The choice is not just about who pays for fuel. It also determines payroll treatment, the salary certificate, social contributions, VAT and the evidence expected during an inspection.
At a glance
- Since January 1, 2026, the reference allowance for business use of a private car is CHF 0.75 per kilometer.
- Providing a company vehicle that can be used privately generally constitutes a taxable benefit.
- The flat-rate private-use benefit is 0.9% per month of the purchase price excluding VAT, including special equipment, with a minimum of CHF 150 per month.
- An actual-use valuation remains possible, but requires a logbook and includes travel between home and work.
- For a shareholder-manager, inadequately documented private expenses may be reclassified as a benefit in money’s worth, with adjustments for both the company and the recipient.
This article was prepared for publication on February 13, 2026. A legal review was conducted on September 1, 2026; no material change affecting the rules below was identified.
Two vehicles, but three tax classifications
In an SA or Sàrl, the manager is legally separate from the company, even if they own all its shares. Vehicle-related payments must therefore fall within one of the following three categories:
- reimbursed business expenses: properly substantiated expenditure incurred in the employer’s interest;
- fringe benefit: a private advantage granted because of the employment relationship and declared as such;
- benefit in money’s worth: an advantage granted to a shareholder or related person without adequate consideration and without a commercial justification.
The first category is generally not salary. The other two are taxable, but their consequences differ. A private-use vehicle benefit correctly processed through payroll is one thing; family holidays, repairs or private fuel quietly paid for by the company are another.
Option 1: the manager uses a private car
Reimbursing business mileage
When a manager uses a private vehicle to visit a client, travel to a worksite or make another journey necessary for the business, the company may reimburse business mileage. Since January 1, 2026, the Salary Certificate Guide allows a maximum reimbursement of 75 centimes per kilometer under actual expenses.
This is a reimbursement rate, not a tax gift. The journey must be business-related and traceable. An expense claim should at least state the date, purpose, route, client or matter concerned and number of kilometers. An annual record cobbled together the day before year-end closing rarely has the evidential appeal attributed to it.
Example
The manager drives 10’000 business kilometers in 2026 in a private car. The reference reimbursement is:
10’000 km × CHF 0.75 = CHF 7’500
If the journeys are real, necessary and documented, this amount generally constitutes expense reimbursement rather than salary.
How is it shown on the salary certificate?
Where the conditions in marginal number 52 of the Guide are met, the box under item 13.1.1 is ticked and the actual amount need not be stated. If the company has approved expense regulations, the approval is mentioned under item 15 in accordance with the Guide.
However, the ordinary journey between home and the usual workplace is not a business journey for this treatment. An allowance paid for that journey must generally be declared as a benefit, with any deduction available to the taxpayer examined separately in their tax return.
What if the private car is used very frequently?
The Swiss Tax Conference provides a model flat-rate car allowance for employees who can prove more than 12’000 business kilometers a year, excluding commuting. Entitlement must be determined over a representative period of around four to six months, then reassessed no later than after three years or when the role changes. Maximum amounts range from CHF 9’600 to CHF 24’000 depending on mileage.
This is not a simple monthly multiplication decided internally. It must form part of a defensible expense arrangement and entails, among other things, an entry under item 13.2.2 and a tick in box F of the salary certificate.
Option 2: the company provides a vehicle
The flat-rate method: 0.9% per month
If the company bears most costs and the manager may use the vehicle privately, the benefit is generally valued at 0.9% per month of the purchase price excluding VAT, including special equipment. The minimum is CHF 150 per month. Over a full year, the flat rate therefore represents 10.8% of the relevant price.
For a leased vehicle, the basis is not the total lease payments: use the cash purchase price excluding VAT shown in the contract, or the vehicle price specified in it. For a rented vehicle, the market value at the start of the rental or the average value of the relevant category is decisive.
Example
The company purchases a vehicle whose relevant price excluding VAT is CHF 60’000:
CHF 60’000 × 0.9% × 12 = CHF 6’480 per year
The CHF 6’480 is declared under item 2.2 of the salary certificate as a fringe benefit. It generally increases taxable income and salary subject to social insurance contributions. Box F should generally be ticked.
The actual-use method: useful, but demanding
Instead of the flat rate, the employer may value private use based on kilometers actually driven, provided a logbook is kept. Private kilometers include travel between home and work. The 2026 Guide gives an example using 75 centimes per kilometer.
In the previous example, if the logbook establishes 5’000 private kilometers, the actual benefit would be CHF 3’750 at CHF 0.75/km, compared with CHF 6’480 under the flat rate. The actual-use method can therefore be attractive where private use is limited. It becomes less appealing if the logbook has more holes than the road itself.
Manager contributions and vehicles with restricted private use
A contribution paid by the manager reduces the declarable benefit by that amount. If the manager bears a substantial share of costs, such as maintenance, insurance, fuel and repairs, the flat rate may no longer be appropriate; the salary certificate must then indicate that private use will be determined in the tax assessment procedure. Paying only for private fuel or charging is not enough.
Where private use is substantially restricted, notably by permanent tool-transport installations, no private-use benefit needs to be calculated. A written prohibition that does not reflect actual practice obviously does not have the same effect.
Practical comparison
| Criterion | Private car | Company vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Owner / lessee | The manager | The company |
| Business travel | Usual reimbursement up to CHF 0.75/km from 2026 | Costs borne by the company |
| Private use | Borne by the manager | Flat-rate or actual private-use benefit |
| Administration | Expense claims and business journey records | Payroll, salary certificate, possible logbook and VAT |
| Often suitable when… | Business mileage is moderate and the vehicle is mainly private | The vehicle is necessary, expensive or heavily used for business |
| Main risk | Unproven mileage or commuting treated as expenses | Private-use benefit omitted or undervalued, or additional personal expenses |
Which option is most tax-efficient?
There is no universal answer because the amounts compared do not represent the same thing. Mileage reimbursement compensates a business cost borne by the manager. The private-use benefit measures a personal advantage financed by the company. Directly comparing CHF 7’500 of reimbursement with CHF 6’480 of private-use benefit would be like comparing the price of a ticket with the size of a suitcase.
The decision must at least account for:
- expected business and private mileage;
- the vehicle’s price, depreciation, financing, insurance and maintenance;
- the manager’s ability to finance the vehicle privately;
- any recovery of input VAT and VAT due on private use;
- the effect of private use on taxable income and social contributions;
- the administrative burden and quality of available evidence.
A sound calculation therefore compares the total annual cost for the company and manager after taxes and contributions over a realistic ownership period. It should also anticipate changes in vehicle, residence, working percentage or mileage.
The sensitive issue for shareholder-managers
The tax authority examines whether the company would have offered the same treatment to an independent third party in the same role. If it pays private expenses without invoicing them or declaring them as salary, the benefit may be treated as a hidden profit distribution. The company then risks an addition to taxable profit; the recipient may face an income adjustment, with possible withholding tax consequences.
The opposing party, here the authority, must first establish sufficient indications of a benefit without adequate consideration. Once that disproportion is made plausible, however, the taxpayer must substantiate their explanations. Case law shows that simply claiming “almost exclusively business” use is insufficient without concrete evidence.
Evidence checklist
- internal decision or contractual clause concerning the vehicle;
- expense regulations and, where useful, cantonal approval;
- contemporaneous expense claims or logbook;
- purchase, lease or rental contract showing the relevant price;
- private-use benefit recorded monthly and included on the salary certificate;
- consistent treatment in payroll, VAT, accounting and the tax return.
What about self-employed sole proprietors?
A self-employed person is not an employee of their own business and does not issue a salary certificate for themselves. They must separate business and private assets under the applicable rules, record business vehicle costs and adjust for private use. The 2026 tax form provides, in particular, for a calculation based on private kilometers, a flat rate of 0.9% of the purchase price excluding VAT or, depending on the circumstances, a proportion of substantiated expenses. This situation therefore warrants a calculation separate from that for an SA or Sàrl manager.
Mistakes to avoid
- continuing to use CHF 0.70/km for 2026 without checking the expense regulations;
- reimbursing mileage at a flat rate without records or an approved method;
- confusing business journeys with travel between home and work;
- calculating the private-use benefit of a leased vehicle from lease payments rather than the cash price excluding VAT;
- forgetting box F or item 2.2 on the salary certificate;
- letting the company pay additional private expenses not covered by the private-use benefit;
- applying one method in payroll, another in accounting and a third in the VAT return.
How Delta Conseil SA can support you
Delta Conseil SA can compare the two options using your mileage, the vehicle’s actual cost and your payroll situation; establish accounting and payroll treatment; review the salary certificate; and prepare or update expense regulations for submission, where justified, to the competent cantonal authority.
Caution
Cantonal practices, approved expense regulations, the manager’s exact status, usage restrictions and VAT treatment may change the result. An electric vehicle, luxury vehicle, cross-border use or substantial contribution by the manager requires specific analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still reimburse 70 centimes per kilometer in 2026?
Yes, reimbursement below the reference maximum remains possible. The important change is that the 2026 Guide now allows up to 75 centimes per kilometer for business use of a private car, provided journeys are real and substantiated.
Does the 0.9% private-use benefit include commuting?
The flat-rate method covers private use under the regime introduced in 2022. Box F should generally be ticked and no commuting deduction is then allowed for those journeys. Under the actual-use method, commuting kilometers are expressly included in private mileage.
Does a logbook always reduce tax?
No. It reduces the taxable benefit only if the value of private mileage is below the flat rate. It must also be complete, contemporaneous and consistent with the diary, expense claims and vehicle mileage.
Can the company also pay for private fuel?
Under the usual flat-rate regime, the manager generally pays for fuel or energy for long private journeys, notably weekends and holidays. If the company bears more private costs than the regime provides for, an additional benefit may need to be declared.
Are approved expense regulations required to reimburse mileage?
Not necessarily for every actual reimbursement properly documented and consistent with the Guide. However, approved regulations become useful when the company regularly reimburses expenses, applies flat rates or wants to secure a uniform practice, particularly for senior staff.
Official sources
- FTA and Swiss Tax Conference — Salary Certificate Guide, valid from January 1, 2026
- Fedlex — Ordinance on Professional Expenses, SR 642.118.1
- FTA and Swiss Tax Conference — Model expense reimbursement regulations, 2026 version
- Swiss Tax Conference — Model vehicle allowances for employees using private cars very frequently
- FTA — Private use of company vehicles for VAT purposes
- AVS/AI Information Center — Salary contributions to AVS, AI and APG, 2026 version
- Federal Supreme Court — Judgment 2C_485/2019 of November 6, 2019
- FTA — Form 18a 2026, private-use portions for self-employed persons
Last legal review: February 13, 2026.
Disclaimer
This publication is provided for information only and does not constitute individualized legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Each situation must be assessed in light of its specific circumstances and the law applicable at the time of the decision.
For further information, please consult our Legal notice and disclaimer.
