Gruezi miteinand,

We'll be moving to Zurich from the US next spring and wondering about the customary customs with regards to bringing our little collection of alcohol along. This is for purely private pleasures, and boasts a mix of wine and liquors. As I understand, often it is at the very least seen much more lenient when one moves as compared to just crossing a border randomly, and certainly even more so for own use.

I was wondering about Swiss laws....
http://www.ezv.admin.ch/zollinfo_pri...x.html?lang=en
......states:

Wine: 0.60 per liter up to 20 liters
20-40% alcohol: 12.00 per liter

What a difference! Is it that in Switzerland wine is officially a different kind of beverage than harder alcohol (as far as I know it is that way e.g. in Norway and Germany, at least with respect to liquor sales & usage laws within the countries)? It's curious since even "up to 20%" is already 6.00SFR per liter.....

Can anyone confirm or inform whether this applies to moving? It isn't quite clear to me from that site which only lists a couple of moving goods as being free, and then has this page above without mention whether it applies to travelers and movers or only the former. Judging by the sheer size of knowledge on here I figured this is the fastest way to acquire an informed answer....

Thanks in advance, and once we've securely landed with the entire collection there may well be a Zurich-new-expat-landing-icebreaker-event-with-import-free-liquor.... ooops, here goes the own usage

All beverages are in customs-chapter 2203, but it depends whether it is beer (and in what kind of packing and what size of packing), wine, champagne, liqueurs, spirits. Beer in cans for instance is 2203.0039, and so on. And there is a heavier alcohol tax on spirits than on wine and practically none on beer. And there of course is 7,6% VAT not to be forgotten. You need to establish an exact list, showing
- sort of beverage
- size of packings
- nature of packings
- value of each packing
so that it can be checked up

Thanks very much for the quick reply! But frankly, you've lost me within the first sentence already Where can I track down these chapters? I'm really a newbie on all of these issues surrounding Swiss regulations. Do they indeed apply to moving the same way as regular traveling? That is my main concern. I've recently brought 3 full cases of liquor across the Canada-->US border, moving-style, and it wasn't even worth a mention by US customs (despite having listed all items on a list like you suggested), whereas when "traveling" one is certainly subject to most delicate interrogations & fees on every drop in the trunk

The VAT is new to me.... is that definitely the case for moving (and I've been involved in several international moves)? I know one shouldn't ask 'why' regarding certain rules .... but the question then widens: which shipped items are subject to "value added tax"? Logically, every single purchased item? Practically, all items above a threshold I presume?

But thanks for that bit, I might have to read up a little....

the link is www.tares.ch but the language in use is based on the one of a Schaffhausen customs inspector who worked in the customs directorate in Schaffhausen in the 1920ies and 30ies. His daughter was a schoolfriend of my mother. His whole wordings were computerized but the wordings to some extent remained, even if some things have been brought up to the 21st century. If searching for something you have to right %.......% and then you may find it.

Google gave me this.

I'm not sure whether the contact details are still valid, but they're probably worth a try, all the same.

Hi
When we moved, company just packed it and brought it in without an issue. We were asked to create a list by shipping firm, type, % and date of purchase. Most of it was with me for many years. But this is CH, it also depends on customs agent and relationship shipping company has with them. If your moving, things seem to be quite easy. Again, it’s CH and customs are not always easy. But saying that, much better than going to Germany.
Cheers

Between now and next Spring, can't you manage to drink it? Have a few farewell parties...that should take care of the problem.

Thanks everyone for the support!

Now lying around on the floor in the empty apartment (glad to have found one rather quickly), eagerly waiting for the booze (and other minor things in the container) to arrive.... it indeed seemed like a non-issue so long as it's properly documented and for private consumption. Which we didn't manage to complete until moving despite several farewell's and dinner parties..... but point taken, Mrs Doolittle

Mr/Mrs Gem: Surprised that you mention Germany is stricter: I was assuming that belongings coming from the US would effectively be imported into EU/Schengen since it arrives in the Netherlands anyway, hence I'd have thought these custom laws might be kinda regulated across the borders?

Obviously bit of a newbie as you can tell, we'll see what arrives... and when

I don't have the paperwork to hand, but I seem to remember that the duty-free allowance was much higher for people who were moving than for normal visitors. We brought in over a hundred bottles of wine and ten bottles of spirits with no problem and no duty to pay.

(Found it: Up to 200 litres of alcohol below 25º can be imported duty and tax free and a maximum of 12 litres of alcohol over 25º.)

We had to pack them all separately and inventory them individually, but the movers had all the appropriate forms. Our movers insisted that we couldn't bring any bottles that had already been opened (due to the risk of spillage rather than any legal requirement) but otherwise we had no problems.