Many changes to the VAT Law have been planned and discussed for
a long time. These changes should actually have become effective on
1 January 2016. Unfortunately, for various reasons this ambitious
plan could not be maintained; the partial revision has been
postponed until 1 January 2017. Nonetheless, important changes come
into force immediately, which from the Swiss VAT perspective ned to
be taken into account:
1. DISTINCTION BETWEEN BUSINESS/NON-BUSINESS ACTIVITY
FUNDAMENTALS
The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has up to now assumed
basically that anyone who renders services against compensation
over a longer period operates a business and therefore would be
liable for VAT. A supply as defined by Art. 3 lit. c VAT Law is the
concession of a usable economic asset to a third party in
expectation of a consideration". As the supply should also be
over a longer period, it is to be rendered inter alia
systematically and repeatedly. An occasional, in particular
