Can I drive a Swiss-registered rental car in the EU as an EU resident?

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Accepted answer

The letter of the law on the matter still seems to be the following section of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed rules concerning certain provisions of the Union Customs Code

Use of means of transport by natural persons who have their habitual residence in the customs territory of the Union

(Article 250(2)(d) of the Code)

  1. Natural persons who have their habitual residence in the customs territory of the Union shall benefit from total relief from import duty in respect of means of transport which they use privately and occasionally, at the request of the registration holder, provided that the registration holder is in the customs territory of the Union at the time of use.

  2. Natural persons who have their habitual residence in the customs territory of the Union shall benefit from total relief from import duty in respect of means of transport which they have hired under a written contract and use privately for one of the following purposes:

(a) to return to their place of residence in the customs territory of the Union;

(b) to leave the customs territory of the Union.

This broadly fits with your quoted section, and leaves EU resident rental drivers potentially liable to a bill for import duty to the full value of the car if they attempt to drive a Swiss-licensed car across the border headed to a location other than their usual residence and happen to be stopped at the border.

Various sources [1,2] suggest car-hire firms may offer EU residents EU-registered cars to avoid potential problems. As to how this works in practise, you'll need someone with local knowledge, since the reports are confused at best.

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