🇨🇭Switzerland requires suppliers to the central federal administration to invoice electronically above CHF 5,000 excluding VAT, in force since 1 January 2016. The obligation is contractual rather than statutory, is satisfied by a PDF sent by e-mail, and reaches neither cantons nor communes. There is no B2B or B2C mandate and no transaction reporting. Electronic VAT filing has been compulsory since January 2025, which is a channel and not a regime.
E-invoicing mandate
B2GACTIVECentral federal administration suppliers must invoice electronically above CHF 5,000 excl. VAT. A PDF by e-mail counts; cantons are outside it.
B2BNO MANDATENo B2B mandate and none announced. Business e-invoicing is voluntary and market-led, through swissDIGIN and commercial providers rather than law.
B2CNO MANDATENo B2C mandate. eBill is a bank-operated network run by SIX, widely used and entirely voluntary — not a legal requirement and not EN 16931.
NO MANDATE
E-reporting
None. VAT returns must be filed online since January 2025, but only periodic totals reach the administration — no invoice or transaction data.
10 yrs
Archiving
Ten years under Code of Obligations art. 958f, and twenty-six for records concerning immovable property. Electronic media are permitted.
NOT REQUIRED
Digital signature
Not required. The former ElDI-V signature regime ended; authenticity now rests on ordinary bookkeeping controls and free evaluation of evidence.
8.1%
Standard VAT rate, unchanged since January 2024
CHF 5,000
Contract value above which a federal supplier must invoice electronically — excluding VAT, a qualifier only the procurement terms carry
CHF 100,000
VAT registration threshold, worldwide turnover measured over twelve months
01
Compliance timeline
A short timeline for a country that legislated once and then largely left the matter to the market. The Federal Council decided in October 2014, the obligation took effect in January 2016, and the most consequential development since was the Confederation confirming in 2018 that a PDF by e-mail counts. The live frontier is cantonal rather than federal.
2014
2014-10-08In effect
The Federal Council decides to oblige federal suppliers to invoice electronically
The Federal Council resolved to require suppliers to the federal administration to submit electronic invoices where the contract value exceeds CHF 5,000, with effect from 1 January 2016. The threshold was set to spare smaller suppliers.
2016
2016-01-01In effect
Suppliers to the central federal administration must invoice electronically above CHF 5,000
The obligation takes effect. It binds the supplier to issue, not the authority to receive, and the binding text is clause 9.4 of the Confederation's procurement standard terms rather than an ordinance in the Systematic Compilation. The threshold is CHF 5,000 excluding VAT, a qualifier only the standard terms carry. Cantons, communes and the ETH domain are outside it.
2018
2018-06-27In effect
The Confederation confirms a PDF sent by e-mail satisfies the obligation
Reporting that the e-invoice share had risen fourfold to around 60 per cent, the Federal Finance Administration confirmed that the federal administration also accepts PDF invoices sent by e-mail. The duty is to invoice without paper, not to invoice in a structured format -- the single most consequential fact about this country for anyone scoping an integration.
2025
2025-01-01In effect
Electronic VAT filing becomes compulsory for every registered business
Article 65a of the VAT Act, introduced by the partial revision in force from 1 January 2024 with a year's transition, makes online filing through the Federal Tax Administration's portal the only route. This is a filing channel and not a reporting regime: periodic aggregate returns are submitted, and no invoice or transaction data reaches the administration.
2026
2026-06-25In effect
The Canton of Zurich makes digital invoice delivery its standard from 2027
The cantonal government declared digital delivery the standard from 2027, with paper becoming the exception. Suppliers are invited rather than obliged, no threshold is set, and no format is prescribed. The federal obligation does not reach cantons, so this is the current frontier of cantonal practice rather than a new duty.
02
File format & data specification
No format is prescribed. The Confederation offers two routes: structured data through a service provider, or a PDF sent by e-mail — and since 30 June 2023 a PDF must go by e-mail rather than through a provider. Switzerland has no Peppol Authority and no OpenPeppol country profile, and the Confederation's own pages mention neither Peppol nor EN 16931. A Swiss business may of course use a Peppol-certified provider commercially; that is a market fact, not a Swiss regime.
Format & standard
Prescribed formatNone. The Confederation accepts structured data through a service provider, or a PDF sent by e-mail.
StandardNeither EN 16931 nor Peppol BIS is referenced anywhere in the Confederation's own pages. There is no Peppol Authority.
One detail that has movedSince 30 June 2023 a PDF must go by e-mail rather than through a service provider.
Identifiers & registration
Taxpayer identifierThe UID, the Swiss business identification number, which also serves as the VAT number.
Supplier registrationNone to invoice the Confederation. The Federal Finance Administration publishes the list of units that receive e-invoices.
eBill is not thisA commercial network operated by SIX for the financial sector. Joining it is a business decision, not a compliance step.
Mandatory content
Invoice particularsThe VAT Act's content requirements, unchanged by the procurement duty.
For the B2G dutyNothing additional. The obligation is to invoice without paper, not in a specified layout.
Where the obligation livesClause 9.4 of the Confederation's procurement standard terms. There is no SR-numbered ordinance behind it.
Which is why the threshold reads oddlyOnly the standard terms say CHF 5,000 "excluding VAT". Every official prose page gives the figure without that qualifier.
Archiving
Ten yearsFrom the end of the financial year, under Code of Obligations art. 958f, for accounting books and vouchers.
Twenty-six yearsFor records concerning immovable property — the ten-year absolute limitation running past the twenty-year adjustment period. Not twenty, which is the number a page guesses.
Electronic mediaPermitted. Unalterable media satisfy the business-records ordinance without further conditions.
SignatureNot required. The former ElDI-V regime survives only as history; ordinary bookkeeping controls govern.
03
Scope & transmission
The central federal administration, and nothing below it. Federal offices, departments, courts and the Federal Chancellery are in scope, and the Federal Finance Administration publishes the list that decides any given counterparty. Cantons, communes and the ETH domain are outside. The Canton of Zurich declared digital delivery its standard from 2027, but suppliers are invited rather than obliged and no threshold or format is set.
⚠️ A duty to invoice without paper, not in a structured format
What the rule saysA supplier to the central federal administration must submit an electronic invoice where the contract value exceeds CHF 5,000 excluding VAT.
What satisfies itA PDF sent by e-mail. The Federal Finance Administration confirmed this publicly in June 2018, reporting the e-invoice share had risen fourfold to around 60 per cent, and EY's tracker still recorded it in June 2026.
Why that matters"B2G mandatory since 2016" reads exactly like Italy or France. It is not. Provisioning an EN 16931 or Peppol pipeline against this rule is over-building; the duty is only that the invoice not be paper.
One detail that has movedSince 30 June 2023 a PDF must go by e-mail rather than through a service provider. The provider route is for structured data.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein run in opposite directions
They share a VAT statuteSwiss VAT law governs in Liechtenstein under the treaty of 28 October 1994, through Liechtenstein's own act and its own administration.
Their e-invoicing duties are oppositesLiechtenstein's is EEA-derived and falls on the contracting AUTHORITY to receive, from 2018. Switzerland's is contractual and falls on the SUPPLIER to issue, from 2016.
And they come from different bodies of lawLiechtenstein's sits in procurement law transposing an EU directive. Switzerland's sits outside the VAT Act entirely — it is a procurement and finance rule, which is why nothing in Swiss tax law mentions it.
What followsReasoning from either country to the other inverts every dimension: who is bound, in which direction, from what source, and from when. They are the clearest illustration on this site that a shared tax law does not imply a shared e-invoicing position.
04
Getting compliant
There is very little to do here, and the useful work is mostly in not over-doing it. Establish whether your counterparty is in scope at all, then choose the lightest channel that satisfies the duty, then keep records for the period Swiss company law requires.
Check whether your counterparty is actually in scope
The obligation reaches the central federal administration only. The Federal Finance Administration publishes the list of units that receive e-invoices; a cantonal or communal buyer is not on it, and neither is the ETH domain.
Choose the lightest channel that satisfies it
A PDF by e-mail is enough. Use a service provider and structured data if you want the automation, not because the rule requires it — and remember that since June 2023 a PDF must go by e-mail rather than through a provider.
Get onto the tax administration's portal
Online VAT filing has been compulsory since January 2025 and the portal was consolidated in May 2026, retiring the old simplified filing route. This is unrelated to invoicing but it is the one Swiss deadline that has actually moved recently.
Keep ten years, and twenty-six for property
Retention runs from the end of the financial year under company law. If your records touch immovable property, the period is twenty-six years, not twenty — and electronic storage is fine provided the medium is genuinely unalterable.
05
Penalties & enforcement
No e-invoicing penalty regime exists, because the obligation is contractual rather than statutory — non-compliance is a matter between supplier and buyer under the procurement terms. What is legally enforced is bookkeeping: retention periods under company law, and the integrity requirements of the business-records ordinance.
What is actually enforced
No e-invoicing penaltyThe duty is contractual, so non-compliance is a matter between supplier and buyer under the procurement terms, not a tax offence.
What does bind youRetention under company law and the integrity requirements of the business-records ordinance.
The practical consequenceA federal unit can decline a paper invoice above the threshold. That is a commercial remedy, not a fine.
Cantonal practice is a separate question
The federal duty stops at the ConfederationCantons, communes and the ETH domain are outside it entirely.
Zurich, from 2027The cantonal government declared digital delivery its standard, inviting suppliers rather than obliging them, with no threshold and no format.
What to do about itCheck the counterparty, not the country. Below federal level there is no single Swiss answer, and only Zurich has been examined.
🔍 What we could not confirm
Swiss statute text, at allfedlex.admin.ch is a JavaScript-only application that serves no text, and its data host blocks automated access. Every article number on this page is cited from official guidance — the tax administration's and the federal SME portal's — rather than from the enacted text.
An ordinance behind the B2G dutyNone found. If one exists it is not cited by any official page, all of which point to the Federal Council decision instead.
The repeal date of the ElDI-VReported as 1 January 2018 by professional sources. The tax administration treats the material as archival, which is consistent but not dispositive.
A comprehensive cantonal surveyOnly Zurich was examined. Cantonal practice is heterogeneous, so "no canton obliges suppliers" is not found rather than proven.
Whether any B2B mandate is under considerationThe federal parliament's business database is JavaScript-only and could not be read. The negative rests on EY's June 2026 tracker recording no planned mandate.
06
Related jurisdictions — Europe
Other countries in the same region, ordered by their next dated milestone. Each links to a full briefing.