Importing a car into Switzerland: customs, tax and registration

To register in Switzerland a car bought abroad, you must first declare it to customs and pay the motor vehicle tax and VAT. The customs office then gives you form 13.20 A, the proof of customs clearance required by the cantonal motor vehicle office. This article follows the official Swiss pages, consulted on 28 October 2026.

1. Declare the car to customs

According to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), you must declare on your own initiative, on import, the vehicle you are permanently importing, at a customs office competent for the customs processing of commercial goods. Documents to present:

• the invoice and/or sales contract;
• the registration certificate (permis de circulation), even if it has already been cancelled;
• an identity document (passport or identity card);
• the import customs declaration (e-dec declaration).

To bring the vehicle into Switzerland on its own wheels, foreign temporary plates generally have to be used: ask the seller or the exporting country.

2. Pay the tax, VAT and, where applicable, the CO2 penalty

• Motor vehicle tax: 4% of the value of the vehicle for passenger cars. The FOCBS states that the single rate is 4% (FOCBS page on this tax). Vehicles exempt from customs duty because of special circumstances, for example removal or inheritance effects, are notably not subject to the tax.
• Import VAT: 8.1% on vehicles. The calculation is generally based on the consideration paid (the sale price, with the invoice or sales contract used as the basis); the basis also includes costs up to the destination in Switzerland and entry charges (tax and fees). If value information is missing or doubtful, the customs office may estimate the value of the vehicle.
• CO2 penalty. It is not collected at customs but later by the Federal Office of Energy, and it concerns passenger cars that exceed a CO2 target, before first registration. It does not apply to vehicles registered abroad more than 12 months before the customs declaration, nor to those registered abroad more than 6 months before and with more than 5,000 km. To start the process, the import data must be entered on the portal of the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), exclusively in digital form since 1 January 2024.

Entry charges are in principle paid directly at the customs office. If you use a customs agent or a freight forwarder, it generally pays them and then invoices you, with its own fees.