VAT and customs duty

When buying or receiving goods from outside the EU, you may have to pay import duties and taxes. Import duties and taxes include, for example, VAT, customs duty and excise duty. This page describes how the customs duty and VAT is determined. 

You can read more about the situations where customs duty and VAT must be paid when ordering goods from abroad, when arriving in Finland or when receiving a gift from abroad.

The standard VAT rate is 25.5 per cent

Value added tax (VAT) is paid for goods that enter Finland from outside the EU. VAT may also have to be paid when goods arrive in Finland from the Åland Islands, the Canary Islands or some other region that belongs to the EU but not to the fiscal territory of the EU. 

VAT must often also be paid in situations where customs duty is not payable.  

The standard rate of value added tax is 25.5 percent. The VAT rate on food, food supplements and books is 13.5 per cent. The VAT rate on subscription magazines and periodicals is 10 per cent.  That is, in practice, you often have to pay more in VAT than in customs duty.  

Estimate the amount of customs duty and VAT using the Customs duty calculator.

What is included in amount that VAT is paid on?

VAT is paid on

• the price of the goods
• the transport costs up to the destination in Finland.

In addition, VAT is paid on the following charges, if applicable:

• Posti’s handling fee 
• the customs duty on the goods
• the excise duty on the goods
• taxes payable outside Finland, such as VAT to the country of the seller of the goods. 

The amount of customs duty varies

Customs duty is paid for goods that you order or bring into Finland from outside the EU. 

Customs duty is paid on

• the price of the goods 
• the transport costs. 

Customs duty must be paid on the transport costs up to the point of entry into the EU. In addition, for consigments transported by Posti, customs duty is paid on the transport costs incurred up to delivery to the consignee. 

The amount of the customs duty depends on the goods. All goods have their own commodity code based on which the customs duty is determined. For exaple, the customs duty rate for a T-shirt made of cotton is typically 12%, whereas the customs duty rate for running shoes is 16.9%. 

Some goods, such as books and computers, have a customs duty rate of 0%. That means that no customs duty needs to be paid for them. However, you should note that VAT must be paid for these goods as well, for example 25.5% for electronics. 

Estimate the amount of customs duty and VAT using the Customs duty calculator.

Excise duty is paid for example for alcohol

Some goods, such as alcohol and tobacco products, are also subject to excise duty. You can read more about excise taxation on the Tax Administration’s website.