Hi All,

I am new to these forums, so my apologies if this post is in the wrong place.

I am a New Zealander embarking on a cycle tour of Europe next summer with a friend. Because our starting point is Switzerland we are having our bicycles freighted over from New Zealand. I am not sure exactly if we will be charged sales tax (VAT) on our bicycles. Hopefully someone will be able to answer my question or steer me in the right direction.

Thanks for your help!

There should be no worry about paying import/sales taxes if you do not plan to live here afterwards. Even if you did plan to live here then if the bike is more than 6 months old then you still don't need to pay any taxes. All the best for the bike tour!

Enjoy the tour! Whereabouts do you plan to go, or will you just go wherever?

You'll probably be stopped by a customs officer at the airport (happens to me each time I go through with a bike), but they should leave you alone once you explain your plans.

Have fun! Where do you plan to tour?

It might depend on how you pack it over. I just brought my road bike over in a very obvious BikeProUSA bag and no one even looked at me. More than usual that is. Zurichers do stare, don't they?

Have fun cycling! I'm trying to get together a couple trips together myself this summer, so report back!

Cheers, Erin

Thanks for the input everyone!

I should make it clear we will not be bringing the bikes with us as we arrive into Switzerland. Thay are being freighted and delivered about a week prior to our arrival.

We commence riding mid April and will ride Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Spain and hopefully Belgium and Holland too (time dependent). We will be riding lots of mountains in France when the tour comes through, hopefully they are as big as my expectation leads me to believe!

Your plans sound very exciting. I have always wanted to do something like that.

My friends were also concerned, as they are shipping their bikes to me pre-TDF. We plan on renting an RV and following a week or two of the tour. I have a feeling we are going to be one smelly bunch.

This should not make a difference. Since you are obviously not going to be keeping the bikes in Switzerland, it should be very straightforward. Your plans sound like a lot of fun, I'm sure you'll have a blast. Some day I plan to do the reverse of your trip and do some bike touring in New Zealand .

That's great news and a relief.

Thank you everybody for your contributions!!

ChrisW: if you need info on touring in NZ let me know.