VAT and customs on online orders from abroad

Last checked: 11 Oct 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

Ordering from a shop outside Switzerland? Your parcel is declared to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG/OFDF, Office fédéral de la douane et de la sécurité des frontières), and Swiss VAT and customs duty may be due on arrival. This page explains the taxes. For Swiss Post clearance fees and paying online, see Parcels and pickup. For what you bring across the border yourself (the CHF 150 travel allowance and quantity limits for food, alcohol and tobacco), see Customs when moving here.

Key facts

• Swiss VAT on imports: 8.1% standard rate; 2.6% reduced rate for some goods, for example food, books, magazines and medicines (BAZG).
• CHF 5 of tax or less, nothing is charged: import VAT of CHF 5 or less per tax assessment is not collected (DFF ordinance on small import tax amounts, art. 1). That equals a taxable value of about CHF 62 at 8.1% or CHF 193 at 2.6% (BAZG). Customs duty under CHF 5 is not collected either (BAZG).
• The taxable value is the price paid plus all shipping costs to your Swiss address and any duty. Foreign VAT shown on the invoice is not included (BAZG).
• Foreign VAT is not refunded by Swiss customs. Only the foreign seller can refund it or invoice you without it (BAZG).
• Clearance fees are charged by the carrier (Post, DHL, UPS and others), not by customs, and vary from one company to another (BAZG).

1. How the bill is worked out

Every shipment from abroad is declared to the BAZG/OFDF. For parcels and letters, the carrier (for example DHL, UPS or La Poste) prepares the customs declaration, using the information given by the sender, who must describe the contents completely and truthfully (BAZG).

• Customs duty (droits de douane) is usually calculated on gross weight, packaging included, and is often under CHF 1 per kg. Alcoholic drinks, tobacco and food carry much higher duty or other charges (for example beer or spirits tax). Rates per tariff number are in the official tariff database Tares (BAZG).
• VAT (TVA, impôt sur les importations) is charged on the taxable value: the price, plus all costs up to the destination in Switzerland, plus duty (BAZG, base de calcul). Foreign currency is converted at the selling rate of the day before the customs declaration (BAZG, base de calcul).
• Gifts: gift parcels sent by a private person abroad to a private person in Switzerland are free of charges up to a value of CHF 100; alcohol and tobacco are excluded from this allowance (BAZG).
• Online auctions: goods bought at online auctions are taxed like any other purchase (BAZG).

2. Foreign shops that charge Swiss VAT (mail-order rule)

Some foreign shops add Swiss VAT at checkout. Since 2019, a mail-order company (entreprise de vente par correspondance) that sells at least CHF 100,000 a year in small parcels to Switzerland must register for Swiss VAT. "Small parcels" are those where the import tax would be CHF 5 or less (ESTV/AFC). Since 1 January 2025, an online marketplace that brings sellers and buyers together so they can conclude the sale on the platform is treated as the supplier to the buyer, so the platform itself can become liable for Swiss VAT; for a platform based abroad, the same CHF 100,000 small-parcel threshold applies (ESTV/AFC, Inscription à la TVA des exploitants de plateformes).

• A registered seller charges you Swiss VAT on the invoice and must make sure you do not pay import VAT a second time. It has to pass the right information to whoever makes the customs declaration (ESTV/AFC).
• The Federal Tax Administration publishes a list of registered mail-order companies and platform operators (ESTV/AFC).
• If you are charged twice (Swiss VAT on the invoice and again on delivery): To verify. The pages checked do not describe the consumer procedure. Contact the seller and the carrier that cleared the parcel first.

3. Couriers (DHL, UPS and others) versus the Post

• BAZG says the clearance is done by the Post or the courier company, so customs cannot tell you the status of your parcel. Ask the carrier. A message such as "held in customs" usually means clearance is in progress, not that the parcel was seized (BAZG).
• Couriers and the Post charge their own fees for clearance, and these vary between companies. Ask the company directly (BAZG). Swiss Post's published fees are on Parcels and pickup.
• Courier fees: To verify. BAZG does not publish courier fees; check the carrier's own official price list before ordering.
• Payment demands by SMS or email pretending to be a carrier or customs are a common scam: see Phishing and fake parcel SMS.

4. Sending goods back: refunds of duty and VAT

If you return goods to the foreign seller, the Swiss duty and VAT you paid can be refunded, but only under conditions (BAZG, remboursement):

• The goods go back to the foreign sender within three years of import, because you refused them, the contract was cancelled, or they could not be sold because they are defective or damaged (BAZG, marchandises en retour). Simple use does not count as a change to the goods.
• The refund must be requested in the export declaration when you send the goods back. Keep the import tax decision (décision de taxation), the invoice, your correspondence with the seller and proof that the seller refunded or took back the goods (BAZG, publication 18.86).
• Late requests: a written follow-up request can be accepted within 60 days of the re-export, with supporting documents (BAZG, publication 18.86).
• Returns by Post: the Post uses a simplified refund procedure (form 25.74 A) for parcels returned through it (BAZG, marchandises en retour). Ask at the counter how to declare a return.
• Disputing the tax itself: a reasoned request to the customs district named on the tax decision within 60 days of the decision (BAZG, renvoi).
• Your rights against the seller (defects, returns) are on Warranty and returns under Swiss law.

5. Counterfeits and banned goods

Some goods are restricted or completely banned. BAZG lists, among others (not a complete list): weapons (including knives, electric shock devices, pepper sprays, batons), radar detectors, narcotics and medicines containing them, therapeutic products and doping products (see Swissmedic), pornographic or violent content, pirated copies, counterfeit branded goods (contrefaçons) and design-protected copies, cultural property, animals and animal products from outside the EU, and protected species (CITES) (BAZG).

• Counterfeits seized at the border: what happens to the parcel and whether you pay costs: To verify on the BAZG counterfeits page before relying on it.
• Medicines ordered online: follow Swissmedic's guidance before ordering (BAZG links to it).
• One month of treatment for personal use, and no posted narcotics: see Bringing medicines into Switzerland for personal use.