Shipping to Switzerland from the EU: 2026 prices and VAT

Switzerland sits in the middle of the EU and outside both its customs union and its VAT area. For a shop in Germany, France or Italy that means the parcel is short and the paperwork is not: every order is an export on your side and an import on the Swiss side, with VAT and a carrier fee for whoever receives it.

Below: what that costs in 2026, what your Swiss customer pays at the door and when you must register for Swiss VAT. Prices are our own measurements from 29 September 2026; tax figures come from the Swiss federal authorities.

Can you ship to Switzerland with AirPost? #

Yes, as a destination. Switzerland is on our shipping options as a country you can send to from an EU sender, with a customs declaration generated alongside the label. It is not on our map as an origin: we have no senders in Switzerland, so you cannot keep stock there and ship Swiss domestic parcels. Everything below is about cross-border parcels from stock held in the EU.

What does a parcel from the EU to Switzerland cost? #

The border roughly doubles the label. The same small parcel from Germany cost €10.10 to Austria and €5.55 within Germany on the same day. Distance is not what you pay for: Austria is next door to Switzerland, and it was among the most expensive origins we measured.

For heavier goods the gap narrows: from Germany, DHL Europaket charged €24.64 for both medium (up to 10 kg) and large parcels. Carrier rates for every EU country are in the European shipping rates index.

What does the Swiss customer pay on arrival? #

Unless you have registered for Swiss VAT (see below), your customer is the importer. Three things can be charged when the parcel arrives.

• Import VAT. 8.1% of the assessment basis, or the reduced 2.6% that applies to certain goods. The assessment basis is essentially what the customer paid; Swiss Post applies it to the goods value plus shipping.
• Customs duty. Zero on industrial products since 1 January 2024 — clothing, electronics, cosmetics, homeware, toys. Agricultural products (food, drink, many plant and animal products) still pay duty, calculated on gross weight including packaging.
• A clearance fee from the carrier. Swiss Post charges CHF 13.00 for a parcel from the EU plus 3% of the value, up to CHF 70. Couriers set their own fees; the federal customs office tells recipients to ask the carrier.

On a CHF 120 order that is more than a fifth on top. The customer expected to pay CHF 120, the courier asks for another CHF 26, and a surprised customer can refuse the parcel. Say it on your checkout page, or price it in.

When do you have to register for Swiss VAT? #

Switzerland has a mail-order rule. A shop that sells at least CHF 100,000 a year in small consignments into Switzerland — parcels on which the import tax would be CHF 5 or less — is treated as making domestic supplies and must register for Swiss VAT with the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV/FTA).

• ✓From registration, you owe Swiss VAT on all your deliveries to Swiss buyers — not only the small ones.
• ✓A foreign shop needs a tax representative resident or domiciled in Switzerland.
• ✓You can deduct the import tax as input tax from the start of your tax liability.
• ✕The net tax rate or flat tax rate method: mail-order companies cannot use either.

Below the CHF 100,000 line nothing obliges you to register, and most small shops simply let the customer pay import VAT on arrival. Once you register, you can charge Swiss VAT at checkout and your customer is no longer surprised at the door. In AirPost settings there is a field for your Swiss VAT number (CHE-123.456.789 MWST), so the declaration carries it.

What do you need on the EU side? #

A sale to a customer in Switzerland is an export. Under Article 146 of the EU VAT Directive, goods dispatched outside the EU by or on behalf of the seller are exempt from VAT in your own country, as long as you can prove they left. So you charge no German, French or Italian VAT on the order; the Swiss import VAT replaces it.

• An EORI number for your company, the registration number customs uses. It is free to apply for in your own EU country.
• Per product: an HS code (the customs commodity code), the country of origin and a sale price. With AirPost these live on the product, and an order to Switzerland is blocked until they are filled in.
• Customs papers on the box. The label PDF includes the customs documents; your sender prints them and tapes them to the outside of the parcel, never inside.

Liechtenstein and Büsingen count as Switzerland

Liechtenstein and the German enclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein (postcode 78266) belong to the Swiss customs territory. A parcel to either needs the same declaration as one to Zürich. The Swiss valleys of Samnaun and Sampuoir are outside it.

Which carrier should you use? #

First the price for your usual weight class, then speed: FedEx and UPS quoted 2 to 3 working days from most origins, DHL Paket International 6 from Germany, Correos 5 from Spain. Then the clearance fee, which differs per carrier and which your customer pays. Every service per origin is on shipping options.

What about returns from Swiss customers? #

Swiss law has no statutory withdrawal period for online purchases; a return right exists only if the seller offers one. If you already give EU customers 14 days, giving Swiss customers the same keeps one policy on your site — see the EU 14-day returns rule for webshops.

A Swiss return is an export from Switzerland and an import back into the EU, so it is slower and costlier than a domestic one. If it goes to your sender and they accept returns, they report it with five photos and you decide what happens; how that works is in returns without a warehouse.

How this works with AirPost #

1. 1

   Hold stock with a sender in the EU

   Pick a sender close to the Swiss border, or wherever most of your EU orders go. From France, Italy and Germany the Swiss labels were the cheapest we measured. Find senders on /en/senders.

2. 2

   Complete your customs details once

   EORI number in your settings, Swiss VAT number if you have one, and an HS code, origin and price on every product you sell to Switzerland.

3. 3

   Create the order or let Shopify send it

   With the Shopify app paid orders reach your sender automatically. The service has to carry a customs declaration; if the one you chose cannot, you are asked to pick another before the label is bought.

4. 4

   The sender packs, prints and drops it off

   Label and customs papers come in one PDF. Tracking lands on the order for you and your customer.

You pay per shipment: the label, the fee you agree with your sender and our €0.85 platform fee. No subscription, no storage costs. For the other non-EU neighbours, see Norway and the UK; for how local stock works in general, local fulfilment in Europe.