Value Added Tax Act (VAT)

Art. 3VAT from 2020

Art. 3 Definitions

In this Act:

a.

Swiss territory means the territory of the Swiss Confederation together with the customs enclaves according to Article 3 paragraph 2 of the Customs Act of 18 March 2005¹ (CustA).

b.

Goods means movable and immovable objects and electricity, gas, heating, refrigeration and the like.

c.

Supply means the concession of a usable economic asset to a third party in expectation of a consideration, even if it is required by law or based on an official order.

d.

Supply of goods means:

1.

the transfer of the power to dispose of a good commercially in one’s own name;

2.

the delivery of a good on which work has been performed, even if the good is not altered by the work, but only tested, calibrated, regulated, checked for its function or has been treated in another way;

3.

making a good available for use or exploitation.

e.

Supply of services means every supply that is not a supply of goods; a supply of services is also made if:

1.

intangible assets and rights are made available;

2.

an action is omitted or an action or a situation is tolerated.

f.

Consideration means an asset which the recipient or, in place of the recipient, a third party expends in return for receipt of a supply.

g.²

Sovereign activity means an activity of a public authority or of a person or organisation acting for a public authority without business character, in particular where it is not marketable and not in competition with activities of private suppliers, even if fees, contributions or other charges are levied for it.

h.³

Closely related persons means:

1.

the owners of at least 20 per cent of the nominal or basic capital of a business or of an equivalent participation in a partnership, or persons associated with them;

2.

foundations and associations with which there is a particularly close economic, contractual or personal relationship; pension schemes are not regarded as closely related persons.

i.⁴

donation means a voluntary contribution with the intention of enriching the recipient without expectation of a consideration in the VAT sense; a contribution also qualifies as a donation if:

1.

the contribution is mentioned on one or more occasions in a publication in neutral form, even if the name or the logo of the donor is used;

2.

it is a contribution by passive members and by patrons to associations or to charitable organisations; contributions by patrons to charitable organisations are also deemed to be donations if the charitable organisation voluntarily grants its patrons advantages in terms of its articles provided it informs the patron that they have no right to be granted the advantages.

j.

Charitable organisation means an organisation which fulfils the requirements that apply for Direct Federal Tax pursuant to Article 56 letter g DFTA.

k.

Invoice means any document by which the consideration for a supply is settled with a third party, irrespective of how the document is titled in business transactions.

¹ SR 631.0
² Amended by No I of the FA of 30 Sept. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2017 3575; BBl 2015 2615).
³ Amended by No I of the FA of 30 Sept. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2017 3575; BBl 2015 2615).
⁴ Amended by No I of the FA of 30 Sept. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2017 3575; BBl 2015 2615).