If your company is subject to VAT, you file your return on the portal of the Federal Tax Administration (FTA). The Bill Alps return helper calculates the figures related to your sales from your invoices, so you do not have to redo the additions. It does not file anything for you and does not know your purchases: the return remains yours, and your trustee can help you check it.
1. Open the VAT return helper
- Check that the VAT number is filled in under My company, in the Information card: without it, the button does not appear. See the guide.
- Open the Bills menu and click VAT return, at the top of the list. The VAT return helper window opens.
2. Choose the period and the method
Choose the year, then Q1 to Q4, H1, H2 or Year. You can also enter exact dates in the period field. Then select the method that matches your VAT status:
- Agreed considerations: invoices count according to their issue date, in Sent, Overdue and Paid statuses.
- Received considerations: only Paid invoices count, according to their payment date.
3. Copy the figures to the portal
- Click Open the FTA portal, at the bottom of the window: the portal opens in a new tab.
- For each figure, click the copy icon (Copy amount) and paste the value into the portal. The amount copied is in CHF, with two decimals.
- Follow your progress with the bar at the bottom of the window, which counts the values copied. Changing the period or the method resets it to zero.
Bill Alps calculates the following figures from your invoices:
- 200: the total of the period's considerations, excluding VAT.
- 289 and 299: the total deductions, which here contain only the turnover at 0%, and the taxable turnover.
- 302, 312 and 342: the base and the VAT at the rates of 8.1%, 2.6% and 3.8%. The former rates (items 303, 313 and 343) are shown if they appear on invoices of the period.
- 399: the total tax due.
The other figures are up to you:
- 205, 220, 221, 225, 230, 235 and 280 are shown with the label Not calculated: complete them on the portal if they apply to you. If you enter a deduction there, the Bill Alps figures 289 and 299 are no longer up to date: they do not take it into account.
- 400 and 405 (input tax) are shown with the label Fill in manually: Bill Alps does not work them out from your purchases. Take them from your accounting.
4. Understand the warnings
- Turnover at 0%: all lines without VAT are grouped together. Allocate the amount shown across items 220, 221 or 230 depending on the nature of the supplies.
- Non-standard rate: an invoice carries a rate that is not a known Swiss rate. Its VAT is counted in item 399, but its base does not appear on any rate line: check these invoices before copying the amounts.
- Difference with the invoiced VAT: shipping costs and discounts are allocated proportionally across the rates, and the tax is recalculated on each base. Bill Alps shows the difference if it exceeds 5 centimes.
- Foreign currency invoices: they are converted at the monthly average rate of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), that of the month of the invoice or of the payment depending on the method. Open Exchange rate details to see the rates applied. If no rate is available, an invoice is excluded and flagged: convert it yourself and add it to your totals.
To gather your purchase documents, see Record your expenses.