On 15.01.2021, the Federal Act on the flat-rate refund of value-added tax (VAT) on reception fees for radio and television came in to force. The wrongly levied VAT on the old radio and television reception fees will be refunded to private and collective households without them having to take any action. For private households, the refund amount of CHF 50.00 will be credited once per household (EGID/EWID combinations; regardless of which members make up the private household) on the first invoice in 2021. The refund of VAT for collective households will be processed with the 2021 annual invoices in the second half of the year. 

Private and collective households
For private and collective households, the flat-rate refund of the VAT levied by the Swiss Confederation on radio and television reception fees from 01.04.2010 to 31.03.2015 is processed as a one-time credit on the invoices from SERAFE AG, the Swiss Collection Agency for the Radio and Television Fee. All private households whose data is reported to Serafe in January 2021, as well as all collective households that receive an invoice from Serafe in 2021, are entitled to a flat-rate and one-off credit of CHF 50.00. The flat-rate refund is made instead of an individual refund.

Households that receive credit are not necessarily identical to those that paid the VAT on reception fees between 01.04.2010 and 31.03.2015. This is due to the nature of the flat-rate solution proposed by the Federal Council and approved by the Parliament.

The flat-rate amount of CHF 50.00 will be deducted on the first invoice of 2021. The VAT refund on previously paid reception fees between 01.04.2010 and 31.03.2015 will be made to private households and collective households.

Reception fees were replaced by a household charge in 2019. Currently, Serafe sends out an invoice to each household rather than to registered individuals. This means that households that paid reception fees between 2010 and 2015 are not necessarily the same as those that will receive an invoice - and subsequently a refund - from Serafe in 2021.