Swiss government intends to extend traffic tax performance-related heavy duty (HVF), which aims to cover infrastructure costs and external costs caused by from road transport, to electrically powered trucks starting from 2029. In addition, these heavy vehicles will be able to benefit from discounts on the tax until 2035, in order to promote modernisation and the decarbonisation of fleets.

Announcing today the transmission of the proposal to Parliament, The Swiss Federal Council explained that, due to the technical developments, the HVF system has reached its limits and currently almost 90% of all trucks circulating on the Swiss roads is in the most cost-effective category of the tax. In addition, the number of battery-powered vehicles is increasing or hydrogen, which are exempt from HVF and, as a result, revenue and the effect of the tax to promote the transfer of the Freight traffic from road to rail.

The partial revision of the Heavy Vehicle Act provides for also that combustion engine vehicles that are currently more covered by the Euro VI emission standard, pass from the cheapest tax category to the second most convenient. The latter category will also be awarded the new Euro VII trucks that will benefit from discounts on the HVF to differentiate them from Euro VI vehicles. In addition The Federal Council wants to offer road haulage companies greater planning certainty, by defining the criteria for the attribution to the categories at least seven years before their entry into force.

Since 2001, the Confederation has levied the HVF for all journeys on the Swiss road network of goods vehicles and persons weighing 3.5 tonnes or more. The Two-thirds of the revenue from the HVF goes to the Confederation and for a third to the cantons. In 2024, the total revenue generated from the tax was about 1.8 billion Swiss francs (1.9 billion euros).