Private Use of Business Vehicle: Calculation, Methods & Tax Return

01What Is the Private Use Share?

If you use a business vehicle for private purposes, the Swiss tax authorities treat this private benefit as so-called income in kind (Naturaleinkommen). The private share is added to your taxable income — regardless of whether you are self-employed or an employee.

This means: even if you do not pay anything for the private use, a taxable benefit arises. The tax office wants to ensure that vehicle costs that are actually private are not fully deducted as business expenses.

Who does this apply to?The private use share affects both sole proprietors who hold a vehicle in their business assets and employees who are allowed to use a company car privately.

02Flat-Rate Method (Standard Method)

The flat-rate method (Pauschalmethode) is the simplest and most commonly used method. The private share is calculated as a flat rate based on the purchase price (excl. VAT):

0.9% per month of the purchase price (excl. VAT)
Minimum CHF 150 per month
This results in 10.8% per year

Since 2022: commute includedSince 1 January 2022, the commute (Arbeitsweg) is included in the flat-rate private share. You no longer need to declare commuting costs separately in the tax return.

Example Calculation: Vehicle CHF 40,000

Item	Amount
Purchase price (excl. VAT)	CHF 40,000
Flat rate per month (0.9%)	CHF 360
Private share per year (10.8%)	CHF 4,320
Minimum per month	CHF 150 (not applicable here)

The amount of CHF 4,320 is added to your taxable income as income in kind. For a vehicle under approx. CHF 16,700, the minimum of CHF 150/month (= CHF 1,800/year) applies.

03Effective Method (Logbook)

With the effective method, you keep a logbook (Fahrtenbuch) and calculate the private share based on actual kilometres driven. All vehicle costs (depreciation, insurance, fuel, maintenance, road tax) are split proportionally between private and business use.

What must the logbook contain?

Date of the trip
Destination
Purpose of the trip (business or private)
Kilometres driven

At year-end, you split the total vehicle costs in proportion to private versus business kilometres. Learn more about per-kilometre billing in our article on mileage allowance and travel costs. Example: with 20,000 km total and 5,000 km private, the private share is 25% of total vehicle costs.

Keep it completeThe logbook must be kept without gaps and in a timely manner. Logbooks created retroactively or with missing entries will not be accepted by the tax authorities — in that case, the flat-rate method applies automatically.

04Comparison: Flat-Rate vs. Effective Method

Which method is more beneficial depends on the share of private use:

Criterion	Flat-rate method	Effective method
Effort	Very low	High (daily logbook entries)
Calculation	0.9%/month of purchase price	Proportion of actual costs
Commute	Included (since 2022)	Recorded separately
Advantage with low private use	No	Yes — lower private share
Advantage with high private use	Yes — capped	No — higher share
Acceptance by tax authorities	Always accepted	Only with correct logbook

Rule of thumbA logbook is generally only worthwhile if private use is below approximately 30%. Above that, the flat-rate method is usually cheaper or at least simpler.

05Impact on the Tax Return

The private use share has a direct impact on your tax return:

Income tax

The private share is added to your taxable income as income in kind (Naturaleinkommen). It appears in the tax return as an add-back — meaning the vehicle costs are booked as business expenses, and the private share is added back.

Value added tax (VAT)

If you are VAT-registered, the private use counts as a deemed supply (Eigenverbrauch). You must declare the VAT on the private share as deemed supply in your VAT return.

Declaration for sole proprietors

As a sole proprietor, you typically declare the private share on the supplementary form for business vehicles (Hilfsblatt Geschäftsfahrzeug or equivalent form in your canton). The private share is calculated there and transferred to your sole proprietorship tax return.

Record vehicle costs

Book all costs (leasing/depreciation, insurance, fuel, maintenance) as business expenses.

Calculate the private share

Use the flat-rate method (10.8% of purchase price) or the effective method (according to logbook).

Add back in the tax return

Add the private share as income in kind to your taxable income.

Declare VAT deemed supply

If VAT-registered: report the deemed supply in your VAT return.

Record vehicle costs in einzlyIn einzly, you record your vehicle costs as expenses — and keep track of everything for your tax return.

06Frequently Asked Questions About the Private Use Share

With the flat-rate method, the private share is 0.9% of the purchase price (excl. VAT) per month, i.e. 10.8% per year (minimum CHF 150/month). Alternatively, the private share can be calculated using the effective method with a logbook.

No, a logbook is not mandatory. It is only required if you want to use the effective method. The flat-rate method is the simpler alternative and is applied by default.

Yes. Since 1 January 2022, the commute is included in the flat-rate private share. You no longer need to declare commuting costs separately in the tax return.

The private share is added to taxable income as income in kind (Naturaleinkommen). Vehicle costs are booked as business expenses, and the private share is added back as an adjustment.