Hi all,

We ordered a left hand drive car (German manufacturer) in the UK before moving to Switzerland - hoping to bring it across before end of 2020. Due to COVID it will now be delivered to the UK in June and I'm planning to bring it over then.

Post the UK transition period and now under the new UK / CH trade agreement - does anyone have a steer on how straightforward it will be to import permanently? Will it be the same as if the UK were still in the EU?

A technical question and I plan to formally check with the Swiss authorities before confirming everything, but thought I'd check here in case anyone's done it already this year or plans to!

Thanks!

Sorry I can't help with all of the new Brexit legislation etc but when you import car to CH from EU or out of EU you need to think about taxes when declaring the car to the customs here. How long exactly have you owned the car? If it's under six months there will be a substantial tax burden to pay if not you can declare it and it's like 20chf for the fee. I guess it's already UK registered with the V5 document?

Edit: just reading over again you won't receive car until June, then I'd definitely be looking into the cost of the import duties!

We can get the car tax free in the UK, so it would just be the Swiss taxes and duties, which when I calculated using an import calculator still makes sense. The car is a lot more expensive in Switzerland brand new!

Then that would make sense, I would ask for an EU certificate of conformity (coc) before you bring it over, if it's manufactured in Germany that shouldn't be a problem but I'd imagine that wouldn't automatically be given in UK so definitely get one, it makes the process smoother at the road traffic office. As far as I see it Brexit doesn't really impact the process, but perhaps others have more insight. I imported my car from UK prior to end of transition period, maybe others have managed to do it already or would know more.

And worth a lot less when you come to sell it in 2-3 years too.

Thanks both for the thoughts!

Yes, aware that there is potentially a 20-25 pct discount for grey imports but the new purchase price is equivalent to a 3+ year old Swiss car with the same specs and high mileage, so I’m happy dealing with that potential risk. I’m probably also not selling it in three years unless I’m going back to the UK.

They will provide the CoC - thanks for noting that.

You will also need a copy of the purchase invoice, that was what pre Brexit they based the taxes on, no idea if that might have changed.

Just out of interest how are you going to get it from the UK to Switzerland? You need to get it professionally delivered in order to avoid UK and EU customs problems? Just wondering how it works as you say you'll have it delivered to the UK VAT free and not pay UK VAT.

Why??? I've done this a few times and it made no difference to the selling price.

Pre-Brexit you'd get tax free plates and drive to Switzerland across France or Germany.

You can still buy a car tax free but apart from all the paperwork, you'll need a customs agent to provide documentation and a surety (or a Carnet) for potential duty when crossing the EU. Arriving in Switzerland you declare and pay all the duties and have the paperwork stamped to cancel the surety / carnet.

You will most likely have to deposit the surety in full as a guarantee and this will be refunded when the correct papers have been returned.

From the Swiss point of view? Mostly yes. But if manufactured in the UK you will have to pay a duty of CHF 12 per 100 kg. No duty if manufactured in the EU, EFTA, Japan and some other countries (See https://xtares.admin.ch/ for full details). You will need a certificate of origin for that. Often the CoC is also a CoO. W/o a CoO the default duty of CHF 12 per 100 kg applies.

For the rest the usual 4% car tax, 7.7% import VAT, and CO2 tax will apply.

More information in English is available on the Swiss Customs website:
https://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/en/home...es--cars-.html

For the transit through the EU you might need a Carnets A.T.A.

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And what about the UK (post brexit)? Is there a similar procedure for not paying import VAT and duty, or is it that it can be reclaimed upon export?

The UK would severely harm there own exports if no such process is in place. Considering this is purely UK tax and duty law alone and does not need any agreement from any third country, this is hopefully already in pace.

Hint: it is. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/personal...eme-notice-707

Hi, may i ask how did it go with importing the car post Brexit?
Were you able to buy it vat free in UK? What was the procedure?
We bought the new lhd car from uk few years back and all was smooth. Thinking of buying again and just wondering how would it work this time, when uk isn’t in eu anymore.