Expected to generate $2.2 billion per year from 2024

The Swiss government has announced that from 1 January 2024, electric vehicles (EVs) will be subject to automobile duty.

It said its aim was to redress the shortfalls in tax receipts and secure deposits for the motorway and transport fund.

EVs have been exempt from Switzerland's Vehicle Duty Act in since its introduction in 1997. The law levies a 4% registration duty on passenger vehicles (and commercial vehicles) imported. The duty is levied on the import price, rather than the final sale price. 

The government estimates that an additional tax revenue of 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion) to 3 billion francs per year will be generated following the removal of the tax exemption.  

Between 2018 and 2022, annual imports of e-vehicles saw an almost sixfold increase from around 8,000 to over 45,000, it said in the statement.

In the first half of 2023, some 30,400 e-vehicles were imported to Switzerland.

The Swiss federal government's move echoes moves in other countries to start to address potential tax 'gaps' as the industry and market transitions from ICEs to EVs.