The measure will come into effect on January 1, 2019. Currently, online purchases from abroad that attract less than CHF5 ($5.01) in VAT are exempt. This translates into an upper limit of CHF200 worth of books or CHF62.50 of goods that don’t benefit from a favourable tax status.
According to the VAT reform passed in 2016, all firms with turnover of over CHF100,000 will be obliged to impose Swiss VAT for Swiss customers. The Swiss VAT rate is 7.7% for most goods and 2.5% for certain items like books. The move is designed to reduce the attractiveness of buying from foreign multinationals like Amazon, whose prices are very competitive compared with high-priced Switzerland.
The measure was originally meant to come into effect from January this year. However, it was postponed to allow companies more time to prepare, especially Swiss Post.
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English books in Switzerland: a new chapter?
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“The US market is difficult but huge – if you can sell to one in 10,000 people, you’ve got a bestseller on your hands. In Switzerland, authors work hard to sell books in German or French, let alone English,” says American-Swiss author Richard Harvell, commissioning editor of Basel-based Bergli Books, whose publications “help newcomers feel…
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Currently, online purchases from abroad that attract less than CHF5 ($5.15) in VAT are exempt. This translates into an upper limit of CHF200 worth of books or CHF62.50 of goods that don’t benefit from a favourable tax status. According to the VAT reform passed on Thursday, all firms with turnover of over CHF100,000 will be…
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The government has said that no favouritism is involved in the deal that will see Swiss Post delivering packages for retail giant Amazon.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.