Switzerland’s Electronic VAT Standard eCH-0217:
Strengthening Compliance as “Guest Access” Deadline Approaches

A year has passed since Switzerland mandated the eCH-0217 version 2.0.0 standard for electronic VAT declarations, which became effective on January 1, 2025. As of January 2026, the transition from paper-based forms to a fully digital reporting environment is well-established, but businesses are now being reminded of upcoming access changes on the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) portal.

• Mandatory Digital Filing: Paper forms are no longer permitted, and all companies subject to VAT must file their returns electronically through the “MWST abrechnen” portal.
• Guest Access Transition: While guest access (“VAT declaration easy”) is still available, it is scheduled to be discontinued in May 2026. Businesses are encouraged to transition to the “VAT declaration pro” account-based system before this deadline.
• Version 2.0 Technical Standards: The updated standard introduced a unified structure for simplified reporting methods (SSS and PSS) and requires a mandatory 5-digit activityId provided by the ESTV.
• Annual Reporting Option: For companies with annual sales up to CHF 5,005,000, a new option for annual VAT reporting remains available upon request.

Tax agents and SAP Document and Reporting Compliance users should ensure their system settings correctly reflect the activityId and the consolidated reporting methods to avoid filing errors in the 2026 tax periods.

• eCH-0217 E-MWST v2.0.0 
• eCH-0217 – Spezifikation E-MWST v2.0.0 
• MWST abrechnen 
• MWST-Änderungen 2025