Recipient of the gift (consignee)

Usually, no value added tax or customs duties have to be paid for gifts arriving from outside the EU or from the EU territory, but from outside the EU fiscal territory, if the value of the gift is 45 euros or less. Please note that such gifts must also meet the following conditions:

• The recipient of the gift and the sender of the gift are private individuals.
• The goods are intended to be used by you or your family.
• The goods will not be sold or used for other commercial purposes.
• You receive the goods free of charge. Free of charge means that you do not pay for the goods, nor do you provide any other compensation for it, such as other goods.
• You receive goods occasionally, for example for birthdays, Christmas or graduation.

Please note that usually, no import duties need to be paid for gifts arriving from inside the EU territory.

Other situations where import duties must always be paid for gifts

In certain situations import duties must always be paid for gifts, regardless of the value of the gift. You must always pay import duties for a gift, if your situation is one of the following:

• You order the gift from outside the EU or from a territory within the EU that is outside the EU:s fiscal territory, first for yourself in Finland, and then you give it to another person in Finland as a gift.
• Another person orders goods for you in your name from outside the EU or from a territory within the EU that is outside the EU:s fiscal territory, and the goods are sent directly to you.
• A company sends you goods for free, for example a prize, free merchandise or a subscriber’s gift or PR gift, such as a product sample or a sample magazine.
• You have bought a product, and the company later sends you a missing part for the product or a replacing product free of charge. Read here how to declare such goods or parts.
• A company sends goods to a customer or to personnel free of charge.
• A company sends goods to a social media influencer free of charge.

If you declare such goods in the Import Declaration Service for private persons, select that you wish to declare “purchased goods”. Read more about other ways to declare.

Goods for which import duties must always be paid if they are received as gifts

Value added tax (VAT)

Value added tax must be paid for the following goods even if the value of the gift is 45 euros or less, if the gift arrives from outside the EU or from a territory within the EU that is outside the EU:s fiscal territory:

• alcohol
• tobacco products
• over 500 grams of coffee
• over 200 grams of coffee essence or extract
• over 100 grams of tea
• over 40 grams of tea essence or extract
• over 50 grams of perfume
• over 0.25 litres of eau de toilette products.

Excise duty

Excise duty must always be paid for the following products, if the gift arrives from outside the EU or from within the EU territory but from outside the EU fiscal territory:

• alcohol
• tobacco products.

Excise duty must always be paid for the following products, if the gift arrives from the EU territory:

• certain amounts of alcohol
• certain amounts of tobacco products.

Read more about excise taxation on the Tax Administration’s website.

Sometimes a gift consignment may contain many items. Import duties do not necessarily have to be paid for all the goods even if the value of the gift consignment exceeds 45 euros, and the gift arrives from outside the EU or from within the EU territory but from outside the EU fiscal territory. This depends for example on the value of the individual gift items, and whether all the goods in the gift consignment are meant for one person or several persons of the family.

Gift consignments that contain many items for one person

You receive a gift consignment that contains many items, and all of the goods are meant for you. You can receive goods for a total value of 45 euros at most without paying any import duties. You can choose which goods you want to include in the total value of 45 euros. Please note that you cannot split the value of a single item into parts. You must pay import duties for the goods that exceed the limit of 45 euros.

Gift consignment that contains many items for several family members

Your family receives a gift consignment that contains goods for several family members. Each family member can receive goods for themselves for a total value of 45 euros at most without paying any import duties. Everyone can choose which goods they want to include in the total value of 45 euros. Please note that you cannot split the value of a single item into parts. Import duties must be paid for the goods that exceed the limit of 45 euros.

Family members are

• a parent and their underage children
• common-law spouses and their underage children
• spouses and their underage children
• registered partners and their underage children
• underage siblings