SERAFE invoice: when it arrives, quarterly payment, eBill and what to do about mistakes

The Federal Council has defined the annual invoice as the standard. To spread invoicing evenly over the year, SERAFE issued invoices in stages: your household was randomly assigned to one of twelve billing groups, so the first group receives its annual invoice in January, the second in February, and so on. The amount is the same whichever month it arrives.

You can switch to quarterly invoicing at any time. The invoice has a QR code above the payment section; scanning it opens the input screen where you change the payment interval. The QR code is valid for 60 days from the date of an annual invoice and 30 days from a quarterly invoice. Switching costs nothing if you receive your invoice electronically; SERAFE charges a small extra amount for each quarterly bill on paper.

SERAFE lists the settings you can update through the QR code:

SERAFE supports the common ways to pay: eBill, direct debit through a bank account, direct debit through a PostFinance account and the paying-in slip. Instalments can be granted on request, and the fee is not subject to VAT. If a direct debit is taken in error, you can lodge an objection with your payment institution within 30 days and the amount is credited back.

Late payments can lead to additional costs. If the fee is not paid, after unsuccessful reminders a prosecution can be started against one of the household members, because all adults are jointly liable. If you have trouble paying, ask SERAFE about instalments before a reminder arrives.

If the personal details, the address or the household composition on the invoice are wrong, contact the residents' registration office of your municipality, because SERAFE uses only the data the registers send each month. You can report the correction to SERAFE as well, which forwards it to the register the following month. Several names on one invoice are normal: they are the adult household members, who are jointly liable, see SERAFE in a shared flat.

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