The Geneva municipal business tax (taxe professionnelle communale, TPC) no longer exists since 1 January 2024. If you are looking for how to declare or pay it for your current activity, the answer is simple: there is nothing left to declare or pay under this heading. This page explains what this tax was, why it was abolished, how the loss of municipal revenue was offset, and what this change concretely means depending on your business's profile. Established on Boulevard Georges-Favon in Geneva, AX-Fiduciaire verified this information in September 2026.
What the municipal business tax was
The TPC was a Geneva peculiarity: no other Swiss canton had an equivalent tax. Its origin dated back to 1798, under the name "contribution des patentes". It went through more than two centuries in successive forms before being abolished in 2024, making it one of the oldest levies in the Geneva tax system.
Unlike corporate income tax, which is based on the net result of the financial year, the TPC was not calculated on the business's profit. It combined three separate factors:
- average turnover over the previous two years of operation;
- average rent for premises used for business purposes;
- average staff numbers employed.
Specific coefficients, ranging from 0.1‰ to 6.0‰, applied to turnover depending on the professional group the business belonged to. This method of calculation, based on activity rather than result, clearly distinguished the TPC from corporate income tax and capital tax, which remain in force.
Why this tax was contested
The most criticised feature of the TPC stemmed directly from its method of calculation: a business could owe it even without making any profit, as soon as it generated turnover, occupied premises or employed staff in Geneva. A company in its development phase, or going through a loss-making year, thus remained liable for a municipal tax charge independent of its actual ability to pay. It was this argument, more than the principle of a municipal contribution itself, that fuelled the challenge which led to its abolition.
How the abolition was decided and offset
The abolition of the TPC is the result of a popular initiative to which the Geneva Grand Conseil responded with a counter-proposal, adopted unanimously in the vote of 11 May 2023. The abolition took effect on 1 January 2024.
The disappearance of this tax represented, for Geneva's municipalities as a whole, an estimated loss of revenue of around CHF 200 million per year. This loss was offset by a 0.7 percentage point increase in corporate income tax on businesses, which rose from 14% to 14.7% in effective rate, federal tax included. The principle adopted thus shifts the burden from a base linked to activity (turnover, premises, staff) to a base linked to result (taxable profit).
What this change means depending on your business's profile
This shift in tax base does not produce the same effect for every Geneva business. It depends directly on the relationship between turnover, cost structure and profit for each company:
- High turnover, low margin. A business whose activity generates a large volume for a modest profit bore, under the former regime, a TPC based on that volume — potentially heavy in proportion to its result. The abolition of the TPC eases this burden, while the 0.7 point increase in corporate income tax applies only to a limited result. The net effect is generally favourable for this type of business.
- High profitability. A highly profitable business now sees its taxable profit taxed at a rate 0.7 point higher. Depending on how heavily the TPC weighed in its total tax burden relative to its turnover, this increase may or may not offset the abolition of the former tax. Each situation deserves its own comparative calculation, rather than a generalisation.
- Loss-making or start-up business. A company that generates no profit was already paying little or nothing in corporate income tax, but could owe the TPC purely because of its activity. The abolition of the TPC removes this charge, which was independent of the result. In return, the day the business becomes profitable again, it will bear a higher corporate income tax rate than before the reform.
This trade-off is not automatic in either direction: it depends on the economic structure specific to each business, and an individual calculation remains necessary to establish where a given company stands.
The case of financial years prior to 2024
This page covers the regime applicable since 1 January 2024. We have not verified the position regarding any outstanding filing obligations for financial years closed before that date, nor any proceedings that may still be ongoing for earlier periods. If your situation concerns a financial year prior to 2024, this point should be checked case by case with the Geneva municipality concerned, which remains the competent point of contact for any question relating to that period.
What to look at today instead
Since the abolition of the TPC, the levies to monitor for a business carrying on an activity in Geneva are those based on result and on equity:
- corporate income tax, whose effective rate now includes the 0.7 point increase linked to this reform;
- capital tax, levied on the company's equity, which coexists with corporate income tax for companies limited by shares;
- depending on the activity, VAT, which remains an entirely separate federal levy and has never had any link with the TPC.
These are the elements to build into the forecast budget of a Geneva business, whether already operating or in the formation stage, in place of a tax that no longer features in the canton's tax landscape.
What AX-Fiduciaire does
Established in Geneva, AX-Fiduciaire verified the regime applicable to the municipal business tax in September 2026 and tracks its replacement by the increase in corporate income tax as part of its accounting and tax advisory services. We help Geneva businesses assess their current tax burden — corporate income tax, capital tax, VAT where applicable — and examine on a case-by-case basis any outstanding questions for financial years prior to 2024.
Good to know: the Geneva municipal business tax was abolished on 1 January 2024 and offset by a 0.7 point increase in corporate income tax on businesses (14% to 14.7% in effective rate). No new municipal tax replaced it. For a situation prior to 2024, contact the municipality concerned. For a review of your current tax burden, request a quote from our Geneva fiduciary.