File your VAT return¶

Every VAT period ends the same way: compute the return, check it, enter it in the ESTV portal, close the period in the books, and pay. quints does the computing and the closing entry. Filing and paying are yours.

1. Compute the return¶

quints vat report -p 2026-Q3

quints init jane-books --name "Jane Doe" --legal-form einzelfirma --vat-method saldo --saldo-rate 6.2 --samples --yes
cd jane-books
quints vat report -p 2026-H2
cd ..

-p takes a quarter (2026-Q3), a half-year (2026-H2) or a year (2026); --from/--to takes any range. The report is computed under the method and rates in force for that period. If you switched method or registered mid-period, quints picks the phase that applies, or refuses a range that spans a switch.

2. Check what the report flags¶

Two lists appear below the Ziffern when there is something to act on:

• Prüfung is the list of bookings the form can't represent. Examples: a sale whose VAT doesn't match net × rate (the old rate applied by habit, a missing VAT leg), an unknown mwst: tag, or InputVAT under the Saldosteuersatz. A ledger error is listed too: a mistyped include, a syntax error or a failing balance assertion. Beancount drops what it can't read, so the Ziffern are short until you fix it (quints check shows each error). Fix each one in the books, then run the report again.
• ! marks a notice from the VAT timeline: the first return after registering, the last one before a switch of method, the final one before deregistering. Each names the correction the law asks for, its article, and the tag that files it under the right Ziffer.

Where a booking lands, and how to move it with a mwst: tag, is set out in How quints fills the VAT return.

3. Enter it in the ESTV portal¶

Copy the Ziffern into the ESTV ePortal.² quints files nothing. The return and the payment are both due 60 days after the period ends.³

4. Close the period in the books¶

quints vat settle -p 2026-Q3

It prints the same report, followed by the settlement transaction and its balance assertions. Paste them into books/<year>.bean. The entry moves OutputVAT, InputVAT and Bezugsteuer into PayableVAT, so the next period starts at zero. It carries the ^VAT-2026-Q3 link and a due: date.

Under the Saldosteuersatz there is one more leg. The entry pays the ESTV the Saldosteuersatz on the gross turnover and books the rest of the VAT your invoices collected to the saldo_difference income account. That gap is what the method pays you for not deducting input tax.

2026-12-31 * "2026-H2 VAT Settlement" ^VAT-2026-H2
    due: 2027-03-01
    Liabilities:CH:Einzelfirma:Tax:PayableVAT    -74.55 CHF
    Liabilities:CH:Einzelfirma:Tax:OutputVAT      81.00 CHF
    Liabilities:CH:Einzelfirma:Tax:Bezugsteuer     7.53 CHF
    Income:CH:Einzelfirma:VAT:SaldoDifference    -13.98 CHF

Then run quints check. The balance assertions prove the accounts were emptied.

5. Pay, and keep track¶

quints vat status

It lists what has been settled but not yet paid, with due dates. When the payment leaves the bank, book it against PayableVAT with the same ^VAT-<period> link, and the period drops off the list. The statement importers add the link for you when a payee rule routes the ESTV debit to PayableVAT and the amount clears exactly one open period; two periods owing the same amount leave the draft unlinked for you to decide. A credit (Ziffer 510) shows as a negative amount until the ESTV refunds or offsets it.

quints close check fails the year until every period is settled, and warns while one is settled but unpaid (Close the year).

Foreign-currency VAT¶

VAT is converted to CHF at the rate the ESTV publishes. quints uses the daily rate from prices.bean.⁴ Don't compute it by hand:

quints vat convert 7.53 EUR 2026-08-01                     # CHF InputVAT posting to paste
quints vat convert 100 EUR 2026-08-01 --bezugsteuer        # reverse charge: InputVAT + Bezugsteuer pair
quints vat convert 100 EUR 2026-08-01 --net --rate reduced # 2.6 % instead of 8.1 %

--bezugsteuer is for services bought from abroad, typically a foreign SaaS invoice.⁵ The emitted block carries the right mwst: tag for its rate, and its legs depend on the method on the invoice date:

• Effective method: the pair nets to zero when you can deduct the input VAT in full, but it still has to be declared (383 and 400/405).
• Saldosteuersatz: it debits the Bezugsteuer expense account, since the tax is a cost.
• Before registration: it prints a note instead of postings, because Bezugsteuer is then owed only above CHF 10'000 a year.

For agents¶

quints vat report -p 2026-Q3 --json
quints vat settle -p 2026-Q3 --json
quints vat status --json

• zNNN: every Ziffer, as a decimal string.
• rate_rows: the section-II lines.
• violations: the Prüfung list.
• notices: the timeline notices.
• liable_from / liable_to: the stretch of the period actually covered.

Keys are only ever added. vat status --json also says how the entity files today (vat_method, period). The full contract is on the reference page.

What quints doesn't do here¶

• File or pay. The return goes into the ESTV ePortal by hand, and the payment leaves your bank.
• Value corrections. Einlageentsteuerung (410), Eigenverbrauch and Vorsteuerkorrekturen (415) depend on what you still own and its current value. The notices say when one is due. You book the amount with the matching tag.
• The Saldosteuersatz form's Ziffer 415 (takeover in the Meldeverfahren), and the subtotal 379 both online forms show; the report skips it.
• Collected-revenue accounting (vereinnahmte Entgelte), and a business year other than the calendar year. quints computes on agreed Entgelte by transaction date.
• The Pauschalsteuersatz, which is for public bodies and associations only.