Beginning on 1 January 2019, the corporate fee for radio and television will be device-independent and based on the worldwide turnover businesses declare in their Swiss VAT returns.

The Federal Act on Radio and Television requires all Swiss VAT payers to pay the corporate fee irrespective of whether they have its registered office, domicile or a permanent establishment (PE) in Switzerland. However, on 30 August 2018, the Swiss Federal Tax Authority announced that only businesses liable for Swiss VAT with a registered office, domicile or Permanent Establishment (PE) on Swiss territory will be required to pay the fee.

According to the explanatory report to the Federal Act on Radio and Television, requiring businesses without a registered office, domicile or PE in Swiss Customs territory to pay the corporate fee would infringe both the Law of Nations and Switzerland’s obligations under various interstate agreements.

The Federal Tax Authority has not changed its position that all Swiss VAT payers, both domestic and foreign domiciled, must declare their worldwide turnover in the VAT return.

Read more about the topic on one of our previous blog posts.

Tim Reck - Director, Indirect Tax

Tim is an Indirect Tax Director based in the Deloitte Zürich office. With over 18 years' experience, Tim is one of the most experienced technical experts known for his work on advising international VAT across the 28 Members of the EU and Switzerland. Tim oversees VAT planning and execution of Swiss based principals trading internationally, from the initial conception of the company through to designing the efficient supply chain, the associated compliance, and ERP implementation.  Tim is a Certified German Tax Accountant. The International Tax Review has listed Tim as an Indirect Tax Leader 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 for Switzerland.

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Tanja Blättler - Senior Manager, Indirect Tax

Tanja is a Senior Manager and VAT expert within Deloitte in Switzerland. She has 14 years of experience in VAT consulting and compliance management across all industries, with a focus on the real estate sector. She is a certified German tax expert and holds a Master in Swiss indirect taxes from the Swiss Advanced Technical College in Zurich.

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