Do I pay stamp duty with a foreign broker?

Not if neither your contracting party nor an intermediary is a Swiss securities dealer. What counts is who your contracting party is and whether a Swiss intermediary is involved, not the brand name. Check the contracting entity in your account documents; our broker pages show it where we have researched it.

Is the duty also due when I sell?

Yes. Purchase and sale are separate trades, and on each one each contracting party bears its half. Buy a foreign share for CHF 10,000 through a Swiss bank and sell it at the same price, and you bear CHF 15.00 twice.

Does the duty apply to ETF savings plans?

Yes, every execution is a purchase. With a foreign ETF and CHF 500 a month that is CHF 0.75 per execution and CHF 9.00 a year, provided a Swiss securities dealer is involved.

Is stamp duty the same as the Verrechnungssteuer?

No. The Umsatzabgabe is levied on trading in securities. The Verrechnungssteuer of 35% is levied on income from domestic debtors, such as dividends, and residents of Switzerland can reclaim it if assets and income are properly declared.

Calculators

Swiss stamp duty calculator

Umsatzabgabe on buying and selling securities: your share, the full amount and when none is due.

Buy or sell securities through a bank in Switzerland and your contract note will usually show the federal Umsatzabgabe, the securities transfer stamp duty. This calculator shows your share, the full amount and the cases in which no duty is due, following the rules of the Stamp Duty Act as the ESTV describes them.

Inputs

Trade value in CHF

The price paid for the security (the consideration) on which the duty is calculated.

Issuer of the security

Is a Swiss securities dealer involved?

A trade is taxable only if a contracting party or an intermediary is a Swiss securities dealer (Effektenhändler, Art. 13 StG).

Type of security

Sale proceeds in CHF (optional)

The sale is a separate trade with its own duty. 0 leaves it out.

Your share on the purchase

CHF 15.00

0.15% of the trade value, half of the full duty

Full duty on the purchase

CHF 30.00

0.3% of the trade value, both contracting parties together

The other half

Normally each contracting party owes half. If the counterparty is a foreign bank or a foreign stockbroker, its half falls away; the Swiss dealer remains liable for its own share (Art. 19 StG).

Who pays it

The Swiss securities dealer owes the duty. According to the ESTV it is almost always passed on to the client; how your provider handles it is in its price list.

Your share at other amounts

Per trade, when a Swiss securities dealer is involved and the security is not exempt.

Trade value	Swiss/FL security	Foreign security
CHF 1,000	CHF 0.75	CHF 1.50
CHF 5,000	CHF 3.75	CHF 7.50
CHF 10,000	CHF 7.50	CHF 15.00
CHF 50,000	CHF 37.50	CHF 75.00
CHF 100,000	CHF 75.00	CHF 150.00

What this calculation assumes

Rates under Art. 16 StG: 0.15% for securities of issuers domiciled in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, 0.3% for foreign securities, half per contracting party.
The basis is the consideration, i.e. the price paid on a purchase or sale (ESTV).
Not modelled: exemptions for certain investors such as foreign pension funds or collective investment schemes, the trading stock of professional dealers, and the issue of new domestic securities.
Also not modelled: the return of securities for redemption, for example when a fund takes back your units. It is exempt from the Umsatzabgabe (Art. 14 StG); a sale on the exchange is not.
The calculator does not say whether a particular provider charges the duty. That is in its price list and, where researched, on our broker pages.

Not tax advice. The calculator applies the statutory rates to your inputs. Your contract notes, your provider's price list and the ESTV are authoritative.

Sources (retrieved on 24 October 2026)

Note: These calculators are for information only and are not investment advice. Content on Brokaro is for information purposes only and is not investment, legal or tax advice.

How this is calculated

When the duty applies

A purchase or sale of taxable securities — shares, bonds, fund units — is subject to the duty when a contracting party or an intermediary is a Swiss securities dealer. That includes banks, the Swiss offices and branches of foreign banks, and professional dealers and intermediaries, explicitly including asset managers and investment advisers. The dealer owes the duty; according to the ESTV it is almost always passed on to the client.

Rates and halves

The full duty is 0.15% of the consideration for securities of issuers domiciled in Switzerland or Liechtenstein and 0.3% for foreign securities. Normally each contracting party bears half: 0.075% or 0.15%. On CHF 10,000 that is CHF 7.50 for a Swiss share and CHF 15.00 for a foreign share or a foreign ETF.

When it does not apply

Without a Swiss securities dealer the trade is not taxable — for example when you trade directly with a broker abroad and no Swiss intermediary is involved. Also exempt, among others, are trading in subscription rights, options and money market instruments and the issue of new domestic securities. If the counterparty is a foreign bank, only its half falls away; yours remains.