The Swiss love Online Shopping: every Day you refer to around 70’000 Parcels from foreign online retailers, such as Wish, or Alibaba .
In the settlement of customs and VAT formalities but there are pitfalls, the worry for red-heads. Here, the price supervisor reached together with the Post and the Swiss Federal customs administration simplifications. Politically, this seems tricky, because the Parliament of the parcels flood in from abroad is a thorn in the eye.
In the case of consignments with a goods value of 65 Swiss francs, you must pay the private recipient no customs or VAT. This exemption applies. The postage will be beaten but on the value of the goods.
The Problem: Has not declared the sender, the postage clearly stated by the Post so far, for the costs of shipping, the lump-sum value. “In this flat-rate values were the average Postage value, for a shipment to Switzerland from abroad, which triggered due to their considerable height, often the obligation to collect the VAT,” writes the regulator in his latest Newsletter.
premium solves expensive chain reaction
Say: Because of the postage charge to the value of the shipment rises above the magic 65 Swiss francs. And the customer must then pay VAT and customs and also the Post for the formalities to be remunerated. From the bargain an expensive Nuisance.
This should now be final. “In the future, the Post will assume that “the cost of postage in the amount of the invoice are included, provided that the data seem overall plausible,” according to the Price watchdog.
Ultimately, the Online Shopping abroad is easier. However, the cross-border transit trade, the Wind is blowing politically in the face. Because of the fact that Parcels from abroad are exempt from VAT, providers such as Alibaba, compared to Swiss retailers an advantage.
law runs according to experts into the Void
Therefore, foreign traders in Switzerland are new in 2019 subject to value added tax if your turnover with a small parcel in Switzerland exceed the value of 100’000 Swiss francs per year. Then you must register a trader at the Swiss Federal tax administration and the tax directly with the authorities pay.
more Than 90 dealers have registered in the meantime. But the law goes according to the view of experts, into the Void, because of Alibaba, and Wish to be not a trader but platforms. Say: Not Alibaba does business in Switzerland, but on Alibaba registered dealer.
From a level playing field in the online trading so it can not be a speech. Therefore, the Parliament has recently a Motion of the national Council of Beat Vonlanthen (CVP). This requires that the Federal Council should ensure that all foreign online platforms will have to pay in Switzerland VAT. The price question is now, how is this to be implemented.
(editing Tamedia)
Created: 26.03.2019, 18:18 PM
