Skip to content
Back to index
V0235-18 1 February 2018 · SG de Impuestos sobre el Consumo Criterion in force
IVA · establecimiento permanente

Logistics services to a Swiss entity exempt from VAT if no permanent establishment in Spain

A Spanish company provides logistics and storage services to a Swiss entity for the sale of goods in tax-free retail outlets. The DGT examines whether the Swiss entity has a permanent establishment and the VAT treatment for importation, intracommunity purchases, and sales.

The question raised

Whether the Swiss entity has a permanent establishment within the territory to which the tax applies, as well as the treatment for Value Added Tax purposes of the acquisition and subsequent sale operations carried out by the Swiss entity, as well as the logistics services received from the applicant. Tax obligations of the Swiss entity and the procedure it must follow, where applicable, for the deduction or refund of the Value Added Tax amounts incurred or paid within the territory to which the tax applies.

The DGT's ruling

Logistics, storage, and distribution services are not subject to VAT provided that the Swiss entity does not have a place of business or a permanent establishment within the territory to which the tax applies. For a permanent establishment to exist, the entity must possess an adequate structure of human and technical resources with a sufficient degree of permanence. Acquisitions of goods by the Swiss entity may be subject to VAT but exempt if they are linked to customs warehousing regimes or non-customs warehousing regimes. The Swiss entity shall be the taxable person for the exempt supplies, intra-Community acquisitions, and imports carried out by it.

Book your free first meeting