Hi,

First of all i am romanian and i have ROU citizenship so i am an EU member.As the title says i want to open a business in switzerland but this its a lil tricky from my point of view.My business will be with intangibile goods (software licenses , internet cdk games , virtual currency etc.) so from what i have read you can do business there without any registration untill your turnover hits 75kCHF or 100kCHF for this kind of products(i am not very sure about the sum)My main market will be ebay.de where i will sell my goods. For that i will need an paypal account and for an paypal business account i will need an swiss bank account linked to it.Can i make a swiss bank account so i can start doing business even i have not been in switzerland yet and its my plan suitable ? I mean its true that you dont have to pay VAT untill your turnover hits either 75K CHF or 100k CHF and can i do it even if i'v never been in switzerland ?

Sincerly,
Daniel.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english

Here , the search function will help you with most if not all your questions. Starting a business in Switzerland.

It is true that you do not need to pay VAT until the threshold - but you must still register as soon as you start your business.

Hi ,

@Anthony1406 I had searched for that but i saw the thread was opened in 2006 so i considered that maby the rules changed since then.Sorry if i made you any inconvenience.

@Angela-74 , i know that the smallest business form its GmbH there but for that you will need 20.000CHF and i dont have that money.

Then why not set up the business in Germany if that's your market? German small Ltd. companies can be set upo with capital as little as EUR 1.00 (so the main cost is actually the registration fees themselves)

Hi ,

Well from what i know you can register to germany as GbR form and you need to pay lil fees and no VAT but as soon as your turnover hits i think 10.000€ you will have to be VAT registered and 24% its more then 8% swiss VAT. Also since the CHF has a strong position in world i think swiss will be the best option for me. Now i need to find out how i can open a business there and a bank account so i can start making some money

I suspect that although you dont need to register for a VAT number until you reach a turnover of chf70 you will still need to make a VAT declaration for the VAT authorities.

For a GbR you need to be at least two, not exercise a "commercial" activity, and you're personally liable for all debts. Do you homework again. BTW why are you so keen to sell into Germany from Switzerland?

@grumpygit , yes i think that too.

@tom tulpe I never said i'll be alone in this.Also because of the nature of this business once i will be suitable for paying VAT that will add to my products final cost since i will buy the goods from either USA or China i cannot deduct my VAT payed in that states. So adding 8%[swiss VAT] to my products will be ok but adding 19%[german VAT] will mostly likley ruin me thats why Switzerland would be the best option for me atm.

register as a sole proprietorship perhaps ?

Well i am here to find out the best solution but that form sounds good i look more into it.Thank you !

Precisely the opposite .

I was going to suggest the same but liability-wise the burden is a lot heavier

Hi everyone,
I did more researches and someone told me i register as " Klein und Mittel Unternehmen" KMU (SME in english) and as an object "Sales of electronic media and objects" he also told me that you dont need to pay vat until your turnover hits 80,000CHF and even after the VAT for this type of activity its only 2% wich is extremly good , but it is true what that guy told me ? Coz if so would be perfect for me

Correct but it really depends on the business you are in, as I was told also once by an accountant.

"KMU" or "SME" is not some sort of company structure, but a category that describes how big your business is, so you can't 'register' as a KMU and "someone" has no idea what (s)he is talking about. NB based on your idea of turnover, you're likely to be a SOHO (or in French: TPE) rather than a KMU/SME. You can be a GmbH or AG and a KMU at the same time, and you can technically be a sole proprietor and yet be too big to be considered SME.

Go see a tax adviser / business consultant, esp. if your target market includes businesses and you think low Swiss VAT is an incentive for them.