Archivbild: Keystone
Germany wants to promote shopping tourism. What should please the Swiss near the border is causing incomprehension among their neighbors.
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- Germany is planning measures such as digital export certificates and an app to make shopping tourism more attractive for the Swiss.
- The European Taxpayers Association warns of abuse and potential tax losses.
- 75 percent of Bild readers feel that the benefits for shopping tourists are unfair.
“Swiss get big shopping discount with us” is the headline of an article in the German newspaper “Bild”. The background: from January, Switzerland will reduce the duty-free limit for purchases abroad from 300 to 150 francs.
However, Germany is planning measures to further promote shopping tourism. A digital export certificate and the abolition of the 50-euro bagatelle limit should make the situation easier and more attractive for Swiss shopping tourists.
The test phase for a smartphone app for VAT refunds will start next July. The export certificate for reclaiming German VAT is set to go digital as early as mid-2026.
Specifically, the app will automatically waive VAT for Swiss shopping tourists. Bild calculates: “While Germans have to pay 1.19 euros for a kilo of bananas, the Swiss will only pay around 1.11 euros.” For a crate of beer, it would only be 10.10 euros instead of 12 euros.
Taxpayers’ association fears tax gap
And this despite the fact that the Swiss are among the richest citizens in Europe. The median wage is more than twice as high as in Germany.
Meanwhile, Michael Jäger, head of the European Taxpayers Association, warns against abuse: “Who is supposed to check whether the Swiss are not lending their cell phone to a German friend so that they can save on VAT?” In the end, there would be a big hole in the tax coffers.
And the Bild readership also seems to have a clear opinion on the planned measures: Of around 60,000 respondents, 75 percent answered the question of whether it is fair that Swiss people can shop tax-free in Germany with: “No, it’s blatantly unfair!”