Switzerland VAT Onboarding

Your Swiss onboarding in one page

Onboarding is everything between signing up for Swiss VAT with Taxually and the day we file your first Swiss VAT return. It has three steps, and you are only active in the first one.

1. You tell us about your business and upload your documents in the Taxually portal. Most clients finish this in one sitting if they have the documents from the checklist at the end of this guide ready.

2. We check everything and take it to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA). If a document or an answer needs fixing, the portal sends that one item back to you with the reason.

3. The FTA issues your VAT number, or confirms our authorisation, and we switch on filing.

At the end you have either a new Swiss VAT number with an agreed start date, or your existing registration handed over to Taxually for filing. Your portal shows the status of every item throughout, so you always know whether the next move is yours or ours.

Which path you are on

The service you bought and where your business is established decide most of what you will see. Find your row; the rest of this guide points out where your path differs.

Whether you are a company, a partnership or a sole trader does not change the path. It only changes which identity document we ask for, and for Swiss sole traders adds your AHV and UID numbers.

What we will ask you

The questions come in short cards. Most are straightforward facts about your business; the few that need thought are marked below.

• Your business: legal form, legal name exactly as registered, registered address, incorporation date and registration number (for Swiss companies, your UID), trading name, postal address.

• What and where you sell: your product type (physical, digital or both), your product categories, and every channel you sell through (Amazon store, Shopify, other marketplaces, your own website) with the storefront link.

• Who signs for your business: the legal representative's personal details, ID document details, home address, email and phone. These must match the ID you upload and are printed on the power of attorney.

• Bank details: IBAN, BIC or SWIFT, bank name and address. For a Swiss-established registration this must be a Swiss bank account.

• Switzerland-specific questions: see the two boxes below; this is where a wrong answer costs the most.

If you are registering: the start date question

Your date of first sale in Switzerland (or, if you have not sold yet, your expected start date) is the most important answer in the whole onboarding. For a foreign business it becomes the Effective Date of Registration: your filing obligation starts on that day and the date cannot be changed afterwards. Check your sales records or payment platform before you answer. If the date is in the past, returns for every period since then are filed retrospectively, the FTA may charge penalties and interest, and Taxually charges a separate fee for retrospective filings. A wrong date causes far more trouble than an honest past one.

We also ask for your turnover in Switzerland and worldwide since that date, year by year in CHF, and your estimates for the next 12 months. These decide whether your registration is mandatory or voluntary. Have the figures ready.

If you are a Swiss-established business registering

• The CHF 100,000 threshold counts your worldwide turnover, Swiss and foreign sales together. Below it your registration is voluntary and you choose the start date (no earlier than 1 January of the current year). Above it the registration is mandatory from a date the Swiss rules set. We ask when you crossed, or expect to cross, the threshold. A "What to expect" pop-up in the portal explains the rules, and our team confirms the date with you before we submit.

• A precise description of what your business actually does in Switzerland (sellers of physical goods): the FTA wants your real day-to-day activity, not the statutory purpose copied from your commercial register entry.

• Figures from your first three months and your current fiscal year to date: Swiss turnover including exports, turnover outside Switzerland, and tax-exempt income such as donations or subsidies. The FTA's registration form requires them.

• Accounting method and type: effective method (quarterly returns, input VAT deducted) or flat-rate method (semi-annual returns, no input VAT receipts); agreed consideration (by invoice date) or received consideration (by payment date, needs a separate application). Ask your accountant if unsure.

• A few yes/no questions: electronic platform, business taken over from someone else, low-value mail-order consignments to Swiss customers, start date of your activity.

• Sole traders: your AHV/AVS number and, if you have one, your UID.

If you are transferring an existing registration

Only three things: your Swiss VAT number (CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx MWST), how often you currently file (monthly, quarterly or annually), and for Swiss sole traders the AHV and UID numbers. No turnover questions.

Documents to have ready

Upload PDF, PNG or JPEG scans. Every detail on a document must match what you typed: name, address, numbers, dates. We and the FTA compare them line by line, and a mismatch is the most common reason an item comes back.

Forms we prepare for you to sign

One of these two is generated from your answers. Download it, sign by hand (the FTA does not accept digital signatures), do not edit the printed text, scan all pages and upload (PDF, JPEG, PNG or HEIC). The signature must match the one on the ID you uploaded.

That is the complete list. Switzerland asks for no shareholder documents, bank guarantees, warehouse contracts or marketplace screenshots.

After you submit

When every item in the Switzerland card is complete you press "Confirm all data for Switzerland". From then on the work is ours and the FTA's, and the Switzerland card in your tracking view shows one step per stage.

If something is sent back

The item reopens in your portal with a rejection reason. The reason tells you which of two things to do:

• The document itself is the problem (unreadable, wrong document, a page missing, expired, edited, signature does not match your ID): upload the correct document in place of the old one. The earlier upload is kept in the item's history on our side, nothing is lost.

• The document is fine but does not match what you typed (a name, address, number or date): leave the document and correct the answer instead, in the card where you entered it, then confirm the card again. If the answer is one of the signup questions (legal form, legal name, address), go back to the Business basics card; the rejection does not yet point you there automatically.

How long it takes

Verification is fastest when the first upload is complete and every detail matches; each item sent back adds a round trip. FTA processing times vary and are outside our control. The authorisation confirmation for a foreign transfer usually takes a few weeks. For a Swiss-established transfer the activation letter arrives by post, so watch the mailbox at your registered business address.

Frequently asked questions and common blockers

Why do I need a fiscal representative? Switzerland requires businesses established abroad to be represented locally for VAT. The fiscal representation power of attorney appoints our Swiss partner as your fiscal representative, and the FTA sends its correspondence to the representative. It is required for every foreign registration and transfer. Swiss-established businesses do not need a fiscal representative; they sign a general VAT power of attorney (MWST-1990) instead.

Which product type should I choose? Physical Products for tangible goods, Digital Products and Services for anything delivered without a physical product (software, SaaS, courses, e-books, subscriptions, consulting, design), Both only if you really sell both. It cannot be changed once your subscription is active. One general rule: a digital seller established outside the EU cannot select individual EU countries; the non-Union One-Stop-Shop (EN) is the right choice for EU VAT, while Switzerland can always be selected.

Which date will my registration start from? For a foreign business selling physical goods it is the date of your first Swiss sale, or your expected start date if you have not sold yet, and it cannot be changed afterwards. For a foreign digital supplier it is the date of first supply, because there is no threshold. For a Swiss-established business the Swiss rules decide: below CHF 100,000 worldwide turnover the registration is voluntary and you choose a date no earlier than 1 January of the current year; above it the registration is mandatory from the start of your activity if you crossed the threshold in your first 12 months, otherwise from 1 January of the year you crossed it or the earlier date it became foreseeable. Our team confirms the date with you before submitting.

My start date is in the past. What does that mean? Returns for every period since that date must be filed retrospectively. The FTA may charge penalties and interest, and Taxually charges a separate fee for retrospective filings. Give the exact date anyway; a wrong date causes bigger problems later.

Does the CHF 100,000 threshold count only Swiss sales? No. For a Swiss-established business it counts your worldwide turnover, Swiss and foreign sales together, on agreed fees excluding tax. Expecting to exceed it later does not make registration mandatory; only an actual crossing does.

What are my bank details used for? The Swiss Federal Tax Administration pays VAT refunds and returns overpayments only to a bank account registered with it, held in your business's exact legal name. We record your account during onboarding so that a refund is never held up by a missing account or one that cannot receive CHF. For a Swiss-established registration this must be a Swiss bank account. For a transfer it makes sure the FTA holds your current account rather than an old one. We do not use these details to collect our own fees; those are billed separately.

What is the difference between UID and MWST number? The UID (CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx) is your business identification number, issued by the Federal Statistical Office. Your Swiss VAT number is the same number with the suffix MWST (or TVA / IVA in French and Italian). A sole trader may not have a UID yet; that is accepted.

Can I sign the power of attorney electronically? No. The Swiss tax authority accepts wet signatures only. Print, sign by hand, scan all pages and upload. The signature must match the one on the uploaded ID.

Why was my document rejected? The most common reasons are a detail that does not match your answers (name, address, registration number, ID number), an expired ID, a missing page or side, an edited form, or a signature that does not match the ID. The rejection note names the item; fix that one and resubmit.

What is the low-value mail-order rule? When the Swiss import tax on a consignment would be CHF 5.00 or less, the delivery is treated as a domestic supply in Switzerland rather than a tax-exempt import. Delivering such consignments to Swiss customers can itself trigger a registration obligation, which is why we ask.

Effective or flat-rate method? Agreed or received consideration? The effective method means quarterly returns with input VAT deduction. The flat-rate method means semi-annual returns with no input VAT receipts to keep. Agreed consideration reports VAT by invoice date; received consideration reports by payment date and needs a separate application to the FTA. If you are unsure, ask your accountant or our team before confirming.

I am transferring from Switzerland. What is the activation code? From 31 October 2026 Swiss-based businesses can only delegate ePortal access through the AGOV login. We request an activation code from the FTA on your behalf; the FTA posts it in a letter to your registered business address. Email us the code exactly as printed, including letters. We use it once to set up our access.

How long does the FTA take? Processing times vary and are outside our control. The authorisation confirmation for a foreign transfer usually takes a few weeks. Your tracking view updates as soon as we hear back.

Before you start: a short checklist

• Your registration document (companies: register extract or certificate of incorporation; sole traders: business licence) and your home tax certificate, as scans

• The legal representative's passport or ID card, both sides, not expired, plus their date and place of birth, nationality, home address, email and phone

• Your bank details; for a Swiss-established registration, a Swiss bank account

• Registering: the exact date of your first Swiss sale or your expected start date, and your Swiss and worldwide turnover since then, year by year in CHF, plus 12-month estimates

• Swiss-established registration: when your worldwide turnover crossed or will cross CHF 100,000, a precise description of your actual business activity, your first-3-months and current-fiscal-year figures, your accounting method and type, and for sole traders your AHV and UID numbers

• Transferring: your Swiss VAT number, your VAT certificate or registration letter, and your current filing frequency

• A printer and a scanner, or a phone camera, for the signed power of attorney

With these at hand, the whole first step usually fits in one sitting.