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Provisional tax bill, assessment, final bill: what you pay when (2026)

The order of Swiss tax bills: the provisional bill, the assessment and the final bill, what each one asks of you, the interest rates for 2025 and 2026, and when overpaid tax comes back.

Updated on 15.10.2026 · 9 min read

Swiss tax bills arrive in a fixed order. First comes the provisional bill for cantonal and municipal tax, sent during the tax year itself and based on what the tax office last knew. In February or March of the following year the provisional bill for direct federal tax follows. After you've filed come the assessment (in Zurich, the Einschätzung) and the final bill, which settles everything you've paid, interest included.

As a rule, money only comes back with the final bill. What happens in between is up to each canton. This article covers seven cantons: Zurich and Aargau in depth, Lucerne, Solothurn, Bern, Zug and Schwyz in a table below.

A bill paid on account

If you rent, you know how this works. Every month you pay towards heating and water, estimated from last year, and after the year ends the service-charge statement either pays you back or asks for the difference.

The provisional tax bill is that monthly amount, and the final bill is the statement. The difference is interest: most cantons credit you for paying early and charge you for paying too little or too late, each at its own rate and cut-off date.

Zurich: a payment recommendation with interest

Zurich's municipalities collect cantonal and municipal tax. The City of Zurich explicitly calls its provisional bill a «Zahlungsempfehlung», a payment recommendation, and sends it in the first quarter. It's based on your last return, your last assessment or the likely amount for the current year.

The finance directorate's collection directive sets a payment deadline with reminders only for the final bill. So an unpaid provisional amount works through interest. Reminder fees aren't allowed in Zurich's tax collection at all, at any stage. If your income has changed substantially, you can adjust your payments or, exceptionally, apply to the municipal tax office for an adjusted bill.

Interest is worked out around one cut-off date:

  • Payments before 1 October of the tax year earn interest in your favour until the final bill (Vergütungszins).
  • As a rule from 1 October, interest runs against you on the tax finally owed (Ausgleichszins).
  • Both rates are the same: 1 % for calendar year 2025, 0.75 % from 01.01.2026.
  • After the final bill you have 30 days; then late-payment interest of 4.5 % applies.

Because the two rates are equal, from October they cancel out on what you've already paid, leaving interest on the gap. For 2025 tax, that interest has been running since 01.10.2025, even if the 2025 return hasn't been filed yet. The exception is anyone who only became liable to tax in Zurich during the year, after a move for example: if no first provisional bill came by 30 June, interest against them starts on 1 January of the following year.

What a CHF 1'200 gap costs in Zurich

A household in Winterthur gets a provisional bill of CHF 9'000 for 2025 cantonal and municipal tax and pays all of it on 01.07.2025. After a pay rise, the final 2025 tax comes to CHF 10'200. The example assumes the final bill arrives on 31.03.2026 (a date picked for the arithmetic, not one the canton promises). Simplified, on Zurich's 360-day year:

ItemCalculationAmount
Credit 01.07.–30.09.20259'000 × 1 % × 90/360+ CHF 22.50
Interest on the gap 01.10.–31.12.20251'200 × 1 % × 90/360− CHF 3.00
Interest on the gap 01.01.–31.03.20261'200 × 0.75 % × 90/360− CHF 2.25
Interest balance+ CHF 17.25

So the final bill asks for CHF 1'182.75, payable within 30 days. What gets expensive is an amount still open after those 30 days, at a rate six times higher.

Aargau: due on 31 October

In Aargau the provisional bill is more than an invitation. The canton's 2025 guide says it plainly: provisional tax bills can be enforced through debt collection too. Provisional taxes for 2026 are payable by 31.10.2026, and late-payment interest runs from 1 November. That's 4.5 % for calendar year 2026 (2025: 5.0 %), and a reminder costs CHF 35 (the fee in the 2025 guide).

Pay before 31 October and you earn interest, 0.25 % in 2026 (2025: 0.75 %). There's no formal objection against a provisional bill. If it's likely to be well off your actual tax, the municipal tax office takes an application to adjust it (form 114.05); paying only part without one can earn you a reminder.

The final bill comes with the assessment. Any extra amount is claimed and payable by the end of the second month after the bill. Overpayments come back with interest.

Federal tax runs a year behind

In all seven cantons, direct federal tax is billed separately. The provisional bill for the previous year usually arrives in February or March, falls due on 1 March and is payable by 31 March; Bern, Lucerne and Aargau only send one if at least CHF 300 of federal tax is expected. For 2025 that was 31.03.2026; for 2026 it's 31.03.2027. After that, late-payment interest applies, set by the Confederation at 4.0 % for both 2026 and 2027. Voluntary advance payments earn 0.0 % in both years.

When does money come back?

The final bill rests on the assessment, which needs a checked tax return, and none of the canton pages read here says how long that check takes.

In Zurich the final bill rests on one of three things: an assessment that follows your return, an assessment proposal (Einschätzungsvorschlag) you've accepted, or an assessment decision. Bern and Zug give 30 days to object to the assessment, and Zurich gives 30 days to object to the final bill. The piece on discretionary assessments shows how an objection is built.

If you've paid too much, the tax office refunds the difference or sets it off against other open tax. For Zurich's municipalities, the finance directorate's directive provides for refunds of cantonal and municipal tax to be paid out within a month. Taxed at source? See getting source tax back.

Lucerne, Solothurn, Bern, Zug and Schwyz at a glance

CantonProvisional billDue or payable byLate-payment interest 2026Paying early 2026
LucerneAkontorechnung, by 30.06.due 31.12.4.0 %no interest (Ausgleichszins 0.0 %)
SolothurnVorbezug bill for cantonal tax, by end of Marchinstalments due 31.05., 30.09., 31.12.3.5 %no credit interest listed
Bernthree instalment bills, May, August, Novemberpayable 30 days after each due date4.00 %advance-payment interest 0.25 %
Zugprovisional bill, end of Junepayable by 31.12.4.0 %2.0 % discount if paid in full by 31.07.
Schwyzprovisional bill, 01.06.due 30.11.3.5 %0.5 % discount if paid in full by 01.07.

In Lucerne, Akontorechnungen can be enforced too. For Bern's instalment grid, see Bern tax instalments. Each rate belongs to the year shown and can change; for a later year, your canton's interest page has the current one.

Checking the bill against your own number

Whether a provisional bill fits only shows against a number of your own, and whether adjusting it is worth it depends on the gap and your canton's rate. For tax year 2025, TaxWize gives you that number: it prepares the 2025 return from your documents and works out the 2025 tax with a fixed rule set. The tax comparison also calculates tax year 2025, as a rough first figure. Neither can check a 2026 provisional bill.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay the provisional tax bill?
It depends on the canton. In Zurich, only the final bill has a payment deadline with reminders. If you've paid less by the end of September than the final tax, compensatory interest as a rule runs on the difference from 1 October, 0.75 % in 2026. In Aargau, provisional taxes for 2026 are due by 31.10.2026, late-payment interest of 4.5 % follows, and a provisional bill can be enforced.
When do I get overpaid tax back?
As a rule, with the final bill, which is based on the assessment of your tax return. The tax office refunds the difference or sets it off against other open tax debts. For Zurich's municipalities, the finance directorate's directive provides for refunds to be paid out within a month. None of the canton pages read for this article gives a date for the assessment itself.
What's the difference between compensatory interest and late-payment interest?
In Zurich, compensatory interest (Ausgleichszins) runs from 1 October of the tax year on the tax finally owed, at the rate credited on your payments: 1 % in 2025, 0.75 % from 2026. If you became liable during the year and had no provisional bill by 30 June, it starts on 1 January of the following year. Late-payment interest (Verzugszins) of 4.5 % applies once the final bill is 30 days overdue.
Can I get the provisional bill changed?
Yes, but each canton has its own route. In Aargau you apply to the municipal tax office with form 114.05. In Zurich you can adjust your payments to a substantially changed income or, exceptionally, apply to the municipal tax office for an adjusted bill. Solothurn only adjusts for larger differences, on income from CHF 20'000.
When does the federal tax bill arrive?
A year after the cantonal one. The provisional bill for the previous year usually arrives in February or March, falls due on 1 March and is payable by 31 March. For tax year 2026 that's 31.03.2027. Late-payment interest follows, 4.0 % for both 2026 and 2027, set in the federal finance department's interest ordinance (SR 631.014).

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