J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

The difficulty in renting in Switzerland appears to be resolved :thumbup:. Here is a response to a query submitted to the Your Europe Advice Service (run by the EU). Posting on this thread in case anybody searches and finds the out of date information. Well done Swingbeep for spotting the change :thumbup:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find below the reply to your enquiry. Please note that the advice given by Your Europe Advice is an independent advice and cannot be considered to be the opinion of the European Commission, of any other EU institution or its staff nor will this advice be binding upon the European Commission, any other EU or national institution.

Dear Citizen,

Many thanks for your enquiry to Your Europe Advice which we may answer as follows:

It is correct that according to Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1063 amending Deleagted Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 a person residing in the EU can now use a car which is registered in a third country, if they have rented the car from a professional car hire service provided, the car is used for private purpose only. In this circumstances no customs duties must be paid.

We recommend always carrying the rental agreement with you though, so that you are able to prove that the car is rented from a professional car hiring service in case of a police control or check by the competent tax authorities.

For further information on customs duties and exemptions thereof in Austria please contact

Zollamt Klagenfurt Villach
Ackerweg 19
9500 Villach
Telefon +43 (0) 50 233 740
Fax +43 (0) 50 233-5964053
E-Mail zollinfo@bmf.gv.at

Regulation (EU) 2018/1063 is available on https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32018R1063&from=DE.

Should you have any further questions in relation to your rights in the EU, please do not hesitate to contact Your Europe Advice again.

Yours sincerely,

Your Europe Advice

As per my earlier post, I submitted a query on this topic to an EU Helpdesk and here is the response received which seems to nail down the issue (the reference to Austria is because the query I submitted was about hiring in Zurich and driving into Austria).

"Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find below the reply to your enquiry. Please note that the advice given by Your Europe Advice is an independent advice and cannot be considered to be the opinion of the European Commission, of any other EU institution or its staff nor will this advice be binding upon the European Commission, any other EU or national institution.

Dear Citizen,

Many thanks for your enquiry to Your Europe Advice which we may answer as follows:

It is correct that according to Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1063 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 a person residing in the EU can now use a car which is registered in a third country, if they have rented the car from a professional car hire service provided, the car is used for private purpose only. In this circumstances no customs duties must be paid.

We recommend always carrying the rental agreement with you though, so that you are able to prove that the car is rented from a professional car hiring service in case of a police control or check by the competent tax authorities.

For further information on customs duties and exemptions thereof in Austria please contact

Zollamt Klagenfurt Villach
Ackerweg 19
9500 Villach
Telefon +43 (0) 50 233 740
Fax +43 (0) 50 233-5964053
E-Mail zollinfo@bmf.gv.at

Regulation (EU) 2018/1063 is available on https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32018R1063&from=DE.

Should you have any further questions in relation to your rights in the EU, please do not hesitate to contact Your Europe Advice again.

Yours sincerely,

Your Europe Advice"

From a quick review it looks like Swingbeep is right and that thankfully the customs regulations have been changed (at least for rentals up to a maximum of 8 days). The old regulations meant that an EU resident could not hire a car registered outside the EU (e.g. in Switzerland) and drive it into the EU (e.g. France or Austria). This would be a fairly popular option for skiers flying into, say, Geneva and then driving to French resorts or into Zurich and then driving down across to the resorts in the Arlberg area of Austria.

I have sent off a query to the EU to see if I can get a definite confirmation on this as their advisory website is still giving the old information and advising that you specifically request an EU-registered car. I'll post their response when received.

Product looks really interesting. I know there is a similar product for golf but I have not used it. You attach sensors to each of your clubs and it gives you a read out after the round of every shot hit - distance, direction, etc.

In relation to skiing, I would see a few issues that limit the product. For a start, it does not seem to me that this could be used with hire skis. Given that most recreational skiers still hire skis, the market would seem to be limited. Secondly, most recreational skiers may not want or see a need for such a sophisticated level of assessment or even be able to process the information the information it provides, much less translate that into improved technique. It strikes me that it is possibly a product to build into more accurate coaching, perhaps similar to the way lots of golf pros are now using https://trackmangolf.com/ to aid with golf instruction.

Anyway, well done on the technology and I wish you well with the product.

Hi Tony

Good to have you back :thumbup: . A quick couple of observations:

Arlberg: Yes, there can be issues around St Anton with crowded pistes and rowdy bars but both can be easily avoided with a tiny bit of planning, apart, perhaps, from the home run depending on where you are staying :D . I have been there several times in recent years and actually we mainly ski in the Zurs and Lech area though tend to stay in St Anton (its usually the "lads" trip so we enjoy a bit of apres ski 8) ). A good shout to stay if you want something quieter is Stuben - a very nice, quiet village which is now bang smack in the middle of the ski area. I still rate this area very highly - it is not perfect but it ticks an awful lot of boxes.

Dolomites: What can I say? This area is amazing for incredibly enjoyable cruising :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: . Each day is an excursion rather than the more traditional up, down, repeat cycle of smaller resorts. The views are spectacular, food is excellent and good value, accommodation is probably better quality than most other resorts. Personally, I absolutely love this area. The only downside is access - not great out of Dublin :( . In terms of base, I think Selva or Arabba would suit you best but to be honest, it doesn't matter too much as long as you have decent access to the mountain first thing. For that reason, I would not recommend Campitello where you have to get a cable car up (and down) . The queue can be horrendous :evil:. Access from Canazei can also be a bit slow.

Sauze: Haven't been in many years. I really enjoyed it when there but suspect that I would not do so now. As far as I know, many of the lifts are old and the snow can be ropey. They also had problems last year with the link to Sestriere and I am not sure that this has been resolved yet.

Ischgl: Its quite like St Anton. Lots of fantastic skiing and amazing Apres Ski. The home runs are pretty demanding and can be a bit of a mess in the mid-afternoon. The crowd is mainly European - lots of Scandavians and not too many Brits or Irish. Its another great area but again not too easy to get to. If accommodation in the town is difficult to find or too expensive, you could consider satellite towns like Kappl but this will mean driving up to the resort in the mornings or taking the ski bus.

Is this likely to affect ski trips? Any J2skiers affected?

The TO's load on a massive premium for half-term :thumbdown: . Its a pity that the Department of Education does not stagger the breaks as they do in France and stop concentrating all traffic into a single week :x

Try to do it DIY if possible and you should be able to do it much cheaper :thumbup: . Your biggest obstacle will be finding reasonable priced flights at this stage but if you avoid the obvious "ski" airports like Geneva, Salzburg or Innsbruck, you may find something less exorbitant! For example, flights to Munich will open up all of Austria and even the Dolomites if you are prepared to hire a car (some train options but more limiting and more time consuming).

Zurich is also worth considering and then take the train into Austria or even look at Swiss resorts (though prices here can be high).

Hopfgarten is connected directly into the Skiwelt area and would be an excellent base to access the entire area which I think is great. Probably not as lively as Soll but I am sure that there would be a couple of decent pubs. Obviously apres ski is not the highest priority for many people.