In our quest to import and register our bus in Switzerland we’ve now passed the second challenge, the first being finding it. You have to spontaneously and immediately declare a vehicle that you want to import as you cross the border. Our first problem was that whilst we bought it from a Swiss guy, the bus was UK registered, and we never crossed a border with it. He delivered it to us from within Switzerland. It’s been sitting in our garage for a month waiting for insurance, etc., to get sorted out, undeclared. This dawned on me yesterday, so I decided to ‘import’ it this morning. I found the office to go to on the Swiss government website, and set off at 7.30 this morning, in the bus. Arrived and walked around a giant container ‘port’, rail/lorry transfer depot, in Basel. Couldn’t find the office, eventually found what looked like an office full of lorry drivers. Got to the front of the queue only to be told it was the wrong office, but was given directions to the right one. That was the first half hour wasted. Eventually found the right office hidden behind a number of doors and along several corridors with no signs or directions, all painted white. I had all the right documents, but I needed a proper import agent to make the correct declaration. They don't tell you this until you arrive. Behind other faceless white doors were a number of agents/firms who would do this, for a price. Found one by chance and a nice lady took my papers, offered me coffee and set about producing another official document. 30 minutes later, “that will be 200 Francs, cash, please”. No cash, so I spend another 30 minutes looking for a cash machine, and eventually pay her. Back to the import office with my new papers. They ask, have I got my EZ7 (or something like that)? Apparently the nice agent should have given it to me with the other papers, but forgot. Fortunately they just phone her, and she emails it over. Much umming and arhhing, eventually he stamps the papers with a reassuringly solid thump, and gives them to me, with a big import tax bill. Off to the next office where I have to pay the tax and duty, but it is 1.40 Franks more than my bank card limit (very low daily limits on cards over here). I manage to remember the PIN from an old credit card I haven’t used for months, and finally pay. What should have taken 30 minutes ended up taking two and a half hours. Late for work, missed a meeting, still hot from running to find a bank machine, but the bus is now legally in my position. And I wasn't asked why I'd had it a month without immediately declared it. I was told they’d want to check the VIN matches the paperwork, so I’d need to have the bus with me. In the end they didn’t even ask to look at it, rather disappointed, I thought it looked quite good parked among all the HGVs. Off to the specialist garage tomorrow morning to create some more large bills by getting it ready for its Swiss registration inspection. But, half way there.
They have a saying in some parts of Europe, it goes...."How many windows is that job?". Which basically asks, how many different clerks, or other officials, do you need to see before completing said job. Many years ago my Dad, bless him, bought a little flat in Spain, he wanted to go in the winters, so bought a Calor gas heater. Easy you think? No, buy heater, then take receipt to official, official provides certificate to take to bank, pay bank some money, get stamp on certificate, take stamped certificate back to first window, get new certificate saying you can now buy a regulator, buy regulator at another place, then take certificate to gas depot, pay them for a bottle and a gas refill. You get the idea....
Sounds like buying a shirt in Jakarta. Walk into department store, be greeted by assistant, look at shirts with assistant silently following your every step, decide on shirt, have it taken away by assistant, go to desk on that floor (but not with shirt), pay and receive small receipt, go to shop exit and give receipt to another assistant who takes it to the cashier, pay cashier (behind window with bars), have receipt stamped, go to another window by the exit and exchange receipt for shirt. Shirt will be wrapped and sealed in paper, then placed in a sealed bag, assistant will follow you until you have completely left the shop. Don’t even try to open the bag until several hundred foot from the shop. When you get home you’ll realise batik doesn’t suit you.
Try getting a tax clearance certificate in any African country. You've got to dash the doorman first to get to the office, and on and on et cetera. Luckily my accountant was the same tribe as the assessor!
Buying and shipping a German bmw motorcycle final drive, from a Vietnamese bike breaker in California, a few months ago. That was interesting.
