I am moving to Finland

When you move permanently to Finland and bring goods with you, you may have to declare the goods. This depends on which country you are moving from. 

Before you move, check if your removal goods contain goods that you’re not allowed to bring to Finland. Removal goods are often subject to the same restrictions as luggage.

I am moving to Finland from outside the EU, e.g. from Norway or the United States

The removal goods must be declared, when they arrive or you bring them to Finland. Read more about the normal place of residence.

VAT and customs duty

You don’t need to pay VAT and customs duty if all of the following conditions are met: 

  • You can prove with documents such as a certificate of employment that your normal residence has been outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months before moving to Finland. 
  • The goods have been in your possession and in your own or your household's use for at least 6 months before moving to Finland.
  • You declare the goods within 12 months of the move. However, you don’t need to bring all the goods at the same time. In that case, you need to declare each consignment separately.
  • The goods are your personal property.
  • You use the goods in Finland for the same purpose for which you used them outside the EU.
  • You have a residence permit (migri.fi) issued for at least one year if you need one. A residence permit granted on the basis of your own or a family member's studies does not qualify as a residence permit.

If the time limits are not met, check whether you can get an exceptional permit for your removal goods. Apply for an exceptional permit in good time. Customs aims to process the application within 30 days.

Transfer restriction for removal goods

Please note that there is a transfer restriction concerning removal goods for which you don’t need to pay import taxes or duties. A transfer restriction means that the goods can’t be sold, lent, given as security, hired out or transferred to someone else until 12 months have passed since they were declared to Finland. This also concerns e.g. the transfer of a vehicle that has been in a road accident to an insurance company.

If you hand over the removal goods earlier than that, you must pay VAT on the goods. Contact our customer service for the payment of the import taxes and duties.

The removal goods must be declared when they arrive or you bring them to Finland. Read more about the normal place of residence.

VAT and customs duty

VAT and, if necessary, customs duty must be paid.

However, you don’t need to pay VAT and customs duty if either one of the following conditions are met: 

I am moving to Finland from the EU territory but outside the EU fiscal territory, e.g. the Canary Islands

The removal goods must be declared when they arrive or you bring them to Finland. Read more about the normal place of residence.

VAT and customs duty

You don’t need to pay VAT if all of the following conditions are met: 

  • The goods have been in your possession and in your own or your household's use for at least 6 months before moving to Finland.
  • You declare the goods within 12 months of the move. However, you don’t need to bring all the goods at the same time. In that case, you need to declare each consignment separately.
  • The goods are your personal property.
  • You use the goods in Finland for the same purpose for which you used them in the EU territory, but outside the EU fiscal territory.
  • You have a residence permit (migri.fi) issued for at least one year if you need one. A residence permit granted on the basis of your own or a family member's studies does not qualify as a residence permit.

You don’t have to pay any customs duty.

Transfer restriction for removal goods

Please note that there is a transfer restriction concerning removal goods for which you don’t need to pay import taxes. A transfer restriction means that the goods can’t be sold, lent, given as security, hired out or transferred to someone else until 12 months have passed since they were declared to Finland. This also concerns e.g. the transfer of a vehicle that has been in a road accident to an insurance company.

If you hand over the removal goods earlier than that, you must pay VAT on the goods. Contact our customer service for the payment of the import taxes.

The removal goods must be declared when they arrive or you bring them to Finland. Read more about the normal place of residence.

VAT and customs duty

Payment of value added tax is required. However, you don’t need to pay VAT if either one of the following conditions are met: 

  • Your removal goods are returning goods, i.e. you bring them back to Finland within 3 years of when you moved them to the EU territory, but outside the EU fiscal territory. Read more about removal goods.
  • You have an exceptional permit for your removal goods. Apply for an exceptional permit in good time. Customs aims to process the application within 30 days.

You don’t have to pay any customs duty.

I am moving to Finland from the EU territory, e.g. from Estonia or Sweden

  • You don’t need to declare the removal goods.
  • You don’t need to pay any VAT or customs duty.

Other things to note

Personal property is e.g.

  • household effects, such as clothes, dishes and furniture
  • bicycles and motorcycles, motor vehicles and trailers meant for private use, caravans, leisure boats and private aircraft
  • household purchases corresponding to normal household consumption, such as detergents
  • household pets and saddle animals
  • portable tools used in technical and liberal professions
    • Technical professions include those of engineer, surgeon and silversmith (tools, e.g. a silversmith’s hammer).
    • Liberal professions are professions such as author and visual artist (tools, e.g. an artist’s paintbrush).

Please note that personal property may not be sold or used for any other commercial purpose. In addition, it must be evident based on the nature and amount of the goods that they are not intended for commercial use.

You don’t have to pay import taxes or duties for removal goods, if they are so-called returning goods. In that case, you don’t have to pay VAT or customs duty, even when the goods arrive from outside the EU or from outside the EU fiscal territory.

What are returning goods?

Your removal goods are returning goods if all of the following conditions are met:

  • You have bought the goods in Finland and have paid VAT on them at the time of purchase.
  • You have a document to prove that you have removed the goods from the EU territory, when you moved from the EU.
  • You bring the goods back to Finland within 3 years of when you removed the goods from the EU territory. 
  • The goods are in the same condition as when you removed them from the EU territory. For example, you have not upholstered or restored any of the furniture while you were living outside the EU territory.
  • The goods are brought back to Finland by the same person, who originally removed them from the EU territory.

How to declare returned goods

Declare the returned goods in one of the following ways: 

  • Declare the returned goods in the Customs Clearance Service. Ask for advice on how to use the Customs Clearance Service from our Customer Service.
  • Buy the customs clearance service from a transport company or a forwarding agency. A forwarding agency is a company that can declare the goods on your behalf.

For the declaration, you need a document, which proves that the goods were previously removed from the EU territory. The document can be one of the following:

  • A decision on release with certification of exit, if you made an export declaration for your removal goods when you moved from Finland.
  • A customs clearance document on the customs clearance of your removal goods to the country where you moved from Finland.
  • Some other evidence of the removal of the goods from the EU territory, when you moved from Finland.

In certain situations, Customs an grant you an exception, even if the conditions for a duty-free and tax-free import of removal goods are not met. If you are granted an exception, you can import your removal goods to Finland free of customs duty and value added tax.

Customs can grant you an exception only in exceptional circumstances, which you could not anticipate and you could not influence yourself. Economic reasons are not such exceptional circumstances.

Processing time for applications for exception

Customs aims to process the application within 30 days of the date when you have submitted all the information and documents required for processing the application to Customs.

The exception can’t be granted once the goods have been cleared.

In which situations can you be granted an exception?

  • When the goods have been in your possession and used by you for less than 6 months for an exceptional reason. 
  • When you intended to live outside the EU for at least 12 months but you have to move to Finland within less than 12 months for reasons beyond your control.
  • You moved to Finland more than 12 months ago. The reasons for the delay in the importation of the goods have been unforeseeable, independent of you and beyond your control.

Customs can’t accept e.g. these reasons as grounds for an exception:

  • You have not been able to bring in your removal goods to Finland within 12 months for economic reasons.
  • You do not 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.

Examples of situations where Customs cannot grant an exception:

Example 1: You worked outside the EU, and you knew in advance that you would live there for less than 12 months. You bought things abroad that you wish to bring to Finland as removal goods.

Example 2: You moved to Finland in 2022. You wanted to leave furniture and other goods in an apartment outside the EU. You sell the apartment abroad in 2025, and you wish to bring the furniture and other household items to Finland as removal goods.

Example 3: You lived outside the EU and bought a vehicle abroad that broke down. You bought a new vehicle in its place, which you used for less than 6 months before moving to Finland. You wish to bring this new vehicle as removal goods to Finland.

Situations where you don’t need an exceptional permit

You don’t need an exceptional permit for your removal goods if

  • you have lived outside the EU for less than 12 months and the removal goods returning to Finland are exactly the same as the ones you exported abroad and for which you have an export declaration or some other proof of export.
  • you studied abroad and return to Finland.

This is how you apply for an exception for your own removal goods

Exception is applied for in the Authorisations and Decisions Service. Log in to the Authorisations and Decisions Service using Finnish online banking codes, a mobile certificate, a certificate card or with the hightrust.id application.

The Service is only available in Finnish and Swedish. The instructions for filling in the application have been published in Finnish and Swedish.

Instructions on how to apply for an exception in Finnish
Instructions on how to apply for an exception in Swedish

This is how you apply for an exception for your own removal goods if you can't use the e-service

If you can’t use the Authorisations and Decisions Service, you should contact Customs by email at lupakeskus@tulli.fi. Contact us if, for example, you don’t have Finnish online banking codes or if you can’t authorise anyone else to apply for the permit in the service on your behalf.

How your application will be processed

When you have submitted your application, you can, if needed, withdraw it if you haven’t yet received Customs’ decision on it.

If the exception is granted, Customs will send the decision to the contact person indicated in the application.

If Customs doesn’t accept your application as such, Customs will first send you a proposed decision on rejection. After that, you will have the opportunity to submit a rejoinder to Customs within the time limit prescribed in the proposed decision. In your rejoinder, you can provide reasons or additional information or accept the proposed decision. If you don’t submit a rejoinder, Customs will make a decision after the expiry of the time limit.

If you are granted an exception

If you are granted an exception, you can import your removal goods to Finland free of customs duty and value added tax. However, you must still declare your removal goods. Declare your removal goods primarily in the Import Declaration Service for private persons and select that you wish to declare “removal goods”. Provide the number of the exceptional permit.

If you declare the removal goods in the Customs Clearance Service, read the instructions for completing the declaration. Provide the exceptional permit in the customs declaration under “Goods items” with the additional document code “9TAP” and as the identifier of the code, the permit number (has the format FITAPL12345).

If you are not granted an exception

If you are not granted an exception, you can’t import your removal goods to Finland free of customs duty and value added tax. When the removal goods arrive in Finland, you must declare them and pay the import duties and taxes. Declare the goods primarily in the Import Declaration Service for private persons and select that you wish to declare “purchased goods”.

Go to the Authorisations and Decisions Service (in Finnish or Swedish)

Read the instructions somewhere else on how to declare if

In these situations, you can’t declare the goods according to the instructions for removal goods.

VAT and customs duty must always be paid for the following goods when you move:

  • Alcohol.
  • Tobacco and tobacco products.
  • Commercial means of transport, i.e. vehicles used for commercial purposes, such as a bus, taxi or lorry.
  • Goods meant for professional use, except for portable tools used in technical and liberal professions.
    • Technical professions include those of engineer and silversmith (tools, e.g. a silversmith’s hammer).
    • Liberal professions are professions such as author and visual artist (tools, e.g. an artist’s paintbrush).

Read how to declare such goods.

Note that customs duty does not have to be paid

  • for goods under certain commodity codes
  • for goods worth 150 euro or less, under normal circumstances.

For example, the Canary Islands are part of the EU, but not of the EU fiscal territory. Check if your country of residence is a part of such a territory.

Check if your country of residence is part of the EU.

Note that if you move to Finland from Heligoland or Büsingen in Germany, Livigno in Italy or from Ceuta or Melilla in Spain, the instructions for your removal goods are the ones for people moving from outside the EU. The reason for this is that these territories are not part of the EU’s customs territory and fiscal territory.