Swiss Ecommerce Seller: Irish Company, Imports and EU VAT

Choose an Irish company's real role in the supply chain

The Swiss company might continue to sell directly to Irish customers while goods ship from Switzerland. Alternatively, an Irish LTD could buy stock, import it into Ireland, store it there and sell onward. A third model may use an Irish company only for marketing or customer support. These models do not have identical customs, VAT, consumer-contract or accounting outcomes. Decide which entity is the actual seller and owner at each point.

Ask where inventory will be warehoused, who signs supplier contracts, who pays the freight, who appears as importer on customs paperwork and who handles refunds. The CRO requires a genuine intended activity in Ireland for the new LTD. An Irish registered office is not the same thing as a fulfilment centre or operational staff. Forming an LTD solely to put an Irish address on checkout may add work without solving the import process.

Prepare the company and director route before goods move

A Swiss person or Swiss company can generally subscribe for shares in an Irish LTD. Form A1 and a constitution establish the Irish entity, which also needs its own registered office, directors and secretary. A sole director cannot also be the secretary. Switzerland is not in the EEA, so directors who only live there do not satisfy the CRO's EEA-resident rule. Arrange a qualifying director or the prescribed Section 137 bond route before incorporation.

If a Swiss AG or GmbH will own the Irish shares, document its registration, signatory authority and the natural persons who ultimately control it. The Irish company must maintain share records and, where relevant, file beneficial-owner details with the RBO. These records will also be requested by banks, marketplace platforms and customs or tax advisers.

Swiss-to-Irish stock is an import, not an intra-EU transfer

Switzerland is outside the EU customs territory for this movement. Goods sent into Ireland from Switzerland generally need customs clearance. Import VAT is a separate issue from VAT on the later sale to an Irish or EU customer. Revenue says businesses importing or exporting goods into or out of the EU need an EORI number. Decide which legal entity obtains it and appears as importer of record.

Classify each product correctly and prepare commercial invoices, values, origin evidence and transport documents. A preferential tariff claim, where available for a qualifying product, depends on its actual origin and the right proof; dispatch from Switzerland alone is not proof of Swiss origin and does not remove import VAT. Product safety, labelling, excise, licences or other sector rules may also apply to particular goods.

Identify the owner, importer and taxable sale

If the Swiss business sells stock to a separate Irish LTD, that is a real intercompany transaction requiring invoices and supportable pricing. If the Irish company imports the stock, its customs and VAT records must match its commercial purchase and transport evidence. If the Swiss company remains seller and merely uses Irish storage, it may face different Irish VAT or establishment issues. Do not switch the importer on a courier label while leaving ownership and contracts unchanged.

A customs broker can help lodge declarations, but the business should still know who has legal responsibility for the goods and declarations. Ask an Irish VAT adviser about import VAT recovery or postponed accounting eligibility in the actual structure. Revenue's rules depend on the taxable person and conditions, not on having an Irish company number alone.

Distinguish Union OSS from IOSS

Once an Irish company owns goods in free circulation in Ireland, sales to consumers in other EU member states may be intra-Community distance sales. Revenue explains that Union OSS can simplify reporting VAT on eligible cross-border EU B2C sales. Domestic Irish sales and stock held in other member states may still require separate treatment. Business customers, marketplace-deemed-supplier transactions and assembled goods can follow different rules.

IOSS is not the same scheme. Revenue says it applies to eligible distance sales of imported goods in consignments of limited value when the goods are outside the EU at the time of sale. If the product is already in an Irish warehouse, the seller should not call that an IOSS import sale. Model Swiss direct-to-consumer parcels separately from sales out of Irish inventory, and check current customs and VAT rules before pricing delivery.

Banking, marketplaces and Swiss management

The legal seller on marketplace listings, website terms, payment accounts and VAT invoices should agree. Banks and platforms can request incorporation documents, beneficial owners, supplier invoices, shipping evidence, expected transaction volume and product compliance details. A new Irish LTD does not automatically receive a bank account, marketplace approval or VAT number.

If strategic decisions and staff remain in Switzerland, review Swiss effective-management, employment and tax questions. Swiss federal guidance says legal entities effectively managed there can have Swiss tax liability. Intercompany supply, fulfilment or management charges should reflect the actual work and be documented. An Irish registered office alone does not establish Irish management or remove Swiss obligations.

A realistic launch sequence

Draw the flow from Swiss supplier to importer, warehouse, marketplace and final buyer. Have customs and VAT advisers check product classification, importer identity, EORI, import VAT, customs duty and EU consumer sales. Then settle the company ownership, director or bond route, genuine Irish activity, office and secretary. File Form A1 and the constitution, and after incorporation complete RBO, tax, banking and fulfilment onboarding.

StartCompany.ie can assist with Irish company formation and related office or filing services. Compare the current package scope and total payable price against your real director structure; the formation package does not replace a customs broker or cross-border VAT design. Do not move stock until the legal buyer and importer are clear.

• Map stock ownership and the seller on each customer order.
• Identify the importer of record and EORI requirements.
• Budget customs, possible duty and import VAT separately from formation.
• Classify Irish sales, EU distance sales and Swiss direct parcels separately.
• Align contracts, invoices, marketplace accounts and bank onboarding.
• Calendar CRO, RBO, VAT and accounting obligations after launch.