A VAT fiscal warehouse is an authorised facility where goods imported from non-EU countries can be stored without immediate payment of import VAT, deferring the tax until extraction for release into the domestic market. Unlike a customs warehouse (which defers both duties and VAT), in a VAT warehouse customs duties are paid normally at import, but VAT is suspended. Goods can also enter a VAT warehouse via intra-Community supply (intra-EU purchases). Key advantages: 1) Cash-flow improvement — VAT (22% in Italy, 8.1% in Switzerland) is not advanced; 2) Commercial flexibility — goods can be stored, sold and resold within the warehouse without generating VAT until extraction; 3) Triangular trade optimisation — goods imported into the EU for customers in multiple countries can transit through the VAT warehouse without intermediate VAT obligations. In Italy, governed by Art. 50-bis of D.L. 331/1993. For Switzerland: a comparable mechanism is the authorised customs warehouse (DDA), which suspends both duties and VAT.