border.bot
Esc
  • Loading…
↑ ↓ to move↵ to openEsc to close
Docs menu
DevelopersGuides

HS codes

Origin and trade agreements

Swiss VAT for online marketplaces

How Swiss platform taxation works since 1 January 2025: which platforms are the supplier, the CHF 100,000 threshold for foreign platforms and sellers.

Updated · 5 official sources

Since 1 January 2025, an online platform that brings sellers and buyers together for a sale on the platform is treated under Swiss VAT law as the supplier of the goods to the buyer, so the platform, not the seller, charges and pays Swiss VAT. A platform outside Switzerland comes into the rule once its small-consignment sales into Switzerland reach CHF 100,000 a year.

Rules as of 30 October 2026.

Which platforms count as the supplier?#

A platform counts as the supplier under Article 20a of the Swiss VAT Act when it makes a delivery of goods possible by bringing sellers and buyers together to conclude the contract on the platform. The sale is then split in two: the seller supplies the goods to the platform, and the platform supplies them to the buyer, which makes the platform liable for VAT on the second supply.

A platform isn't treated as the supplier if it meets any one of these conditions:

  • it takes no part, directly or indirectly, in the ordering process;
  • it earns no turnover directly connected with the sale;
  • it only processes the payment;
  • it only provides advertising space or advertising services;
  • it only redirects or forwards buyers to other platforms.

When does a foreign platform have to register?#

A platform outside Switzerland has to register for Swiss VAT when, as the deemed supplier, it delivers goods into Switzerland in small consignments, those whose import VAT would be CHF 5 or less, and makes at least CHF 100,000 a year from them. The same threshold applies to mail-order sellers delivering goods themselves.

For the start of the rule, a transitional provision made platforms liable from 1 January 2025 if they had made at least CHF 100,000 of such sales in the previous 12 months and could be expected to keep making them. Once registered, a platform declares and pays Swiss VAT on every delivery of goods it facilitates into Switzerland, not only the small consignments, and customs declarants use the ESTV list to charge any import tax to the platform rather than the buyer. A platform with no link to Switzerland at all isn't liable.

How does a platform register?#

A platform registers for Swiss VAT online through the ESTV's registration portal and states that it acts as a platform operator, mail-order business or both. It must agree to be published on the ESTV's list of registered platforms and mail-order businesses; registration can't be completed without that consent.

The ESTV can order administrative measures against platforms and businesses that don't comply, and can ask platforms to report who offers certain services through them, mainly transport and accommodation.

What does platform taxation mean for sellers?#

A seller selling through a platform that is registered as the deemed supplier doesn't charge Swiss VAT to the buyer on those sales, because the platform does. The seller's supply is to the platform, and the ESTV's public list of registered platforms, also published as an XML file, lets sellers and customs declarants see how each delivery should be treated.

Sales from a seller's own web store are a separate matter: they count towards the seller's own CHF 100,000 small-consignment threshold under the mail-order rule, covered in the low-value imports guide. A seller with both channels can end up registered for its own store's sales while the platform handles VAT on the rest.

A worked example#

A marketplace based abroad facilitated CHF 400,000 of small-consignment sales to Swiss buyers last year, so it is registered for Swiss VAT. A buyer in Geneva orders a phone case for CHF 25 with CHF 6 shipping from a seller on the marketplace.

Line Amount
Phone case CHF 25.00
Shipping CHF 6.00
Swiss VAT at 8.1%, charged by the marketplace CHF 2.51
Buyer pays at checkout CHF 33.51

The marketplace declares the CHF 2.51 on its Swiss return. The seller doesn't charge VAT to the buyer, and the buyer pays no import VAT on delivery, since the declarant charges any import tax to the registered marketplace. The Switzerland import guide covers duty and the rest of the import, and the EU VAT guide explains the similar EU rule for comparison.

Common questions#

When did Swiss platform taxation start?#

On 1 January 2025, with the revised Swiss VAT Act. Since then a platform that facilitates sales of goods is treated as the supplier to the buyer for VAT.

Does a seller on a Swiss-registered marketplace need to register for Swiss VAT?#

Not for the sales the marketplace makes as the deemed supplier. A seller that also sells from its own store counts those sales towards its own CHF 100,000 threshold under the mail-order rule.

Which platforms are not treated as the supplier?#

Platforms that take no part in ordering, earn no turnover tied to the sale, or only process payments, provide advertising or redirect buyers elsewhere.

Sources#