On 16 June 2023 the Swiss parliament approved the partial revision of the VAT law which includes significant changes entering into force as of 2025. On the same date, the Federal Council decided to amend the Swiss VAT Ordinance to enforce registration as well as settlements for VAT to be carried out exclusively electronically.

Partial revision of the Swiss VAT Law

The main changes included in the partial revision of the Swiss VAT Law approved by the Parliament and applicable as from 2025 are the following:

• All electronic platforms (i.e., electronic interfaces enabling direct interactions between different parties aiming at providing supplies of goods and services) will have the obligation to provide information on sellers and buyers;
• Unless they meet one or more specific conditions, electronic platforms facilitating supplies of goods will be considered as “deemed suppliers”;
• Cultural, artistic, educational, scientific, sportive or entertainment services and similar services including the services of the organiser will be deemed to be located where they actually take place when supplied to persons physically present. Hence, such services supplied online will be deemed to take place where the recipient is established or domiciled;
• Travel services resold by travel agencies and related services will be VAT exempt;
• Travel agencies will be entitled to recover input VAT for the resold travel services and related services to the extent that they are performed or utilised abroad;
• Participation fees for cultural events will be VAT exempt;
• Supplies rendered by help and social security institutions, home help and care organizations (Spitex) and by retirement homes, medicalized homes and organizations operating residential homes will be VAT exempt;
• The offering and management of investment groups of second pillar pension foundations (LPP/BVG) will be VAT exempt;
• The reverse charge mechanism (“acquisition tax”) for the transfer of emission trade rights, certificates, and similar rights will be extended to transfers located in Switzerland made by suppliers established in Switzerland;
• Funds designated as subsidies by the granting public body will qualify as such;
• The reduced tax rate (2,6% as from 1/01/2024) will be applicable to menstrual hygiene products;
• The SFTA will be entitled to impose sanctions to low-value goods sellers who do no respect the VAT rules;
• Taxpayers with an annual taxable turnover below CHF 5’005’000 will be able to file annual VAT returns;
• The SFTA will be entitled to waive the obligation to appoint a fiscal representative in some circumstances;

We will keep you updated about more detailed impact of the new Swiss VAT Law, especially in our VAT Breakfast Event planned for November 2023.

Electronic VAT fillings

On 16 June 2023 the Federal Council decided that Art. 65a Swiss VAT Ordinance will be in force as of 1 January 2024. Therefore, registration as VATable persons, filing of VAT returns, and the subsequent corrections must be carried out solely electronically via the SFTA ePortal.

Overall, the majority of the comments received during the consultation were positive. However, some demanded a transitional period for switching to online in the case of special circumstances. The new rules, therefore, coming into force 1 January 2024 provide a transitional period of one year and, thus, the final deadline for all Swiss VAT payers to move to electronic procedures is 1 January 2025.

Next steps

The partial revision of the Swiss VAT Law includes changes that will impact a wide range of businesses for domestic as well as cross-border activities. We recommend taxpayers to already assess the impacts on their activities and identify the necessary actions to be compliant as from 1 January 2025.

Although most of the taxpayers already use electronic filings, we recommend taxpayers still using paper filings to take the necessary actions (ePortal).

Your Deloitte VAT team will be happy to support you with the relevant actions! Of course, we remain at your disposal for any questions you may have, please reach out to your trusted VAT team member which will be happy to help.

Key contacts

Romy Mueller - Partner, Indirect Tax

Romy is leading the Swiss Deloitte VAT team and is responsible for SAP Tax within Deloitte Switzerland. She has 15+ years experiences in advising Swiss and international companies in all VAT matters. Her focus is on international trade structures, M&A and post-merger integration.

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Constant Dimitriou - Director, Indirect Tax

Constant is a Director leading the Indirect Tax practice in Romandie (Geneva and Lausanne). He has 15+ years of experience in EU and Swiss VAT covering all industries with a focus on the trading and FSI sectors. He advises Swiss and foreign multinationals notably on complex supply chain projects (structuring and optimization), internal processes and controls, systems, VAT audits and VAT compliance. Constant regularly intervenes as external speaker on VAT matters and has been listed as a Swiss Indirect Tax Leader in the International Tax Review for many years.

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Elisabeth Pauli - Assistant, Indirect Tax

Elisabeth is a Tax Assistant in the Deloitte VAT team based in Zurich and has joined Deloitte in early 2023. Since joining our VAT team, Elisabeth has started to gain experiences in applying VAT knowledge in many areas. Besides, she is completing a Master’s degree in Finance at the University of Neuchatel.

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