Customs and the border

Switzerland is not in the European Union. It is in the Schengen area, so there is usually no passport check when you cross from a neighbouring country — but it is outside the EU customs union, so there is very much a customs border, and it is a real one.

This catches people out constantly, because the crossing looks like nothing: you drive over a line with a booth beside it and often nobody waves you down. That is not the same as there being no rules.

The value allowance

You may bring in goods for private use worth up to 300 francs per person per day, free of VAT. Above that, VAT is charged on the whole value, not just the excess, plus a processing fee.

The details that trip people up:

• The allowance is per person per day and can be claimed once a day. Children have their own allowance.
• It applies to goods for personal use or as gifts. Anything commercial gets no allowance at all.
• The value counted is the price after deducting foreign VAT, where the receipt shows it.
• Prices in other currencies are converted to francs at the official rate.

For anything posted into Switzerland the threshold is far lower — parcels are assessed from around 65 francs including shipping, and the combination of VAT and the customs handling fee makes small parcels disproportionately expensive.

Alcohol, tobacco and meat

On top of the value allowance, per person, from age 17:

• Alcohol — 5 litres up to 18% by volume, and 1 litre above 18%
• Tobacco — 250 cigarettes, or the equivalent in cigars or loose tobacco
• Meat and meat products — a small allowance by weight; anything beyond it is dutiable at a rate high enough to hurt

Meat is the one that surprises shoppers. Switzerland protects its farmers, the duty on meat above the allowance is steep, and this is exactly what the officers at the road borders are looking for on a Saturday afternoon.

The allowances have been adjusted more than once in recent years, so check the current figures before loading a car.

The official calculator

The Swiss customs administration publishes an app — QuickZoll — which lets private travellers declare goods and pay any duty on their phone before reaching the border. It also calculates what you would owe.

It is genuinely the easiest way to handle a borderline case, and using it is cheaper than being assessed at the booth.

Where enforcement actually happens

At road crossings, particularly from Germany and France on shopping days, and particularly on large or expensive cars — the reasoning being that a big boot holds more and an expensive car suggests an expensive purchase.

At airports, rarely, and mostly on people coming through the green channel with obvious shopping.

If you are stopped and over the limit, you pay the duty. If you are carrying something not allowed at all, it is confiscated. Arguing is not productive; the officers have wide discretion and Swiss administrative procedure is unhurried.

Cash

There is no fixed limit on bringing money in or out, and no automatic declaration requirement. But customs may ask about sums of 10,000 francs or more or the equivalent, and you are obliged to answer truthfully and explain where it came from.

Coming the other way

Remember that the country you are entering afterwards has its own rules. The EU allowances for goods brought in from Switzerland are separate and generally lower on value — around 300 euros by land, more by air — so a large Swiss watch purchase is a customs event twice over.

If you shopped enough to claim the VAT back, see tax-free shopping.

Pets, plants and the rest

Dogs and cats need a microchip, a rabies vaccination and an EU-style pet passport. Some breeds are restricted in some cantons.

Protected species under CITES — certain leathers, ivory, corals, some plants — need paperwork or are banned outright, and this is enforced seriously.

The full and current rules are published by the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security at bazg.admin.ch, in English.