Once you have established which type of business you intend to open and which company form is the most appropriate for your or your needs, it is necessary to fulfill a series of bureaucratic requirements:
- Verification of the availability of the company name (company name)
- Opening a current account in Switzerland: the bank account in Switzerland can only be opened by going to the bank in person, in possession of the documentation relating to the company and the identification document.
- Payment of the share capital of the new company to a bank account.
- Deed of incorporation before a Swiss notary, after drafting the statute that defines exactly the purpose, the legal form, the activity and in the case of a joint stock company, the payment of the minimum capital and the division of the share capital.
- Registration in the Commercial Register after 7/10 days from the notarial deed. Both the SA and the SAGL have the obligation to register with the Swiss Commercial Register. The administrator must necessarily be a Swiss citizen or tax resident in Switzerland. Both have a fairly simplified management and, under 10 employees, are not required to audit.
- An exception can be found in sole proprietorships: in this case, registration in the commercial register is mandatory when turnover exceeds 100,000 francs.
To complete the administrative procedures necessary for setting up a new company, it generally takes between two and four weeks. Following the reading of the notarial deed, the company is active. The next step is to apply for a VAT number, but only for those companies that invoice over 100,000 francs.
Open a VAT number in Switzerland
As we said, if you have an annual turnover exceeding 100,000 francs, you must calculate the VAT, the value added tax. You are required to spontaneously register with the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) within 30 days from the beginning of the tax liability.
From 1 January 2011, the federal law on the identification number of companies came into force, which provides that every company or business based in Switzerland is assigned an UID, a unique identification number.
Therefore, if you expect a turnover of less than 100,000 francs, you just need to have the ID: the VAT number is not mandatory.
If, on the other hand, you exceed this volume, you will also be assigned a VAT number which will also include the UID number in this case.
If you are invoicing to Italian customers, you must invoice without VAT: it must be charged only on invoices issued to Swiss customers. The Italian customer must receive the invoice without VAT and then make a self-invoice to pay the taxes in Italy.
The costs and incentives to open a business
How much does it cost to open a company in Switzerland?
The costs can vary widely: from 6,000 to 8,000 francs, for sole proprietorships and corporations, while from 12,000 to 15,000 francs are needed for the establishment of limited companies SA for financial trading, real estate, consultancy, corporation and others.
In addition to this, various types of loans are also provided for those who intend to open a business in Switzerland. These loans are granted by entities that can be municipal or public.
Taxation
The Swiss tax system is federal and therefore the payment of taxes is on a cantonal basis. Obviously, there are also national and municipal taxes.
Swiss companies benefit from much milder tax regimes than Italian ones, starting with VAT, set at 7.7%.
Taxes vary locally between canton and canton, but they are certainly lower than those to which Italian companies are subject and in most cases do not reach 30%. Finally, most of the out-of-pocket costs are fully deductible.