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Ordering goods online

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Frequently asked questions on ordering goods online

You can, under certain conditions. Acquaint yourself with the Tax Administration’s guide regarding Tax-free sales to travellers in Finland


No. You can, for example, download games, computer software and music, and you do not have to submit a customs declaration for them to Customs. Customs will not collect any import taxes for them either. Read more about the taxation of electronic services (in Finnish) on the Tax Administration website: Tele-, lähetys- ja sähköisten palvelujen arvonlisäverotus 


When you order and download an admission ticket from the internet:

  • No custom clearance is required for tickets sent via the internet and no import taxes have to be paid to customs.

When the admission ticket is sent to you:

  • Customs duties and value added tax on import are only levied on goods, not services. For instance, when buying a concert ticket or a ticket to a soccer match, you only buy the right to partake in the event and the value is considered to be the paper it's printed on, not the price of the ticket.

How to declare a paper entry ticket


If your parcel was lost after customs clearance in Finland, you cannot apply for a repayment of import duties and taxes from Customs.

If Posti or some other transport company has returned an already cleared parcel to the sender abroad, you can apply for repayment of the import duties and taxes as follows:

  1. When you have cleared the consignment through customs yourself in the customs online service: You can apply for refund of your import taxes and duties (revision) from Customs, or you can have an agent do it on your behalf.
     
  2. When Posti or a transport company has cleared the consignment on your behalf: You can apply for refund of your import taxes and duties (revision) from Customs, or you can an agent do it on your behalf.
     
  3. When you have paid the import taxes in connection with the purchase from an IOSS registered online seller: Ask the online seller to pay back the taxes.

Add a verification to the refund application (claim for a revised decision) stating that the consignment has left the country. You can get the verification from the transport company’s item tracking. Read the guidance on how to apply for a revised decision. 


You can apply for repayment of the duties and taxes if, for example, you have sent the goods back to the seller outside the EU. How to submit a claim for a revised decision


If you receive goods produced in Germany or goods cleared in Germany, then you do not have to pay any import taxes to Finnish Customs.

Bear in mind that the goods you ordered from Germany may be shipped by the seller from an area outside the EU, or from the EU as uncleared goods. If that is the case, the goods must usually be declared to Customs and the duties and taxes paid. The transport company will inform you when you need to declare a consignment.

If you order alcoholic beverages, please read the related instructions on our website.


If your order is delivered to you from the EU, you do not have to clear the goods nor pay any import duties to Customs.

Please observe that private importation of animal-based products for pets from outside the EU is forbidden.


If an item you purchased that should have been declared is delivered directly to your home, declare it after the delivery.  You can declare the item in the Import Declaration Service for private persons. Read more: Customs clearance of a consignment after delivery.


It is always the company that transports your goods that will send you the notice of arrival and that can give you further information.

Read more: Where is my parcel?


Paying VAT in Finland depends, among other things, on whether or not the online store has an IOSS number.

  • If the seller has an IOSS number, you will pay the Finnish VAT when you purchase the goods. The postal company or the transport company, will usually declare the consignment on your behalf, and no VAT has to be paid in conjunction with the declaration. (However, this does not apply to products that are subject to excise duty, such as alcohol products. For these products, the import taxes are always paid in conjunction with the declaration.)
  • If the seller doesn’t have an IOSS number, you will usually have to pay the VAT again upon importation to Finland. You will still have to pay the import duties to Finland even though you have already paid the VAT of the selling country to the seller.
  • Some online stores have included the VAT to be paid to Finland to the price of the goods, even though they don’t have an IOSS number. The invoice from the online store may e.g. have the abbreviation ‘DDP’ or the text ‘Delivered duty paid’ written on it. Ask the seller if your order has been delivered by a transport company that does the declaration in Finland on your part and pays the Finnish VAT.

Read more on the IOSS number.


Contact the customs office mentioned in the notification you received. The Customs Laboratory does not answer questions by private individuals.


Foreign item tracking services often notify “Lähetys on Tullissa” (the consingment is in the Customs) or “Held by Customs”. The consignments, however, are not located in any Customs facility, but they are located in a warehouse of Posti or another transport company. If the consignment has to be declared, Posti or some other transport company in Finland will send you a notification saying that you need to declare the consignmentv.

Posti or the transport company

  • knows where your parcel is
  • sends the notices of arrival
  • stores parcels to be cleared
  • transports the parcels after clearance
  • returns parcels.

The customs duty is 0 % for goods manufactured in the UK and sent from the UK, if the goods are UK-originating and you have an invoice from the seller containing a specific-form statement on the British origin of the goods. VAT must be paid on all goods delivered from the UK.

If you order a suit worth 200 euros from the UK, and the suit was manufactured there and the transport costs amount to 20 euros, the amount of VAT to be levied on the consignment is determined as follows:

  • the customs duty is 0.00 euros (0 % x customs value 220 euros) 
  • the VAT is 52.80 euros (24 % x (customs value 220 euros + customs duty 0.00 euros))
  • the total price of the suit is 272.80 euros (purchase price + transport costs + VAT).

If the consignment to be declared is transported by Posti, then Posti’s possible handling fee (for example 3.10 euros) is added to the value on which the VAT is calculated. 

Please note:  How do I get preferential treatment?


Goods that are manufactured outside the EU and the UK and sent from the UK are subject to VAT. Consignments worth more than 150 euros are subject to a general third country customs duty.  

If you order sports shoes worth 200 euros from the UK, and the shoes were manufactured outside the UK (e.g. in India), with transport costs amounting to 20 euros, the amount of customs duty and VAT to be levied on the consignment are determined as follows: 

  • the customs duty is 37.18 euros (16.9% x customs value 220 euros) the VAT is 61.72 euros (24% x (customs value 220 euros + customs duty 37.18 euros))
  • the total price of the footwear is 318.90 euros (purchase price + transport costs + customs duty + VAT)
  • If the footwear is worth no more than 150 euros, you only have to pay VAT on import. If the consignment to be declared is transported by Posti, then Posti’s possible handling fee (for example 3.10 euros) is added to the price on which the VAT is calculated. 

Here you can read more about customs duties and VAT


Customs neither receives nor stores parcels or any other consignments.

If the seller or transport company sends you a notification saying ‘Lähetys on tullissa’ or ‘Held by Customs’, it usually means that the consignment has to be cleared through customs before you can receive it.

The easiest way is to clear it yourself online. You can also buy the customs clearance as a service from Posti or the transport company.

The consignment to be cleared is always held by the transporting company. Ask Posti or the transport company for more information.


Yes, you do. Used or second-hand goods should be declared in the same way as goods bought as new. The taxes are paid based on the purchase price you’ve paid.


In the notice of arrival sent by the transport company and in the Import Declaration Service for private persons, the indicated country of dispatch may be an EU country, even though the consignment was originally dispatched from outside the EU. This can happen if the goods have been intermediately stored as undeclared in the EU, for example.  Enter the actual country of dispatch in the Import Declaration Service, and then you can clear the goods. This does not concern e.g. consignments sent from the Canary Islands or delivered to the Åland Islands.

You may need to check with the seller from which non-EU country the consignment was sent. You can get more information in advance about customs declaration upon import from the seller or, for example, from the terms of delivery of the online store you are using.

Invalid request for customs clearance of a parcel from an EU country

Check that 

  • the country of origin of the goods is an EU country or
  • it was sent from another EU country where it was already cleared.

If you receive an invalid request for customs clearance from Posti for such an item, request an exemption for your parcel on the webpage of Posti. Attach a verification (such as the invoice, order confirmation or receipt), which shows that the country of dispatch is an EU country. If the country of dispatch is not indicated in the receipt, you should contact the seller of the goods for a T2L document or some other additional documentation that indicates the country of dispatch.


Import taxes consist of VAT and possible customs duty to be paid for goods that are imported. Some products may also be subject to excise duty.

The amount of import taxes are determined based on the customs value and the VAT.

Customs value is the sum based on which customs duty is paid.

The customs value is usually made up of the purchase price of the goods including transport costs up to the EU border. For consignments transported by a postal service, the customs value also includes the postal charges all the way to the consignee. Customs duty is generally not paid for purchases worth 150 euros or less. The consignment can also be exempt from customs duty, because for some products you don’t pay customs duty at all.

Taxable amount for VAT is the sum based on which VAT is paid.

The taxable amount for VAT is made up of the customs value, possible customs duty as well as Posti’s possible handling fee. It also includes any possible taxes and other charges to be paid outside the EU. In Finland, the VAT to be paid on goods is 24%, 14% or 10%. For example, VAT is always paid for online purchases as of 1 July 2021.

With the Customs duty calculator, you can estimate the amount of import duties and taxes you must pay on the goods you bring in.
 

Read more: Customs clearance, VAT and customs duty

Study the examples for calculating import duties and taxes

Taxable amount for import VAT - vero.fi (in Finnish and Swedish)


If you don’t wish to receive the postal consignment, you should not clear it. If the postal consignment is not cleared within 20 days, the consignment will be returned to the sender. In the case of ordered goods, inform the seller that you have cancelled your purchase.


Contact the transport company to find out if your consignment has already been sent back to the sender (consignor). If your consignment has not been sent back, contact Customs to find out the amount of interest on arrears due.

Before you can get your consignment delivered to you, you must also pay the interest on arrears. Please note that you cannot pay an invoice in the declaration service if its due date has passed. Pay for the clearance in your online bank the same day that you find out the amount of interest on arrears. Keep in mind that it can take 2–3 days for the payment to reach Customs.


Only such radio equipment that fulfil the EU requirements can be sold and used within the EU. Radio equipment sold in countries outside the EU and EEA, may not satisfy these requirements. The equipment might work on the wrong frequency or with too much power or be otherwise incompatible with radio equipment and radio systems used within the EU. High powered radio equipment or equipment working on the wrong frequency, can interfere with radio equipment of other users. Foreign online stores can provide equipment that use the wrong frequency or too much power, but importing them to Finland and distributing and using them in Finland is prohibited.

The CE conformity marking shows that the manufacturer has ensured that the product fulfils the EU requirements. When you order radio equipment from outside the EU, make sure that the equipment has the CE conformity marking. Moreover, check the packaging, the user instructions or ask the seller if there are restrictions regarding the use of the equipment in Finland.

More information from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency:


If the total value of the goods in a consignment is no more than 150 euros, the consignment is free of customs duty. 

Exception: Customs duty must always be paid on tobacco and tobacco products, alcohol and alcoholic beverages as well as perfumes and eau de toilette products.    

More on customs duties


It is always Posti or the transport company that will send you a notice of arrival or notify you of the arrival of a consignment that needs to be cleared through customs.


Customs does not send separate customs invoices. Pay for the clearance when you are clearing a consignment in the Import Declaration Service for private persons or in the Customs Clearance Service (where e.g. live animals are cleared). If you need an invoice, you can get it from the service you are using.


                            

Any questions?

Contact Customs Information Mon–Fri 8 am–4.15 pm

Please have a look at the frequently asked questions.

If you have a question about the arrival of parcels, its contents or the handling fee, please contact Posti.

Customs Information Service