Buying in Switzerland as a Foreigner

The one principle: two tracks

For a client who lives abroad, every acquisition has two sides, and Maison Jade Club keeps them apart.

Switzerland is the acquisition and custody jurisdiction. Where the piece is taxed is a question for your home advisors — answered on a clean, documented file.

Watches, gold and other movable pieces

A watch, a gold bar, a piece of jewelry is movable. That makes it simple.

• Take it home. On a documented export the sale is exempt from Swiss VAT, and no Swiss import tax arises — that falls on import, not export. Your home country's duties then apply.
• Or hold it in Switzerland. In a Swiss bonded warehouse the piece is not brought into free circulation, so import tax is deferred while it is stored. For a non-resident, movable pieces held this way generally create no Swiss tax anchor — confirmed per case by a licensed partner.
• Investment gold is favoured. Bullion of the right fineness and qualifying coins are exempt from Swiss VAT; jewelry and many collector coins are not. The form of the purchase decides the tax before the price moves.

Collector cars

A car is movable too, with one extra question: will it be driven, or held?

• Exported to you — a documented export carries no Swiss VAT or import tax; your home duties apply.
• Held in Swiss custody — a bonded warehouse defers the tax while it is stored.
• Driven in Switzerland — cleared into free circulation: an automobile tax of 4% (AStG) and import VAT at 8.1%, on a statutory value base. A car of thirty years or more, kept original, can qualify as a veteran vehicle.

Transport, customs and VAT — handled, not left to you

Owning the piece is one thing; moving it safely and cleanly is another. Maison Jade Club coordinates the whole chain.

• Transport — your choice of carrier. The piece moves with a specialist secure carrier such as Brink's, or with the seller's own logistics partner. The choice is yours, and either way it travels fully insured, with a documented, unbroken chain of custody.
• Customs — cleanly. On export, Maison Jade Club arranges the export declaration and the proof it produces; for Swiss custody, the piece is placed under customs supervision without being cleared. Your home import is documented for your side.
• VAT — handled at source. A documented export is exempt from Swiss VAT, arranged as part of the sale rather than reclaimed afterwards. In a bonded warehouse, VAT is deferred while the piece is stored.
• Storage — if you keep it here. Insured Swiss custody, including bonded-warehouse arrangements. See Buying and storing valuables in a Swiss bonded warehouse.

Real estate — the exception

Movable pieces travel. Real estate does not, and here being a foreigner matters most.

The Lex Koller restricts residential property for persons resident abroad, and whether you need a permit turns on your residence and permit. A settlement (C) permit — of any nationality — means you buy like a Swiss resident; an EU/EFTA national resident in Switzerland has no restriction; a third-country residence (B) permit lets you buy one home to live in, but a holiday home needs a permit; a person resident abroad needs one, and a holiday home is possible only in a designated tourist region. Commercial premises fall largely outside. The permit is granted by the cantonal authority.

The reading is strict. In February 2026 the Federal Supreme Court held that a British family could not transfer their Grindelwald holiday flat to a US family trust without authorization: the permission-free transfer reaches only natural persons, not a legal entity (BGer 2C_437/2024). A structure does not sidestep the Lex Koller. And a real-estate gain, unlike a private movable gain, is caught by a cantonal property-gains tax (Grundstückgewinnsteuer); a sale must be notarized. Maison Jade Club raises the authorization question first, and refers it to a licensed partner and a notary.

What Maison Jade Club does

Maison Jade Club sources the piece, verifies it, and documents it — then arranges Swiss custody or a clean export. It does not advise on your home taxation. Where a case raises structuring questions, it refers you to a licensed partner and, for property, a notary. The introduction is the work; the advice belongs to the people licensed to give it.