So, we are soon moving to Zurich from Germany and will be coming over with a car.
In addition to all the clothing, the related accessories and our third member of our family, our cat, we are planning to bring over several household items such as plates/glasses, a couple of paintings, some monitors, consoles etc. Also, probably, some long-life unopened food items and condiments. No furniture.
Looking at different sources of info, we are still not sure if these items need to be declared and be potentially subject to taxes (based on the total CHF 300 value)? Also, should only certain border crossings be used for this purpose?
Could someone shed some light and direct me to the most appropriate Swiss gov website? Have had a look here https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/en/ho…itzerland.html , but wondering if there is any special duty free situation in case of relocation.
If you are moving you are allowed to bring most of your stuff without paying anything.
However can’t just drive through but to you must do some paperwork and list all the objects.
Also in practice you have very high chances that, even if you just go directly to the tourist customs (instead of the commercial customs to do the proper paperwork), the board guard won't really care and waive you through.
Things are of course different for things where you need a paper trail to exist, which is the case with your car potentially and I guess your cat too (although I have no experience with pets - you should check the relevant rules there)
Hey, bit delayed answer but am closing my open posts with the updates
So thanks a lot for the info, it worked out really well!
In the end went through the Basel customs with my cat (who cried for the whole 6 hour drive) and form 18.44 + a list of items.
In the end, the custom guys did not even look at the van which was full with 700kg of items and they signed off the docs.
At first I was in a comicotragic situation where the Swiss and the French custom guys played ping pong with me. The former sent me to the latter back and forth, each cursing the others (like 3x happened).. Then, the once highly snoby Swiss guard became super friendly and let me pass while laughing with his colleagues as he checked the name of my cat on the passport (Michael Scott). The Swiss were also super entertained when I told them that I had bought their vignette from the Germans who charge it 44eur.
For others coming over - use form 18.44 and list of relocation goods (not super detailed just an overview ex. box with cutlery, books, etc.). High importance is given in checking pet passports and required vaccinations. 1 hour max is ok for the whole procedure.