Direct federal tax and value added tax are the Confederation's main source of receipts, and make up around one third of receipts. Withholding tax, mineral oil tax and stamp duty also contribute to federal receipts.
2025 receipts
Direct federal tax accounted for 36.6% of receipts. Together with value added tax, it was thus the most important source of receipts for the Confederation. Direct federal tax is levied on the income of natural persons and on the net profit of legal entities. The proportions of income tax and profit tax receipts were more or less balanced at 46% and 54%, respectively, of direct federal tax. The 2025 receipts were derived mainly from taxable income and profits from 2024.
Starting in 2026, receipts from the supplementary tax (1.6 bn) should be generated with the implementation of the minimum tax rate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The profits of large multinational enterprises (MNEs) are to be taxed at a rate of 15%.
VAT accounted for 31.4% of receipts, making it the most important source of receipts for the Confederation, together with direct federal tax. Domestic consumption is taxed. This includes the acquisition of domestic goods and services, as well as imports. Exports are not subject to VAT.
Other consumption taxes Other consumption taxes consist essentially of receipts from mineral oil tax, tobacco duty, beer tax and spirits tax. This tax category accounted for 9.1% of total receipts, and continued to trend downward.essentially of receipts from mineral oil tax, tobacco duty, beer tax and spirits tax. This tax category accounts for 8.6% of total receipts, and is continuing to trend downward.
The increase in the number of electric vehicles caused a decline in mineral oil tax receipts, while lower alcohol consumption led to a drop in receipts from beer tax and spirits tax.
Withholding tax accounts for 7.4% of total receipts. Designed as a safeguard tax for direct taxes, withholding tax is intended to ensure that income from movable capital assets is taxed (eWithholding tax accounted for 7.0% of total receipts. Designed as a safeguard tax for direct taxes, withholding tax is intended to ensure that income from movable capital assets is taxed (especially dividends and interest income). Estimated withholding tax receipts represent the portion of incoming payments for which no refund is likely to be requested and which will therefore remain with the Confederation.specially dividends and interest income). Estimated withholding tax receipts represent the portion of incoming payments for which no refund is likely to be requested and which will therefore remain with the Confederation.
Transportation levies comprise heavy vehicle charges, motorway tax (vignette) and automobile duty. They accounted for 3.0% of total receipts.
Stamp duty accounted for 2.9% of receipts. Transfer stamp tax, which accounts for more than half of stamp duty, is levied on purchases and sales of Swiss and foreign securities. The issue tax on the accumulation of net assets/equity fluctuates considerably, as it depends on the equity requirements of companies. The third component is insurance premium stamp duty, which is collected on certain insurance premiums. Its trend is relatively stable.
Other federal receipts accounted for 10.0% of total receipts. They include other tax receipts, such as CO2 tax (1.3 bn) and import duties (0.8 bn), and investment receipts, 80% of which come from dividend payments associated with federal stakes (1.0 bn; mainly Swisscom and Swiss Post). In addition, there are current nontax receipts, which consist primarily of receipts from royalties and concessions, such as the SNB profit distribution (1 bn), as well as receipts from exchange transactions (1.2 bn; e.g. military service exemption tax) and financial receipts (0.6 bn; e.g. interest receipts).
Development of 2025 receipts
Note: the data for 2026 to 2029 is based on the federal decrees concerning the 2026 budget with the integrated task and financial plan (ITFP) for 2027 to 2029
In 2025, total receipts grew by 4.3 billion (+5.8%) to 87.8 billion. This growth was driven primarily by the sharp rise in direct federal tax receipts (+2.3 bn) and the SNB profit distribution (+1.0 bn).
Receipts associated with direct federal tax surged by 2.3 billion in 2025 (+7.7%). Receipts generated by the income tax of natural persons were up by 0.5 billion. Receipts from taxes on the net revenue of legal entities jumped by an exceptional 1.8 billion in 2025. This was attributable mainly to temporary additional receipts from the canton of Geneva (1.5 bn). Excluding that special factor, it was above all the receipts from the main tax period (2024) that soared.
Value added tax (VAT) receipts climbed by 2.6% to 27.6 billion in 2025. This was greater than the rise in nominal GDP (1.7%), and can be explained by the increase in the VAT rate in favor of AHV as of January 1, 2024 (AHV 21 reform), whose full effect was felt for the first time in 2025.
Withholding tax receipts totaled 6.1 billion in 2025, representing a year-on-year decrease of 11.3%, due essentially to estimate corrections concerning earlier years.
The increase in nontax receipts (+1.1 bn) can be explained primarily by the SNB profit distribution of 1 billion (333 mn of this was recognized as extraordinary). There was no distribution in 2024 or 2023.
Data
Detailed data for longer periods are available under the following links:
