Upcoming Revision of Swiss VAT Law and published draft of the revised Swiss VAT Ordinance

As announced in our previous blog, the Swiss Federal Council has confirmed that the partial revision of the Swiss VAT Law (rVATL) adopted by the Swiss Parliament in June 2023, will finally come into force as of 1 January 2025. The revised law includes a wide range of changes.

Along with confirmation of the implementation date of the rVATL, the Swiss Federal Council has published a draft of the Swiss VAT Ordinance (rVATO) that is currently under consultation. The proposed changes mainly relate to implementation of the rVATL. However, the draft rVATO include new practices and simplifications which are not based on new regulation in the rVATL.

This blog is the first of a series of topical blogs that the Swiss Deloitte VAT team will be releasing over the coming months to explain the significant upcoming changes in more detail. We hope you enjoy them – please stay tuned!

Partial revision of the Swiss VAT Ordinance

An ongoing consultation for the partial revision of the rVATO has been launched by the Swiss Government on 25 October 2023 and will end on 8 February 2024. This revision focuses primarily on implementation of provisions from the partial revision of the Swiss VAT Law. These provisions, amongst others, are related to the taxation of online platforms and the option of submitting an annual VAT return. Additionally, the revision enables the implementation of several motions that have been submitted by the Federal Chambers of Parliament.

Expected changes to the Swiss VAT Ordinance related to the Swiss VAT law revision

The amendments to the Swiss VAT Law will require various provisions in the Swiss VAT ordinance to be enacted, amended or abolished:

• Taxation of online platforms: Distance sellers may be able to act as importers in Switzerland instead of the platforms, online platforms will not be entitled to apply the margin or the fictitious input VAT deduction schemes, and the Swiss Federal Tax Administration may refuse application of the import VAT deferment regime if an online platform fails to meet its Swiss VAT reporting obligation.
• Annual VAT returns: The draft specifies the rules authorising the submission of the annual VAT returns, withdrawing such authorisation and adjusting the advance payments.
• Subsidies: Public authorities will have until the closing date of the tax period during which the payment is made to designate it as a “subsidy”.
• Gold coins/fine gold and VAT registration relief: Art. 44, 61, 113 let. g and 121a of the Swiss VAT Ordinance will be deleted since these provisions will be included in the Swiss VAT law.
• Refund procedure: Foreign companies that only render VAT exempt without credit supplies in Switzerland are not entitled to an input VAT refund.

New provisions of the Swiss VAT Ordinance not linked to the Swiss VAT law revision

The draft also contains new practices and simplifications that are not linked directly to the partial revision of the Swiss VAT Law, the main ones being:

• Lump sum methods: The net tax rate and flat tax rate methods will be simplified.
• VAT group: The draft now specifies that notifications for changes in the composition of the VAT groups will have to be made electronically using the portal, and confirms when these changes should be announced.
• Notification procedure (“transfer of going concern”): The procedure will have to be applied in the case of cash payments between taxable persons of CHF 15,000 or more.
• Electronic filings: Certain operations regarding the annual VAT return, VAT groups and the net tax rate and flat rate methods will have to be carried out exclusively by electronic means.

Next steps

The draft rVATO proposes new provisions that need to be taken into account along with the planned changes to the rSVATL when assessing all impacts of the upcoming changes on companies’ business operations in Switzerland. The partial revision of the Swiss VAT Ordinance is expected to become effective on 1 January 2025, at the same time as the revised Swiss VAT Law, leaving less than a year to complete the review and implementation process.

Stay tuned!

As part of our commitment to keeping you informed, we are pleased to announce a forthcoming series of blog posts that will cover the most significant changes in the revision of the Swiss VAT law and Swiss VAT ordinance. Whether you are involved in e-commerce, travel agency activities, or any other affected area, our blog series will provide you with insights into these changes. Stay tuned to remain up to date with the latest developments.

Deloitte will be happy to discuss with you the impacts on your business.

If you would like to discuss this topic, please do reach out to our key contacts below.

Authors

• Romy Mueller - Partner, Indirect Tax
  
• Constant Dimitriou - Director, Indirect Tax
• Coralie Dumoulin - Director, Indirect Tax
• Tim Reck - Director, Indirect Tax
• Steven Torres - Assistant Manager, Indirect Tax
• Mona Bouasria - Senior Consultant, Indirect Tax