If you purchase goods abroad to be delivered to you later (for example a carpet or a pair of glasses), the goods are to be cleared as normal by Customs and the import duties and taxes are to be paid just as for any online purchase.
The goods can be imported free of duty and tax only if the traveller personally brings the goods into the country.
- Persons under the age of 18 are not allowed to bring in alcoholic beverages, and persons under the age of 20 are only allowed to bring in light alcoholic beverages.
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Persons under the age of 18 are not allowed to bring in tobacco products or nicotine-containing liquids.
You must declare goods arriving in Finland from outside the EU to Customs. This requirement also applies to your own personal used belongings that you have taken out of Finland in your luggage. Goods that are taken out of Finland and later returned to Finland are called returned goods.
Please note that goods or gifts obtained on a trip are not considered returned goods. Removal goods cannot be declared as returned goods either. Read about how to declare removal goods.
Example
You’ve been on a holiday outside of the EU, and the hotel is mailing you some luggage that you’ve left behind.
You don’t have to pay customs duty or VAT for returned goods. However, you can’t declare products subject to excise duty, such as alcohol and tobacco, as returned goods.
You must be able to prove that the goods have previously been taken outside the EU. Customs requests, for example, tickets or a receipt of a hotel reservation as proof of a holiday trip. Customs may also ask you to show when the goods have been bought and what their value is.
How do I declare returned goods in the Import Declaration Service for private persons?
- On the start page, select that you wish to declare luggage items you’ve left behind when travelling.
- On the page “Consignment details”, explain why the goods are being returned. Enter an explanation such as “I left my sunglasses behind at a hotel. The hotel is returning them to me.”
- On the page “Goods details”, look for the goods by entering a search word in the goods search. If you can’t find the goods using the goods search, provide the commodity code on the tab “Commodity code”.
- Enter the rest of the required details and submit the declaration.
- When you have sent the declaration, upload the attachments to your declaration on the “Done” page before you continue. Customs requires that you enclose, for example, tickets or a receipt of a hotel reservation. Speed up the processing of your declaration by uploading the attachments right after sending the declaration to Customs. If you do not upload the attachments right away and close the page, you can upload the attachments only after Customs has sent you an additional information request.
Read more about importing returned goods.
Legislation applied to goods imported by travellers:
- Regulation on reliefs from customs duty, Article 41
- Value Added Tax Act (1501/1993), sections 95c, 95-95 e
- Act on exceptions concerning the Province of Åland regarding value added tax and excise duty legislation (1266/1996), section 18
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 of 16 November 2009 (Official Journal of the European Union L324, 10 December 2009), Article 41 (Goods contained in travellers’ personal luggage)
- Act on Excise Duty (182/2010), section 72 (495/2014), sections 84–86, section 87(1) (311/2016) and section 87(2)
- Alcohol Act (1143/1994)
- Tobacco Act (549/2016)
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.