Invoicing – businesses

A business that has a payment deferment authorisation issued by Customs (a so-called credit customer) will receive the decision on the release of the goods and the customs clearance decision at the same time. 

Such a business will receive a periodic filing, which is a so-called consolidated invoice for paying all the invoices due (that is, customs clearance decisions, taxation decisions and payment decisions) at the same time. See more information on periodic filing below.  

Cash customers must first pay the customs invoice in the Customs Clearance Service, and they will receive the decision on the release of the goods only after the payment. 

How do I get an individual customs invoice?  

Customs will send a separate invoice for each customs clearance decision in the form of an electronic message only to message declarants. When necessary, our customers can retrieve individual invoices from the Customs Clearance Service where the invoice is displayed as a separate document related to the customs declaration.

It is not possible to apply for periodic filings in the Customs Clearance Service, i.e. for a consolidated invoice which is used to pay invoices falling due at the same time with one payment.

Message declarants can retrieve PDF invoices for individual customs declarations and send them to importers, i.e. to declarants who have payment deferment authorisations. 

The holder of an authorisation for payment deferment can pay the import declaration charges with a consolidated invoice, i.e. a periodic filing, or with an individual invoice. If the charges are paid with an individual invoice, it is important to use the reference number of that invoice, not the reference of the periodic filing. 

The individual invoice and the periodic filing have the same due date. The billing run is 10 days before the due date. If an individual invoice is paid earlier than 10 days before the due date, the invoice will not be shown in the periodic filing. However, if an invoice that has already been paid shows up in the periodic filing, the amount paid should be subtracted from the total of the periodic filing.

The invoice indicates the customs duties, taxes and charges due as well as the up-to-date bank details (account number and reference number). If the invoice is paid using incorrect or insufficient payment details, the allocation of the payment may be delayed. 

Periodic filing 

Businesses that have an authorisation for a comprehensive guarantee and payment deferment can receive a consolidated invoice, i.e. periodic filing. Periodic filing allows customers to pay customs clearance decisions, taxation decisions and payment decisions falling due at the same time with one payment. 

Periodic filing is sent as an e-invoice (recommendation) or by post as a paper invoice. Paper invoices are sent as Economy letters, which doesn’t necessarily leave very much time for processing the invoice before the due date. The term of payment is 10 days from the invoice date.

Periodic filing schedule  

  1. 1st week. Week of release when the customs declaration is submitted.
  2. 2nd week
  3. 3rd week
  4. 4th week. The periodic filing (consolidated invoice) will be generated on Tuesday and sent to the business.
  5. 5th week. The due date for the periodic filing (consolidated invoice) is Friday.

Invoice due dates 

  • The due date for the payment of customs duties, taxes and charges for the goods released during a calendar week is the fourth Friday following the week of release. 
  • The due date for the payment of shipping dues is the seventh Friday following the week of the arrival of the vessel. 

To whom will the invoice be sent?

  • If the company uses direct representation, the periodic filing will be sent to the declarant. 
  • If the type of representation is indirect, or direct on guarantor’s responsibility, the periodic filing will be sent to the representative.

E-invoice

Only the periodic filing can be received as an e-invoice 

If the e-invoice address has been provided in the import declaration using the additional information code FIVER, the clearance will be invoiced with a periodic filing sent as an e-invoice. The e-invoice address must be provided in the correct format, so that the e-invoice can be sent.

If you did not provided the e-invoicing address in the customs declaration, the periodic filing will automatically be sent to the e-invoicing address in Customs’ customer register.

Please note: 

  • If no e-invoice address has been provided, if it has been provided in an incorrect format, or if it does not correspond with the business ID of the company to be invoiced, the periodic filing will be sent by post to the postal address according to the trader office identifier provided in the customs declaration. If no trader office identifier has been provided, the periodic filing will be sent to the head office address registered in the Finnish Business Information System (BIS).    
  • If the e-invoice address has been provided in correct format, but Customs’ e-invoice operator can’t find a recipient for it, the operator will search for another e-invoice address to which the e-invoice can be sent. If no such address is found, the periodic filing will be sent by post.
  • Periodic filings are generated separately for each trader office of the company. The trader office identifier must be provided in the customs declaration so that a periodic filing can be obtained for each trader office.

Ensure that the company’s e-invoicing address and intermediary identifier are up-to-date in Customs’ customer register. If the company’s e-invoicing address changes, notify this in the service My Details or via email to the Authorisation Centre (lupakeskus(at)tulli.fi). In the service My details, the change is made with the button “Submit a request for amendment of company office details.”

When you enter a new e-invoicing address and intermediary identifier, the Authorisation Centre saves them in the customer register. In your request for amendment, enter the old e-invoicing address as well as the new e-invoicing address and intermediary identifier. If the company has several offices in use, enter clearly in the request for amendment, which business ID and trader office identifier you wish to have amended.
 

If you provided an incorrect e-invoice address in the import declaration, request Customs to invalidate the customs clearance decision, and submit a new customs declaration. Read more about invalidation of a customer declaration confirmed by a customs clearance decision.

Forms of e-invoice address 

Customs recommends the use of an EDI identifier or an EDI identifier with a specifier as the e-invoice address. In an EDI identifier with a specifier, the recipient of the e-invoice is free to determine the specifier with 1 to 5 characters after the EDI identifier (it is advisable to use numbers). The identifier with a specifier best ensures that the e-invoice will be sent successfully.

Forms of e-invoice address approved by Customs

  • EDI identifier 
  • EDI identifier with a specifier
  • EDI identifier beginning with TE
  • IBAN.

Sending of the e-invoice 

Customs can send the periodic filing as an e-invoice to partner operators (tieke.fi) of Posti Messaging Oy. If the company’s e-invoice address is not in a form approved by Customs, we recommend the following to ensure that invoices will be successfully sent: 

If the e-invoice recipient has an e-invoice address with a form not approved by Customs, an EDI identifier with a specifier has to be provided in the customs declaration. In order to use it, you should contact the Service Desk of the intermediator of Customs’ e-invoices, Posti Messaging Oy (messaging.fi(at)posti.com), and provide the following details:

  • EDI identifier with a specifier 
  • e-invoice operator
  • e-invoice address.

Where can I get more information? 

Tel. +358 (0) 295 5200 (exchange), veroreskontra(at)tulli.fi.

  • invoicing
  • periodic filing
  • payment transactions