I've had a nose around the site and didn't find another thread on it, but just how strict are the customs people when moving your household items into Switzerland? I know they charge VAT on items you've had for less than six months, but we've actually got very little that's new and because I only found out about this a few weeks ago, we haven't got receipts for most of it.
Also, only having a few new items, is that going to make them suspicious and think that we're trying to con them? Finally, what about second-hand goods? Do they still attract tax if you've had them for less than six months?
Yours confusedly,

Tony

list it all, declare that it's household and you're likely to get away with it.

the movers should have a form you need to fill out. I've never heard of anyone having problems (but would be interested to hear from those who have).

The only time I have heard of someone having a problem was someone who tried to import brand new electrical goods as being older than six months, only problem was they had forgot to put any plugs on them!

Tell them you took the British plugs off before packing them - as they would be no use in CH.

Cheers,
Nick

Aha - awesome. Thanks for the advice. I'll have to get the form myself as my sister-in-law is taking a vanload of our stuff out there. It's the 18.44, isn't it?

One last thing - just how detailed does the list need to be? Are we talking seperating books into hard- and paper-back or labelling whole boxes as 'cupboard stuff'.
Also, does the list have to be in German? That could be awkward.

"books"
think of items > a certain value and log them. Language won't be a problem if you use English.

Whew - it's almost impossible to find a link to the 18.44 form online. Luckily a search on here turned it up. If I hadn't found this forum, I'd be getting very worried by now...
Cheers!

Tony

ps: Probably more daft questions to come yet...

Hi all,

I have moved to Zurich with my family last year. We did not have a chance yet to move our stuff from Canada and we would not like to re-buy all the same stuff here in Zurich as we already have them. We are planning to go this year back to home country and send the furniture and etc to Switzerland. I am wondering if we can still do that without paying some extra money as we are here already 10 months. Does someone know the regulations, customs and etc? I am wondering if we would need to pay customs for importing stuff like beds, drowers, tables, chairs, arm chairs and etc. I am thinking if we have to pay customs I would rather sell that stuff instead of paying enormous money for importing second hand furniture....

Any info would be much appreciated.

Pluto

Evenin' all,

When it comes to bringing our household things over the border, is it necessary for me to be there? My sister-in-law is driving our things down for us and I was wondering if I have to be present at customs if I give her the paperwork (form 18.44).
It just works out to be awkward as they don't know how long it will take them to drive or if they will stop over in France for the night, so I won't know what time to meet them if they can't phone me for some reason.
Cheers,

Tony

Any idea if we have to be at the border during any particular hours to clear our stuff through customs? We have to plan the drive down, so if customs only deal with this stuff from 9 to 5, then we have to plan accordingly. Also, how much notice do we have to give to customs that we're coming in?
Cheers,

Tony

This is only me thinking about what you've asked. If everyone had to be personally at the border how would removal companies be able to bring peoples household possessions through if the owner is not around? So from that point of view, i would say no.
Naturally i would check it out.

Hmm. That's what I was thinking, but the few sources I've got give out some mixed messages on it. I can't seem to find the correct document to sort this one out and my command of German is pretty poor (it's only a bit over a month since this whole thing started and I've not had much time to learn...), so I'm a bit stuck on that one.
Thanks for the help, though!

Tony

The purpose of the border control has several function but in your case is to ensure that there are no goods that are not permitted to be brought into Switzerland and that all duties and taxes that are owed on the goods are paid. If there are no prohibited goods and no duties owed then you can drive over any border at any time.

If you have goods to declare then you can still do this but expect to pay if they are open and to really pay if they catch you when they are closed...

Basel as an example is open 7x24.

The purpose is not however to personally inspect the owner current or future of the goods being transported.

Thanks, Richard!
So, if I give the 18.44 to my sister-in-law, along with CHF 35.50 (7.5 % tax on CHF460 / £200 household items less than six months old) to give to customs, then that should be ok?
I'd be one happy bear if that's ok!

Tony

Tomorrow morning, I will have all my stuff delivered from the UK after having been in storage there for 7 months. My undertanding is that stuff which is less than 6 months old may (will?) incur duty. So if your stuff has been in storage for 10 months you ought to be OK.

If you like I'll post what I got hit for and why tomorrow or Wednesday when the dust has settled, so to speak.

Give her the money but don't declare it. At the end of the day you are allowed to bring in new stuff to the value before VAT of SFr. 300. UK VAT is 17.5% so that equates to ca 350 Francs. All you then need to do is get as much as possible of the 350 in items but not over to one side and declare on the rest. If you have just one item then you are out of luck. If you have two and there are two people driving down and none of the items are over SFr. 350 (uk equiv) then you get them to say they are bringing them as presents and you are okay.

Mondays are good days aren't they

Hmm...I drove over last weekend with a car full of stuff. Had a chat with the guys at the Swiss border at Basle after buying my motorway ticket (vignette?) and they weren't in the slightest bit bothered about what a had in my car, nor in the dog sat angrily on the back seat, they just waved me straight through.

Why can't you tell them you are transporting the stuff to Italy anyway?

When I drove across in November, I had a van full to the brim, the border guard just asked "Any of it new?", "Nope". He didn't even look, just checked my lights and sold me a vignette.

That doesn't work, they will ask you to pay any tax due for entering Switzerland and to reclaim it at the Italian border .