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1. Declare the car if needed
If you bring a vehicle as removal goods from another EU country, you don’t have to declare it. If your vehicle is new, relatively new or has low mileage, check the Tax Administration website to see if you should pay value added tax for a new means of transport.
If you’re bringing a car as removal goods from outside the EU, you must declare it. Be prepared to pay customs duty and value added tax for the vehicle if the prerequisites for the removal goods are not met. Read more about the prerequisites: I am moving to Finland.
If you drive the car to Finland or if someone else drives it on your behalf, the car must be declared at the customs office when it arrives in Finland. If the car is transported by a carrier, declare the car in the Import Declaration Service for private persons. You can ask the Customs Information Service for more information about the customs clearance and about alternative ways of declaring the car.
Remember to provide the vehicle identification number (VIN) in the customs declaration.
2. Make sure that you can use the car immediately after arrival
Using a car bought abroad in Finland requires that
- the car has been registered in an EU or EEA country or a transfer permit (so-called transfer badges) has been obtained for the car.
- a declaration of use has been submitted to the Finnish Tax Administration.
Without a registration or a transfer permit, you cannot drive the car in Finland. In that case, the car can only be moved on a trailer or using other transport.
You should apply for the transfer permit in advance from a vehicle inspection station. The transfer permit is subject to a charge. Read more about transfer permits on Traficom’s website.
Permits can also be obtained from our customs offices with customer service. Always check with the customs office beforehand to ensure you can get transfer permits from that office.
3. Make sure that the other requirements are also met
- Submit a car tax declaration to the Tax Administration within five days of submitting the declaration of use.
- Pay any car tax due.
- Register the car.
You can find more specific guidance on the Tax Administration’s website and the Finnish Transport and Communication Agency Traficom’s website.
Using your car in Finland
You must submit a declaration of use on your car before you start using it in Finland. You can start using your car in Finland when it is under valid registration in an EU or EEA member state or when you have a transfer permit issued by a vehicle inspection office, and a traffic insurance policy effective in Finland.
If the vehicle does not have a valid registration or a transfer permit, the only legal way to transfer the vehicle is by trailer. You are not allowed to even tow the vehicle.
If you need a transfer permit, get it in advance from the vehicle inspection station. To acquire the permit, you need to know the specifications of the vehicle (serial number).
Other things to note
These instructions apply to individuals who meet all of the following criteria:
- Your permanent place of residence was in Ukraine immediately before Russia attacked Ukraine.
- You have fled the war to the EU area or to Finland after 24 February 2022.
- Your permanent place of residence is not yet in Finland.
Using your own car in Finland
Persons who have fled from the war in Ukraine in their own cars can use their cars free of customs duty and tax in Finland for 6 months. No customs duty or VAT has to be paid for the car during this time. This is called temporary admission. The car is also free from car tax for 6 months.
The time limit for the temporary admission begins on the day when the car was brought into the EU territory, for example via Poland, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania.
Example: The car was brought in by driving it to Poland on 1 October 2025 and to Finland on 5 October 2025. The six-month time limit runs out on 30 March 2026.
The time limit for temporary admission can be extended
You can apply for extension of the time limit for temporary admission before the time limit (6 months) has run out. Request the extension from Customs with the customs form ‘Extension of procedure time limits (975e).’ Submit the form to the customs office through which you arrived in Finland. If the extension is granted, you will receive a decision from Customs with the heading “Päätös menettelyn päättämisen määräajan pidentämistä koskevaan hakemukseen” (Decision regarding your application for extension of the time limit for discharging the customs procedure).
You can also apply for extension of a time limit that has already been extended before. Send the new extension request using form 975e to the same customs office that granted you the first extension. The contact details of the customs office can be found in the decision on extension that you received from Customs.
Apply for extension of the period of use exempt from car tax from the Tax Administration
In Finland, car tax must be paid when the vehicle is registered or taken into use for the first time in Finland. The car tax is paid to the Tax Administration; this means that the extension of the period of use exempt from car tax must be applied for from the Tax Administration. Apply for the extension in good time before the end of the 6-month time limit. Read more on how to apply for an extension of the period of use exempt from car tax on the Tax Administration’s website (in Ukrainian). See also the Tax Administration’s other guidance for individuals who have arrived from Ukraine.
Read more: Tax Administration: Tax-exempt use of a vehicle
You can declare the car as removal goods once you reside permanently in Finland
You can declare the car as removal goods once your permanent place of residence has changed to Finland. Your permanent place of residence is considered to have changed to Finland once you have been granted a residence permit.
No customs duty or value-added tax needs to be paid on a car brought in as removal goods. In order for you not to have to pay customs duty or value-added tax, the following conditions must be met:
- You declare the car within 12 months of moving.
- You have lived for at least six months in your previous permanent place of residence in Ukraine.
- The car must have the same intended use as in Ukraine.
If more than 12 months have passed since your move to Finland, you will need an exceptional permit in order to declare the car as removal goods.
Declare the car. You have the following declaration options:
- The form Private persons declaration of removed goods imported from outside the customs and or territory of the EU (1161). Please also read the instructions for completing the form.
- Customs offices with customer service
- You can ask a representative to declare the vehicle on your behalf.
Enclose the following documents with your declaration:
- copy or photo of your passport
- copy or photo of your residence permit
- copy or photo of the vehicle’s documents, such as the registration certificate
- any decision on extending the time limit for temporary admission that Customs may have granted (“Decision regarding your application for extension of the time limit for discharging the customs procedure”)
Customs may also ask you to submit other documents that prove that your permanent domicile was in Ukraine immediately before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Please also remember these
- Submit a declaration of use and a car tax return to the Tax Administration.
- Be prepared to pay car tax for your car. The Tax Administration provides instructions on car taxation.
Register your car and take it to vehicle inspection. See the guidance on the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) website.
Other information:
If you’re bringing a vehicle from the Canary Islands or some other area within the EU but outside the EU’s fiscal territory, you must declare the vehicle. Be prepared to pay value added tax for the car if the prerequisites for removal goods are not met. Read more about the prerequisites: I am moving to Finland.
If you drive the car to Finland or if someone else drives it on your behalf, the car must be declared at the customs office when it arrives in Finland. If the car is transported by a carrier, declare the car in the Import Declaration Service for private persons. You can ask the Customs Information Service for more information about the customs clearance and about alternative ways of declaring the car.
A vehicle brought in as removal goods for which you did not have to pay customs duty or value added tax is subject to a transfer restriction. 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 vehicle earlier than that, you must pay VAT and possible customs duty on the goods. Contact our customer service for the payment of the import taxes.