QR-Bill Without VAT: What Small Businesses in Switzerland Need to Know

If you're not VAT-liable in Switzerland — whether as a freelancer earning under CHF 100,000 annually or as a non-profit association — you still issue invoices. And the question regularly comes up: What does a correct QR-bill look like without tax information, and which mandatory fields still apply? This article clarifies this specific case.

Who is exempt from VAT?

In Switzerland, businesses and self-employed individuals are exempt from VAT as long as their annual turnover from taxable services does not exceed CHF 100,000. This includes many sole proprietorships, smaller limited companies, and numerous freelancers. Additionally, there are VAT-exempt services — such as certain educational, health, or cultural offerings — where even larger providers cannot declare VAT.

The distinction between exempt and excluded is legally relevant for tax purposes, but for invoice design it comes down to the same thing: No VAT amount, no tax rate, no VAT number on the invoice.

Mandatory fields on a QR-bill — even without VAT

The technical requirements for the QR payment section come from SIX Interbank Clearing and apply regardless of whether VAT is due or not. The following elements are always mandatory:

Field	Requirement
QR-IBAN or IBAN	Correct account number at the receiving bank
Amount + Currency	CHF or EUR, up to two decimal places
Name and address of payee	Complete, max. two address lines
Payment reference	QR reference (mandatory for QR-IBAN) or Creditor Reference
Due date	Not mandatory in QR code, but recommended in invoice header

What is not encoded in the QR code: tax rate, VAT number, and tax amounts. These appear — if at all — in the human-readable part of the invoice. If you're not declaring VAT, simply omit these fields. No disclaimer like "VAT-exempt" is legally required, but it can help your customers avoid follow-up questions.

What must still appear on the invoice header

In addition to the QR payment section, a complete invoice always contains an invoice header. While this is not regulated in detail by law, the following information should be present for your customers' accounting — and for your own documentation obligations:

• Your complete business name and address
• Name and address of the recipient
• Invoice date and a unique invoice number
• Description of services (what was provided, when?)
• Amount in CHF without tax declaration
• Optional: payment terms (e.g., "Due 30 days from invoice date")

A comprehensive Swiss invoice template with all mandatory fields can help you remember everything — even if you're not declaring VAT.

Wording on the invoice

A clear sentence like: "As a small business under Art. 10 para. 2 of the Swiss VAT Act, not subject to taxation." is sufficient. This is voluntary, but creates transparency. Never write formulations like "VAT 0%" — this is misleading and can raise questions in the event of an audit by the Swiss tax authority (ESTV).

Common mistakes with VAT-exempt QR-bills

1. Using a regular IBAN instead of QR-IBAN

If you've set up a QR account with your bank, you must use the QR-IBAN, not a regular IBAN. The QR-IBAN always begins with institution identifiers 30000–31999. A standard IBAN on a QR payment section with QR reference will be rejected by the banking system. For more on this topic, see the article on IBAN vs. QR-IBAN.

2. Inventing a VAT number or confusing when to omit it

Some self-employed individuals enter a VAT number preemptively that they don't actually have. This is problematic: whoever lists a VAT number is generally liable to the ESTV for the stated tax — even if they're not registered. When in doubt: leave the field blank.

3. Invoice amount and QR code don't match

With manually created invoices, the amount in the invoice text and the amount encoded in the QR code sometimes don't match. This happens especially when corrections are made to the document afterwards without regenerating the QR code. Therefore, use a tool that keeps both synchronized.

4. Missing or incorrect payment reference

Without a reference number, you'll struggle to allocate incoming payments automatically. If you use a QR account, the QR reference is mandatory anyway. Enter it carefully — and keep track of which reference belongs to which invoice.

Voluntary registration sometimes makes sense

Even if you stay under CHF 100,000, you can still register voluntarily with the ESTV. This makes sense if you regularly pay input VAT on purchases — for example, on expensive work tools or software. Whether it's worthwhile depends on your cost structure. The guide on Swiss VAT basics 2026 offers a good overview of rates and obligations.

Create a QR-bill directly — without accounting knowledge

If you want to create a QR-bill with a correct payment section without diving deep into technical specifications, you can use the SnapBill app. It automatically generates the QR code from the fields you enter — including synchronization between amount and code — and omits VAT fields if no tax is configured.

At a glance

• VAT-exempt QR-bills are subject to the same technical requirements for the QR payment section as any other QR-bill.
• VAT number, tax rate, and tax amount are simply omitted — no substitute notice is legally required, but voluntary disclosure is sensible.
• Don't confuse QR-IBAN and IBAN; the correct account number is decisive.
• Always keep the amount stated and the QR code in sync — ideally with automatic generation.
• If you don't declare VAT, you don't owe it; if you mistakenly declare it, you risk owing it.
• SnapBill supports invoices without VAT configuration with a valid QR payment section.