Skip to content

Finnish Customs collected 486 million euros in taxes in 2018

Publication date 15.3.2019 9.31
Press release

In 2018, Finnish Customs collected a total of around 486 million euros in taxes, duties and charges. On 1 January 2018, the main part of Customs’ collection of import VAT was transferred to the Finnish Tax Administration. Due to the transfer, the amount of VAT collected by Customs dropped from 2.69 billion euros to 260 million euros. The arrears of the taxes and charges collected by Customs amounted to two million euros and the tax arrears rate was 0.41 percent.

The largest tax revenues in 2018 and 2017

In 2018, Finnish Customs collected around 260 million euros in VAT for the Finnish state. The VAT was collected from both registered and non-registered importers liable to pay VAT in cases where they had breached the provisions governing the customs procedure. For customs clearance, a customs value is established for the import goods and based on this value, businesses declare the VAT to the Tax Administration. In addition, based on the customs value, Customs and the Tax Administration oversee that the proper amount of VAT is collected.

Customs clearance helps to implement EU trade policy. The collected customs duties are remitted to the EU; that is, they are part of the EU’s appropriations (EU’s own resources). Customs duties can be used to control and restrict the import of goods from outside the EU and to safeguard intra-EU trade. For example, an anti-dumping duty can be imposed if goods have been brought into the EU at a dumped price that is lower than the cost of production or the domestic prices in the exporting country. The State retains a collection fee of 20 percent of the anti-dumping duties. In 2018, Finnish Customs remitted 139 million euros in customs duties to the EU and 35 million euros in collection fees to the Finnish state. The total amount of customs duties collected was 173 million euros.

The amount of fairway dues collected by Customs in 2018 rose to 49 million euros, which is two million euros more than in the previous year. The amount of service charges collected was the same as the year before; that is, three million euros. The relative share of the tax arrears rose to 0.41 percent due to the transfer of import VAT to the Tax Administration. The tax arrears amounted to two million euros. The year before, the corresponding figures were 1.9 million euros and 0.07 percent.

 

Media release