Just two weeks after the lower VAT-free limit on cross-border shopping was imposed, the Swiss QuickZoll app has been accused of overcharging users. Shoppers are currently unable to select the reduced rate of VAT, meaning in some cases customers are being charged more than double the standard rate when they cross the border.
As of January 1, 2025, residents of Switzerland who travel abroad to do their shopping - to take advantage of the lower prices - can only bring 150 francs worth of goods back across the border before having to pay Swiss value-added tax, down from 300 francs per person in 2024. The lower rate means that many so-called "shopping tourists" now have to declare their purchases at the border and pay the tax.
To help speed up the process and avoid queues of drivers at customs, the Swiss government launched the QuickZoll mobile app, which allows users to declare their goods at the border digitally. The app has proved a hit in the past, with 68.600 customs clearances being done via the app in 2023 alone.
However, since the change in January, shoppers began to notice that the app charges all goods the standard Swiss VAT rate of 8,1 percent, ignoring the fact that essential grocery items like food, medicine, books and menstruation products are charged a special reduced rate of 2,6 percent.
Therefore, the Tages-Anzeiger noted that for a standard weekly food shop worth 250 francs, cross-border shoppers are being charged 20,25 francs in VAT by the app, more than double the rate they would pay in Switzerland or by declaring their purchases directly at customs (6,5 francs). With the VAT-free rate now set at 150 francs, more and more shoppers are being charged incorrectly.
In justifying the system, the federal government told the newspaper that the fact that the app cannot charge the lower rate of VAT is conveyed “transparently and openly” when the system is used. The Federal Department of Finance wrote in 2023 that "in the interest of finding the quickest and simplest solution possible, the implementation of different VAT rates was dispensed with."
The cost was also a factor, with federal officials noting that it would require "a fundamental redesign of the QuickZoll app, which is associated with costs and additional resource requirements."
Speaking to the Tages-Anzeiger, tax advisor Martin Kocher said that charging users the wrong rate of VAT for the sake of simplicity has “no legal basis.” He argued that the current situation will lead to "incorrect taxation and tends to encourage import smuggling, both of which are undesirable and illegal," adding that he was surprised federal authorities hadn't made the change before the cut to the VAT-free limit.
For their part, André Bähler, Head of Politics and Economics at the Consumer Protection Foundation, noted that while the app is “basically useful”, the lack of a lower VAT option meant the federal government is gaining unjustified revenue at the expense of consumers.
Sadly for those planning a big shop in Germany or France, a solution to the problem is not expected for a while. Writing to the Tages-Anzeiger, the Federal Department of Finance suggested that the lower VAT option will likely only be available on QuickZoll in 2026. In the meantime, those who don’t want to pay the fee must queue at customs and verbally declare their goods.
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