Hi,

I am moving to CH in August (can't wait!) and want to get rid of an old car here and buy another another before moving. My question is whether I can import the new car tax-free by importing it 5 months after I become domicile in CH??

I've read all the threads I could find on import duty and I am still uncertain as to how the grace period of 'at least 6 months of use' for personal effects is calculated.

Assume the car is registered in June 2009.
I move to CH in August 2009.
I import the car in December 2009 (6 months after buying it)

Which statement is correct?

1) The car is not subject to tax since it was registered to me before I became domiciled and it's been owned for 6 months before the date of import. (It may be hard to prove I've been using for those 6 months though!)

2) The car is subject to tax because it was registered to me less than 6 months before I became domiciled, irrespective of when I actually imported it.

The custom form here seems to imply that it could be the former and that you have 12 months or so to import all your personal effects.

Thanks,
Stu