Hello everyone.

We are planning to move to Switzerland. From Norway. And here the state gives large tax exemptions for Tesla cars.

My question is, since we want to move to Switzerland is it worth it to buy a new Tesla in Norway and then import it in Switzerland. Or does Switzerland also offer some tax exemptions and the price to be relatively the same for electric cars in this case Tesla (environment friendly).

And if its worth to import it, what are the tips & "tricks" before doing so.

Will you bringing as part of your possessions or importing it? If you own it 3 (or 6) months before you arrive then it is possessions and there is no import duty to pay. Therefore it may well be much cheaper to buy in Norway

You need to check the price in Norway and how much it costs to buy in CH obviously. There are limited tax exemptions for Teslas in CH, and when you bring it in you may be liable for 8% tax on the value depending on how long you owned it.

Charging infrastructure is not great here at the moment, but it is improving slowly. I'm considering one as my next car but am struggling to keep the price sensible as it's too easy to get up above 100k CHF once you hit the options list.

They have dealers and service facilities in a few places now too, last I heard they have sold over 2k of them in Switzerland so they're just starting to take off.

Which model are you considering? Look at the Swiss Tesla website to compare the price you'd pay here, and bear in mind things like servicing packs may or may not be transferable if you move countries. A 4 year service pack here is about 1,600 CHF.

On the contraty, best is to buy it new and pay the 8% Swiss VAT rather than the 25-100% Norwegian VAT!

Tom

No Norwegian VAT on a Tesla as far as I know - Norway is their biggest market outside the USA as the tax benefits make it crazy to NOT buy an electric car if you live there.

That is correct. And like dodgyken said, you need to have it under your name at least 6 months then you can declare it as Umzugsgut which will be taxfree. Done that last year when i moved from Germant to CH.

Based on customers from Norway, a Tesla is cheaper than a Vw Passat over there. That explains why they sell like pancakes up north.

Hi! We moved from Norway in 2012. If you can prove that you owned the car for at least 6 months before moving to Switzerland, I'd say go for it. The Tesla is possibly the only car that is cheaper in Norway than in Switzerland.

We took our car (Honda Civic) with us, not because it was a good deal financially, but because it was still relatively new (10 months) and selling it before moving would have resulted in too much of a value loss. But if the car had been 3-4 years old, we would either have sold it well in advance and bought a Tesla 6 months before coming to CH, or sold before we left and bought a slightly nicer car once we arrived here. As it is, we'll keep it until it's 6-7 years old and see what we do after that.

Good luck on your move, btw!

Correct, but it does not mean that the Tesla is cheaper though, only that cars are generally a lot more expensive in Norway (due to tax) except for electric cars, which are not taxed.


Agree with other posters here that a simple check on the Tesla Switzerland website will show the current prices. However, I believe in Norway you can write off further amounts from your income tax which is not really possible here in Switzerland.

If OP buys the Tesla today and moves to CH in 6 months, any potential deduction (is there really one?) would come on his Norwegian income tax filing for 2015. Electric cars in Norway are currently very good deals due to favourable taxation, while regular cars are extremely expensive compared to other countries, making the country the biggest market for electric and hybrid cars.

Given the current NOK/CHF exchange rate, the Tesla is probably quite a bit cheaper in Norway than in Switzerland right now. I haven't done a very extensive research and I am no expert in cars, but a Norwegian article from May lists the price of a Tesla S P85D at 779,000.00 kr, approx. 89,950.00 CHF, while the same model is on Autoscout24.ch at 119,900.00 CHF with a mileage of 9000km.

It depends on the model and extras you want really. A new P85D is 107k CHF basic but with a few extras (Ludicrous performance upgrads, premium interior, leather, metallic usw.) it quickly gets over 130k. A basic RWD '70' is just over 70k but it's far too easy to go mad with the options and realistically they start at 85k here.

You should also factor in that depending on which version of the Model S you plump for, there will almost certainly be a 2-3 month wait for delivery also...this might make it trickier for you.

Having said that, in all my dealings with them, I have found that Tesla are amazingly helpful. Perhaps you could come to some arrangement with them whereby even if you move x months from now, they could register the car for you and you could leave it with them up until the 6 month deadline, then bring it over, if you can live for a few months without a car here (not that difficult tbh).


The only real tax exemption you get here is off your yearly "Road Tax". I guess you save somewhere in the region of 250-400chf on a comparable ICE car. Oh and the price of petrol too of course


FWIW, the charging network in Switzerland I feel is perfectly adequate. You will of course do most of your charging at home, and there won't be anywhere in CH (or DE or FRA or anywhere in Europe, all the way up to Norway!) that you won't be able to visit by using a supercharger, even with the 70D model, which I have.

A friend ordered one last week, it comes late January, which is pretty good for a built-to-order car made in the USA. I waited longer than that for my last BMW to be made in Germany!

I meant buy it in Norway, and have it shipped to CH, avoiding the higher Norwegian VAT.

Tom

Thank you all very much for your insights.

Btw is there a possibility to buy the car lets say today and register it with Norwegian plates and then move in Switzerland tomorrow. After a period of time lets say 6 months on Norwegian plates (driving it in Switzerland) could I THEN "import" it to Switzerland avoiding those taxes regarding the minimum 6 months period you mentioned?!

Is that possible?

That is what I was suggesting Tampa.

Not 100% sure on the validity, but I *think* it should work as the car will be 6 months old when imported...that's what matters, not when you move here.

Not so sure about that. I believe it's the date you yourself and your "household" (including belongings) move officially move to Switzerland that counts. Here is what we did:

Arrival August 2012, for a duration of possibly only one year (but likely 2-4 years). Car bought in Oct. 2011, hence no import duty. Permit with Gemeinde dated Aug. 2012. June 2013 (after confirmation that we will be staying at least until Aug. 2014), my husband completed the import procedure and we got our Swiss plates. The car was treated as part of our belongings we brought with us in Aug. 2012.

If we had waited longer than 1 year, we would have had to pay import duty. The same would have applied if the car had been newer than 6 months.

Custom cares about the date of first entry in the country, since that is when you moved.

No.

It must be owned for at least six months when you arrive in Switzerland, regardless of when you actually import it.

Tom

Thank you. Thank you all again for your valuable information, in every reply. I will definitely act accordingly.