- The Swiss Federal Administrative Court held that, for VAT on real estate, the supply occurs when legal ownership is transferred in the land registry, not when the completed building is later handed over or risk passes.
- Because the ownership transfer took place in November 2015, when the seller was not VAT-registered, it could not validly opt to tax the property sale; the sale therefore remained VAT-exempt.
- As a result, the company was denied input VAT deductions on construction costs for 2016–2018, including any retroactive “entry tax” deduction, since it no longer owned the property when it later registered for VAT.
- The court also rejected repayment of the CHF 400,000 VAT amount invoiced on the unregistered transaction.
Source: bvger.weblaw.ch
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
Latest Posts in "Switzerland"
- Swiss Voters to Decide on AHV Funding via VAT Increase
- Swiss Court Upholds Customs Backpayments for Misused Livestock Import Licenses
- Swiss Court Limits VAT Deduction on Demolition Costs After Property Transfer
- Swiss Court Upholds VAT on Intra-Group Reinsurance Support Services
- Main VAT and other indirect tax developments in Switzerland
