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Goods traffic between Åland and mainland Finland 

All goods transported from Åland to mainland Finland or from mainland Finland to Åland must be presented to Customs and a national tax border declaration must be submitted for them.  

A tax border declaration is not required when a company with a tax border number sells goods to private individuals.

Do you lodge many declarations?

Using the Customs Clearance Service may be time-consuming if you lodge many customs declarations. In that case, submitting the declarations to Customs via message exchange could be a better option.

Yes, you do need to lodge a customs declaration for consignments that are exempt from VAT. 


There is nothing in the legislation to indicate that own goods or transfers between the head office and a branch office would be exempt from VAT, when goods are transported across the tax border.


A consignor in Åland can lodge the required customs declaration, i.e. the national tax border declaration, with their own details under both “Exporter” and “Representative” and the details of the consignee under “Importer”. The form of representation is direct representation.


When you send an item for repair, fill in the form 658s (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish) and return the form to Mariehamn Customs.

When the consignment is returned, submit a national tax border declaration in the Customs Clearance Service. At declaration header level, select the additional document type C019 and provide 658 and the declaration date as the identifier. At goods item level, the customs procedure should be 61 and the previous customs procedure 21 (temporary export). Select also the additional procedure code (202 or 203).


If the credit note concerns a purchase that took place during the same month, the transaction is entered in the recapitulative statement on two rows, one for the purchase (+) and one for the credit (-). If the return took place during a different month than the purchase, a deduction can’t be made in the tax declaration.


In October. You must declare the preceding periods to the Finnish Tax Administration. If the ALA system does not allow you to make a recapitulative statement for October, contact Mariehamn Customs.


Fill in a customs declaration in the Customs Clearance Service for businesses. At goods item level, choose the additional procedure code “C41 – Coffins, funerary urns and ornamental funerary articles”. As the total amount invoiced, you can enter 0 euros.