. The fee is CHF 40.00 for vehicles up to 3.5 tons. Vehicles heavier than 3.5 tons need to pay the heavy traffic fee, certain vehicles are exempted from the heavy traffic fee based on their usage.

CO2 duties (federal): The tax is calculated on the CO2 emission and on the weight of the car. An exact calculation for the tax can be calculated under the following link:

http://www.bfe.admin.ch/themen/00507/05318/05535/index.html?lang=de

For the calculation, the type of fuel (Diesel, natural gasoline etc.) needs to be filled in. Furthermore the brand, the weight, the CO2 emission by kilometer and the year of registration of the car need to be completed as well.

This is a non-recurring tax, which is included in the price of the car.

VAT-deduction: If the company is registered for the VAT and is taxed by the normal system, the VAT on the purchase price can be claimed back in the VAT declaration if the company is allowed to claim back input VAT. If the car is leased, the VAT on the periodical leasing invoices can be claimed back in the VAT declaration (if the company is registered for VAT and allowed to claim back input VAT). If the car is used for the company along with a use in private, there needs to be separated between legal persons (corporations etc.) and self-employed persons. In the situation where the company car is owned by a legal persons VAT needs to be declared on the amount of benefit in kind. If the company car is used in a self-employed business, a correction of the VAT on the private part of the business car is required. The share of the private use of the company car must be taken into account on the salary certificate of the employee. The share of private use is a taxable event. The taxable basis can either be calculated effectively or with a flat-rate. Most companies choose the flat-rate approach because of its simplicity: from the purchase price of the car, there is 0.8% added on the monthly salary to cover the private use of the car (9.6% annually, calculated on the purchase price of the car exclusive VAT). If the effective method is chosen, the employee must fill in a driver's logbook to separate between driven kilometers for business use and private use of the car.

Sinds 2015 the new EU-regulation imposes tough restrictions on the private use of company cars by crossborder commuters domiciled in the EU. The private use of the company car is only permitted if customs on the car are paid in the EU. In many cases, the foreign VAT paid there will be refunded. Issued as early 2016, the new Swiss regulation of the tax basis regarding commuting, stipulates that only a maximum of CHF 3,000 of those costs can be deducted from taxes – equivalent to a one-way distance of 10km. For company car drivers, all costs in excess of this maximum will be added to their taxable income.