What electric cars pay in motor vehicle tax in Obwalden, how the tax is calculated and what is changing.
In Obwalden, passenger cars with an electric motor pay a flat tax of CHF 125 a year. Combustion cars are taxed on engine capacity, for example CHF 368 for 1,901–2,000 cc, plus a CHF 60 surcharge in the worst efficiency category. Further reductions may apply during the first 24 months after first registration.
Engine capacity (combustion passenger cars); flat rates for electric vehicles, among others. CHF 60 surcharge for passenger cars in the worst efficiency category or with no category.
Under Art. 6(2)(e) of the Road Traffic Tax Act (GDB 771.2), electric vehicles are taxed at flat rates. The tariff annex (item 6.5) sets for vehicles with electric motors: light motor vehicles CHF 125, heavy motor vehicles CHF 300, motorcycles CHF 50 a year. The Act also provides time-limited reliefs: passenger cars in the best energy-label efficiency category are 50% exempt for 24 months from first registration (Art. 3(1)), those in the second-best category 25% (Art. 3(2)). For vehicles running on natural gas, biogas or another alternative drive, the tax is reduced to 30% of the normal tax for 24 months (Art. 7(1)(b)). The Act does not say how these reliefs apply to the electric flat rate or whether they can be combined.
Hybrid vehicles pay 50% of the normal tax for 24 months from first registration (Art. 7(1)(a)), then the full engine-capacity-based tax. Plug-in hybrids are not mentioned separately in the Act.
It is not established whether the reductions under Art. 3 (energy label) and Art. 7(1)(b) ("other alternative drive", 30% for 24 months) apply to the CHF 125 electric flat rate, or whether they can be combined. The Act and the VSZ page are silent on this. The treatment of plug-in hybrids as "hybrid drive" is likewise not expressly confirmed.
The Auto-Check works out how much you save overall with an electric car, using your own assumptions.
As of: October 2026. All information without guarantee. The tax bill and the cantonal road traffic office are authoritative.
