FAQ VAT settlement and payment

Foreign taxable companies without a domicile, registered office or permanent establishment in Switzerland must be represented by a fiscal representative domiciled in Switzerland. An individual or legal entity with a place of residence or business in Switzerland is recognised as a tax representative. Currently, only electronic platforms can be exempted from the tax representation requirement.

The representative office accepts correspondence and forwards it immediately to the represented party. It is the point of contact for the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (SFTA), makes its premises available for carrying out any VAT inspections and provides access to the documents requested by the SFTA. The representative is not jointly and severally liable for tax debts or interest on arrears.

In principle, the law provides for quarterly VAT returns for foreign companies.

Foreign companies with an annual turnover in Switzerland of up to CHF 5,005,000 can apply for annual VAT returns. The annual VAT return is only granted if the previous and future VAT returns have been or will be submitted on time and paid in full. New taxpayers have 60 days after receiving their VAT number to apply for the annual VAT return via the ePortal. The annual VAT return is linked to the obligation to pay in instalments. The instalments are set by the SFTA. The instalments are available in the ePortal from April each year.

VAT must be declared online via the ePortal. There are basically two systems available (https://www.estv.admin.ch/estv/de/home/mehrwertsteuer/mwst-abrechnen/mwst-online-abrechnen.html)

• VAT return easy
• VAT return pro

We use the system “VAT return pro”.

Corrections to VAT returns must be submitted to correct individual returns during the tax period or for tax periods for which the correction period has expired (see annual reconciliation). If errors are discovered in earlier returns, they must be corrected within the limitation period (5 years). Corrected returns replace the originally filed return.

Taxable persons must compare the returns with their annual VAT accounts and correct any deficiencies identified. Only if deficiencies are actually identified is a so-called amending VAT return to be submitted. In this corrective return, only the differences to the previously submitted returns must be declared. If the SFTA has not received an amending VAT return within 240 days of the end of the relevant financial year, the SFTA assumes that the VAT returns submitted by the taxable person are complete and correct and that the tax period has been finalised.

If you issue invoices to your customers in foreign currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, etc.), these foreign currencies must be converted into CHF for VAT purposes. We use the monthly average exchange rates of the SFTA for these conversions:

https://www.estv.admin.ch/estv/en/home/value-added-tax/accounting-vat/vat-foreign-exchange-rates.html

VAT is to be settled as follows:

Federal Tax Administration FTA
Value Added Tax VAT
3003 Berne
PostFinance, Berne
IBAN CH60 0900 0000 3000 0037 5
BIC (Bank Identifyer Code) POFICHBEXXX

Please always state the VAT number (CHE-XXX.XXX.XXX VAT) and the reason for payment (QX 202X) under messages.

The VAT return must be submitted within 60 days of the end of the relevant declaration period.

Submission and payment deadlines for quarterly returns are as follows

In the case of annual returns, instalments must be paid by 31 May, 31 August and 30 November at the latest. The annual return must be submitted by 28/29 February of the following year at the latest.

Credit balances of the taxable person are paid out or offset against any tax liability. The credit balance is paid out no later than 60 days after receipt of the VAT return by the SFTA.

Interest on arrears of currently 4.5% p.a. is owed on late payments. Interest on arrears of less than CHF 100 is not charged. The SFTA owes interest of 4.5% p.a. on late repayments.

The deadline for VAT returns and payments can be extended by 3 months without further ado. It should be noted that in any case, interest on arrears begins to accrue from the due date.