VAT/Customs rules for selling to EU

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
I have newly moved to Switzerland, I am an artist and keen to start selling my paintings in Switzerland & EU.

While i am reaching out to a few Treuhands to understand my obligations in CH, i am not able to fully validate the correct procedure for selling in the EU. I need to understand 2 main elements - VAT & Customs.

I am summarising my understanding and any advice in this regard would be helpful.

If you know any Treuhand / firm who deals specifically with this it would be helpful as well - since i am starting out please share the most reasonably priced recommendations on this

VAT:

Value per painting sold is above €150.

1. I need to register for the VAT One-Stop-Shop scheme with one of the member states (e.g. germany). Does anyone know if there are any pre-requisites for this e.g. registered business with VAT number in CH, etc. Do i need an intermediary EU company or can i register as an individual directly.

2. Registration is done at the beginning of a quarter, so earliest i can get this is sometime in October

3. Follow required quarterly reporting post this and pay necessary VAT.

Customs

1. I need to apply for EORI number. This will need to be applied for in a member state (e.g. in germany). Again are there any pre-requisites for this e.g. registered business with VAT number in CH, etc

2. If i am carrying the paintings for an exhibition then i need to declare the details - value, number of paintings, etc, to EU customs. However there would be no customs duty since works of art are waived. Where do i need to make this declaration - at the border while travelling or before hand at a central office

3. Do i need to make any declarations at CH customs, incase i bring back any unsold paintings

4. If i am shipping it from switzerland then i can directly use the EORI number and my OSS number and send it across

2
Art is normally exempt from VAT and customs.

My wife bought a bunch (CHF 10k or so divided among 4 purchases) from the EU some years ago (5 or so), there was no VAT or customs.

Tom

3

So far as I understand the system you cannot register for VAT One-Stop-Shop if your paintings are each over euro 150, you have to register for VAT in each EU country that you sell to, charge the appropriate VAT rate for the country, and file in each country.

This document explains the situation, good luck in understanding it…

4
You can't / don't need to register for VAT / MwsT until your sales go over 100,000 CHF per year. And even then there are some exceptions. So don't stress about that now.

Import duty is paid by the buyer in the country that they import to, so again, nothing to worry about for you. Just be sure to let the buyer know that there may be import costs for them when they have the paintings delivered.

5

thanks st2lemans- i am an artist in CH and intend to sell into the EU
thanks marton - that document is useful … will take long to read, but glad its in english … also i believe the OSS is for any value and IOSS is for <€150 (i may be wrong)
thanks grumpygrapefruit - you are right about the 100,000CHF limit for VAT in CH. I also need to find a pathway for when i go for exhibitions into EU and sell there

I reached out to the German Zoll - as a first case to evaluate an exhibition in Germany. The central helpline is helpful and english speaking. The person sent me the below email.

“
Assuming that you are a professional artist, you need an EORI number. You may find the relevant form 0870a_en on https://www.zoll.de/EN/Businesses/Mo…-and-taxes/EOR […]

You may import your artwork in temporary admission. For the declaration at the border you have two options:
One option for the declaration(s) is the use of an ATA carnet issued by a Swiss association. An additional deposit to customs is not necessary.
An alternative option is form 0747 (Single Administrative Document, to be bought) for import, and an electronic export declaration (e.g. by internet*). A deposit equivalent to German VAT is obligatory. It is refunded when re-export or free circulation - see below - are proven.
For the second option I advise using the help of a customs broker.

Please note: If you sell, you have to end the temporary admission (with ATA carnet or form 0747) by making a declaration for free circulation at the customs office locally competent for the exhibition. You may use form 0737 (to be bought) or the internet declaration IZA (linked on www.zoll.de , free access, but German only). I again advise using the help of a customs broker. You pay 7% import VAT.

*requires log-in with EORI number and ELSTER certificate. An ELSTER certificate is granted by the tax administration (separate from customs) if you are tax registered in Germany, at the tax office of Konstanz.

As far as this answer contains legal statements, the information can only be given to the best of our knowledge and does not establish any legal claims.
“

Basis this i am finding the process to get an ATA Carnet - any help on this would be great (there are some steps defined on the HKBB (basel) & ATAswiss.ch sites which i am embarking)
AND
still need to find a customs broker - to clear the VAT in frankfurt incase i sell there

If any of you have dealt with customs brokers (Basel/ Weil am rhein) would greatly appreciate contacts !

6

Most of the advice above is wrong. I strongly recommend that you to seek professional advice. You should be able to find a general adviser who can manage all of EU. The rules have changed a lot recently and there are new “distance selling” rules.

Here you can read generally about distance selling:
https://europa.eu/youreurope/busines…g/index_en.htm

https://www.avalara.com/vatlive/en/e…hresholds.html

And here something about the new One-Stop-Shop rules from 1 July 2021:
https://vat-one-stop-shop.ec.europa.eu/index_en

But PLEASE get proper advice. Advisers can handle all the filings for you. It might even be better to sell through a third party platform (intermediary) who takes care of the VAT.

From the comments above:

  • The CHF 100,000 threshold is to do with Swiss VAT and says nothing about your obligations in other countries, or special distance selling rules. Distance selling rules mean that the place of supply (where VAT is due) is shifted to the place of your customer for B2C.

  • No VAT on art - that is simply nonsense. You can’t even order something off Amazon.de without getting above the CHF 65 exemption, so why should art be VAT-free? I can only imagine that the comment comes from a time before distance selling rules, or maybe was a B2B zero-rated supply (between VAT-registered businesses who pay the VAT through their VAT returns), or maybe they got lucky and didn’t get caught.

7
Thanks Alsion

Would you have an example for the above

what would be an example of the above

8
The whole point of the new EU rules is to stop sellers in non-EU countries from having an unfair price advantage because they could supply goods without charging VAT.

It is all about VAT, not duty.