Do you pay Swiss import VAT and customs charges when ordering from ASOS?
ASOS ships to Switzerland from abroad and the checkout price carries no Swiss VAT, so the parcel is cleared in your name on arrival. Expect import VAT of roughly 8.1% plus a carrier clearance fee before the courier hands the parcel over. Small orders usually slip through, because the VAT falls under the CHF 5 collection minimum.
The shop's customs page is a global one rather than a Switzerland-specific statement. The strongest supporting signal is an absence, namely no ASOS entry on the ESTV mail-order register, which is inference rather than a direct declaration. Older German-language forum answers claim ASOS absorbs Swiss customs, and those are undated and unverified.
ASOS's own help page on customs and import charges says duties are charged once the parcel reaches its destination country. It also says the delivery partner will contact you by SMS or email about what you owe, and that any charges must be paid by the person receiving the parcel. It adds in bold that ASOS cannot pay or refund these charges. The Switzerland view of the delivery page lists only a shipping price and a free-delivery threshold, and it says nothing about prepaid Swiss VAT or duty-paid delivery. Independently, ASOS does not appear on the Swiss Federal Tax Administration's published register of VAT-liable mail-order businesses. That register is the list customs brokers use to decide whether import VAT goes to the seller or the recipient. Zalando, About You and Amazon EU are on it, ASOS is not.
Orders under roughly CHF 62 of goods: the import VAT works out below CHF 5 and is not collected. Nothing is billed on delivery, and the parcel looks duty-paid.
“Any charges on a parcel must be paid by the person receiving the parcel.”
“ASOS is not able to pay these charges for you or refund any of these charges”
“Once your order has arrived in your country, it will be passed on to an internal postal service”
“Standard Delivery £7.05 Free– spend over £38.44”
“List of mail-order businesses and platform operators”
“Allerdings kommt dafür ASOS selbst auf und führt das auch direkt ab”
Shop policies change. Watch this one and we will re-check it for you, and tell you if the answer moves.