Bringing your household goods into Switzerland (effets de déménagement)

Last checked: 9 October 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

How to bring your furniture, boxes, bike or car into Switzerland without paying customs duty and VAT when you move here, what changes if you are a student or only here for a while, what happens with boxes sent ahead or later, and how much you can carry on a normal trip across the border. Orientation only. The customs office at the border decides in each case.

Key facts

• Duty and VAT free if you move your domicile to Switzerland and you have used the goods personally for at least six months abroad and keep using them here (BAZG/OFDF).
• Form 18.44 ("Traitement douanier des effets de déménagement") plus an inventory list and proof that you moved your domicile, presented at the border customs office.
• Students can import furniture, personal items and study material duty free even without moving their domicile to Switzerland.
• Up to two years from the move to bring in the rest of your household goods; later shipments should be announced with the first one.
• Normal trips: goods for private use or gifts are VAT free up to a total value of CHF 150 per person per day (lowered from CHF 300 on 1 January 2025); quantity limits apply to meat, butter, oils, alcohol and tobacco (see table below).

Who gets duty-free import

EU and EFTA citizens do not need a residence permit assurance at the border; they can prove the move with other documents (job contract, lease, proof that they deregistered in the old country). If you do not have the permit yet, BAZG says the proof of the move is what matters, and the customs office decides if your documents are enough.

At the border: what to bring

1. Form 18.44, filled in (it can be completed online) and signed in original by you.
2. An inventory list of the goods. Plain paper is fine (for example "xx boxes of books, xx boxes of clothes").
3. Proof of the move: residence permit or assurance, lease, job or study contract, deregistration from your previous country.
4. Vehicle papers (copy of the registration document) if you bring a vehicle.

Practical points from BAZG:

• Use a customs office open to commercial goods, Monday to Friday during its opening hours (Saturday morning only at some large offices). With a van or truck, take the commercial goods (trucks) lane.
• No advance notice is needed (BAZG FAQ). A pre-check by e-mail, sent at least two working days before crossing, is offered only at three offices in Ticino (Stabio-Confine, Vedeggio, Chiasso-Strada); you must then cross at that same office.
• Missing documents (for example no permit yet): the office can make a provisional assessment against a deposit, refunded minus a fee if you bring the missing proof within six months (BAZG FAQ q. 8).
• Goods sent before you move your domicile are subject to duties, because the move has not happened yet (R-18-03 ch. 3.1.4).

Goods arriving late or in several shipments

• Bring the goods in during the move; BAZG says that within two years this is no problem, as long as the six-month use condition is met.
• Later shipments must be declared at the first import on a separate list; this can include your vehicle. Shipments that follow a first partial shipment also have to arrive within the two-year period (R-18-03 ch. 3.1.3.5).
• After the two years, household goods are in principle subject to duties (R-18-03 ch. 3.1.3.4 and 3.1.4).
• Parcels from home sent by post after you arrive: BAZG treats your own used belongings sent later as later shipments of household effects. List them on a separate list when you clear the first shipment, and they must arrive within 2 years of your move; shipments not announced at the first import are covered in question 11 of the BAZG FAQ (BAZG, FAQ Déménagement, questions 10 and 11 · Form 18.44, note 5).

Vehicles

• A car, motorbike or other road vehicle you used yourself for at least six months abroad can be imported duty free as household goods, with form 18.44. The vehicle must be cleared at the border on import.
• Customs gives you an inspection report (form 13.20 A), the proof of clearance you need to register the vehicle with the cantonal vehicle office.
• Used less than six months, or you are a student: you can ask for a customs authorisation 15.30, which lets you use the vehicle uncleared for at most two years (from first entry for students, from the move otherwise). After that it must be cleared (duty, vehicle tax, VAT) or exported.
• Swiss plates: ask the cantonal vehicle office for Swiss plates within one year of moving your domicile. For your licence, see Driving licence.

Registering the car with the Vaud road traffic office (SAN): see Registering a car in Vaud. Bringing a pet: see Bringing pets to Switzerland.

Normal trips: personal allowances

Value allowance: goods for your own use or as gifts are VAT free if their total value is CHF 150 or less per person and per day (children included). This limit has applied since 1 January 2025; it was CHF 300 before (BAZG/OFDF, value allowance CHF 150 · Federal Council, 16 October 2024). Above CHF 150, VAT is due on the whole value, and any single item worth more than CHF 150 is always subject to VAT. VAT is 8.1% (reduced 2.6% for food, books, medicines and some other goods). Personal effects, travel provisions and fuel in the tank do not count.

Parcels sent to you from abroad follow a different rule. The CHF 150 value allowance is for goods you bring across the border yourself. For goods sent by post, Swiss Post bills no VAT or duty when those taxes come to under CHF 5 (a tax amount, not a goods value), and adds its own clearance fee otherwise: see Parcels in Switzerland.

For VAT and duty on online orders from abroad, see VAT and customs on online orders from abroad.

Quantity allowances (per person and per day, gross weight):

Animal products may only be brought in from EU states, Northern Ireland, Iceland and Norway. The BAZG app QuickZoll lets you declare and pay before the border.

Bringing your own medicines: see Bringing medicines into Switzerland for personal use.