How much you can bring into Switzerland without paying, and what you pay above it: the CHF 150 VAT limit and the allowances for meat, alcohol and tobacco, for your whole group.
- Free, no sign-up
- Rules of the Swiss customs office (BAZG)
- Checked on 13 October 2026
Your shopping
What you paid
Food, drink and tobacco count towards the limit too. If the receipt shows the foreign VAT, enter the amount without it. Your own belongings, food for the day of travel and the fuel in your tank do not count.
Items worth more than CHF 150 each
A single item over CHF 150 is always taxed, so enter it here and not above.
Meat, alcohol and tobacco
Free amounts are per person and per day. Meat is weighed with its packaging.
Tobacco and e-cigarettes
One allowance per adult: 250 pieces, or 250 g of other tobacco, or 250 ml of liquid, or 25 disposable e-cigarettes.
What you pay
How it works
Swiss customs looks at two separate things. First the value: goods worth up to CHF 150 per person and day come in free of VAT, and above that VAT is due. Second the quantities: meat, butter and cream, oils and fats, alcohol and tobacco are free only up to fixed amounts, and the extra pays duty. All other goods pay no duty at all.
Enter who crosses the border with you, what you paid and how much meat, alcohol and tobacco you bring. The calculator applies the limits to your whole group the way the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) explains them, with the rates checked on 13 October 2026.
The rules at a glance
Free amounts per person and per day. Alcohol and tobacco only from 17.
| Goods | Free per person and day | Duty on the extra |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and meat products, not game | 1 kg | CHF 17 per kgabove 10 kg extra: CHF 23 per kg |
| Butter and cream | 1 kg or l | CHF 16 per kg or l |
| Oil, fat and margarine | 5 kg or l | CHF 2 per kg or l |
| Alcoholic drinks up to 18% | 5 lfrom 17 | CHF 2 per l |
| Alcoholic drinks over 18% | 1 lfrom 17 | CHF 15 per l |
| Cigarettes, cigars, heated tobacco, nicotine cartridges | 250 piecesfrom 17, or one of the next three | CHF 0.25 per piece |
| Other tobacco | 250 g | CHF 0.10 per g |
| Nicotine liquid for e-cigarettes | 250 ml | CHF 0.25 per ml |
| Disposable e-cigarettes | 25 pieces | CHF 2.50 per piece |
| All other goods | No limit | No dutyonly VAT over CHF 150 |
The CHF 150 limit
- Per person and per day, children included. It counts only once a day, however often you cross.
- Over the limit, VAT is due on everything, not just on the part above CHF 150. For CHF 400 of shopping you pay VAT on CHF 400.
- An item worth more than CHF 150 is always taxed, however many of you there are. A CHF 200 coat cannot be shared between two limits.
- Groups: when your shopping is worth more than CHF 150 per person together, customs counts the limit of all but one of you. Two people with CHF 500 of groceries pay VAT on CHF 350.
- Rates: VAT is 8.1%, or 2.6% for food and drinks without alcohol, books, newspapers, medicines and menstrual products.
- What counts: the value without foreign VAT, if the receipt shows it. Your own clothes and belongings, food for the day of travel and the fuel in your tank do not count.
Examples
Alone, CHF 140 of groceries and 1 kg of meat
Nothing to pay. The shopping stays under CHF 150 and the meat within the 1 kg allowance.
A couple, CHF 280 of groceries, 4 kg of meat and 12 bottles of wine
The value is within CHF 300 for two, and the 9 l of wine within 10 l. Only the meat is over: 2 kg extra at CHF 17, so CHF 34.
Two adults and two children, CHF 700 of groceries and 6 kg of meat
Four limits would be CHF 600, so the group is over. Customs counts three limits (CHF 450) and charges 2.6% VAT on the other CHF 250: CHF 6.50. The meat is 2 kg over the 4 kg for four people: CHF 34. Together CHF 40.50.
Alone, a CHF 400 jacket
A single item over CHF 150 is always taxed: 8.1% VAT on CHF 400, so CHF 32.40.
How to declare
- With nothing to pay you need not declare anything. At airports take the green exit. Keep your receipts.
- With the QuickZoll app (free, no registration) you declare and pay before you cross, up to 48 hours ahead, by TWINT or card. You choose a two-hour window and may cross anywhere.
- At a staffed crossing declare your goods without being asked. At airports take the red exit.
- By train tell the customs officer on board, or go to any customs office within 7 days of arriving.
- At an unstaffed crossing use the declaration box for a written declaration (not for goods you will sell).
Tips
- Get the foreign VAT back. Ask the shop abroad for an export form and have it stamped by the foreign customs as you leave. For French VAT you must cross at a staffed French border post (since July 2023). Swiss customs does not refund foreign VAT, and Swiss VAT is due over CHF 150 even if you never get the foreign VAT back.
- Meat, butter and cream may come in only from the EU, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Norway. From other countries, meat and dairy products and most fruit and vegetables are not allowed.
- Game such as venison, wild boar or hare does not count towards the meat allowance.
- Not sure about the rate? Declare at 8.1%. You pay a little more on food, but you are on the safe side.
- Ordered online? The CHF 150 limit does not apply to goods sent by post or courier.
Questions
- How much can I bring into Switzerland without paying?
- Goods worth up to CHF 150 per person and day free of VAT, plus the free amounts of meat (1 kg), butter and cream (1 kg or l), oils and fats (5 kg or l), alcohol (5 l up to 18% and 1 l over 18%) and tobacco (250 cigarettes or the like). All other goods pay no duty.
- Does the CHF 150 limit apply to children?
- Yes, to every person, children included, once a day. The alcohol and tobacco allowances apply only from 17.
- What happens if I go over CHF 150?
- VAT is due on the whole value, at 8.1% or 2.6% for food. In a group, customs counts the limit of all but one person.
- How much meat can I bring into Switzerland?
- 1 kg per person and day, weighed with the packaging. Extra meat costs CHF 17 per kg, and above 10 kg extra the rate is CHF 23 per kg. Game does not count.
- How much wine or beer can I bring?
- 5 litres of drinks up to 18% per adult and day, plus 1 litre of spirits over 18%. Extra wine or beer costs CHF 2 per litre, extra spirits CHF 15 per litre.
- How many cigarettes can I bring?
- 250 cigarettes or cigars per adult and day, or instead 250 g of other tobacco, 250 ml of nicotine liquid or 25 disposable e-cigarettes. Each cigarette over the allowance costs CHF 0.25.
- Can our family add up the limits?
- Yes, each person has a limit. But an item over CHF 150 is always taxed, and once the group is over, the limit of one person falls away.
- Which exchange rate does customs use?
- Its own rate of the day. The calculator converts euros at 0.9312 francs, the ECB rate of 12 October 2026, and you can change it.
- Do I have to use QuickZoll?
- No. Within the limits there is nothing to declare. Above them QuickZoll is the quickest way, or you declare at a staffed crossing.
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Sources
- Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG): VAT: CHF 150 tax-free limit, examples for several people, duty-free allowances, general information, QuickZoll, its questions and answers and refund of French VAT, read on 13 October 2026
- BAZG customs info brochure, January 2025: bazg.admin.ch (PDF)
- Swiss federal portal: ch.ch, shopping tourism, read on 13 October 2026
- Federal Tax Administration: VAT rates, read on 13 October 2026
General information, not an official calculation. The customs office and the QuickZoll app give the binding amount.