Bringing in removal goods prior to moving
If your removal goods are brought into Finland before your move from outside the EU, no customs duty or VAT need to be paid for them.
Your removal goods can be declared as removal goods exempt from customs duty and VAT before you move permanently to Finland, as long as the requirements are met.
Exemption from customs duty can be granted after your normal place of residence has been outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months and the removal goods have been in your possession and used by you for at least six months at your normal place of residence outside the EU.
To be granted exemption from customs duty also requires that
- you undertake to transfer your normal place of residence to Finland within six months of the customs clearance of your removal goods
- lodge a guarantee for your removal goods at a customs office or in the Customs Clearance Service in conjunction with customs clearance
- you have a residence permit issued for at least one year (other than for study purposes or on the basis of a family member's studies) if you need a residence permit.
When declaring removal goods, a declaration on the conditions for exemption from customs duties and taxes on goods imported as removal goods must be submitted using Customs form 45e.
These provisions also apply when bringing removal goods
- from within the EU customs territory, but from outside the EU fiscal territory, into Finland,
- from mainland Finland and other EU Member States into the Province of Åland, and
- from the Province of Åland into mainland Finland.