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The supply of a good is historically broadly defined and covers besides the delivery of a good, also construction work, installation work, the letting of a good or mere work on a good, whether the good is altered (e.g. by repairing or renovating) or not (e.g. by verifying and testing functionality, calibrating or cleaning).
The supplies of services, which are not subject to the place of recipient principle, may be the following (open ended list): services typically made to a physically present person like personal consultancy or treatment, services of travel agencies or organisation of events, services in the field of culture, art, sport, science, education or the like, restaurant and catering services, passenger transport services, services in connection with real estate like agency activities, management, valuation, architecture, engineering, surveillance or accommodation.
The extension of the scope to register for VAT is driven by distortions in the Swiss domestic market, where foreign businesses making such supplies in Switzerland benefited from an unjustified price advantage over Swiss businesses as the foreign-ones did not have to factor in Swiss VAT on their domestic supplies. The Swiss standard VAT rate is currently 8 %.
Non-established businesses, which have to register for VAT, must assign a fiscal representative and provide financial guarantee, usually a bank guarantee or a cash deposit, to the Federal Tax Administration in order to collateralize future tax debts.
Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein is well-positioned to guide you through planning opportunities and advise on VAT registration and fiscal representation for non-established businesses.
