(Art. 45 para. 1 let. b and 52 let. 2 VAT Act)
Regardless of the storage device or the method of data storage, a data storage medium without market value is considered to be any device for storing data, which in the manner and nature and condition in which it is imported:
cannot be purchased against payment of a consideration known at the time of import; and
cannot be used contractually against payment of a non-recurring licence fee known at the time of import.
The data storage medium may in particular carry computer programmes and files, their updates and upgrades and sound and image data.
Crucial for the assessment of whether a data storage medium is a data storage medium without market value is the medium itself with the services included therein and the related rights not considering the legal transaction leading to the import.
The following goods are in particular deemed equivalent to data storage media without market value, provided the goods are acquired by the customer as a result of an independent legal transaction:
plans, drawings and illustrations, in particular by architects, engineers, graphic artists and designers;
legal opinions from lawyers, reports from experts, translations, research and test results and results of analyses, valuations and similar;
certificated rights and intellectual property.