Am I an individual or a company?

Here you can find out which target group you belong to – company or private individual:

You belong to the company group in the following cases

  • You are a company (sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited liability company, corporation, limited partnership) and you pursue commercial aims.

Examples that fall into this category:

  • Use of goods in companies, in one's own firm or restaurant (e.g. you buy tomatoes from Italy for your pizzeria)
  • Delivery on behalf of another private individual or for a company

Examples that do not fall into this category:

  • Personal travelling provisions when on a business trip
  • Souvenirs that you bring back from a business trip for your own use

You belong to the private individuals group in the following cases:

  • You are a private individual wanting to import, export or transit with goods for your own use or intended as a gift
  • The goods are not intended to be traded (customs term: goods in tourist traffic)

Examples that fall into this category:

  • Souvenirs from abroad for your own use
  • Goods from shopping tourism and intended for your own household
  • Your own travelling provisions

Examples that do not fall into this category:

  • Deliveries on behalf of a person for payment (e.g. furniture deliveries)
  • Goods transported by farmers and restaurant owners for their business (e.g. a market)
  • All services performed for a person under a contract for works (e.g. delivery and installation of a kitchen in a home)
  • Postal and courier consignments (see Online shopping, postal and courier consignments)

Special case – online shopping:

  • Goods that you arrange to have transported from abroad as a private individual are categorised as commercial goods, and the customs tariffs for commercial goods (e.g. furniture from abroad) therefore apply. Thus, in this case a private individual is treated in the same way as a company.
     
https://www.bazg.admin.ch/content/bazg/en/home/services/difference-individual-company.html