Importing a car

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Majava
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Post by Majava » Sun Mar 28, 2004 1:45 am

An additional question: Do they (Tulli) give you a quote? That you ask them how much it would be and that you are only deciding to import it based upon the amount? Or do you really need to put the request with the car papers and keep your fingers crossed, cause there's no way back?

Calculating through the web site is still only a rough estimation (since I don't know the day value of my car) and my model car has never been sold in Finland! (I got a 1.9 D and what they have sold here is a 1.9 TDi and that's a more expensive model)


"Remember-you can't beam through a force field. So, don't try it. "(James T. Kirk)

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bohica
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Post by bohica » Sun Mar 28, 2004 9:13 am

Majava wrote:An additional question: Do they (Tulli) give you a quote? That you ask them how much it would be and that you are only deciding to import it based upon the amount? Or do you really need to put the request with the car papers and keep your fingers crossed, cause there's no way back?
When I emailed them they gave me a non-binding estimate.

Timppa
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Post by Timppa » Sun Mar 28, 2004 8:47 pm

Arno wrote:
neil wrote:
Hank W. wrote: Eventually I didn't have to pay any tax, because the car was too old,
Does that mean that you dont have to pay taxes when the car is more than 10 years old?

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:48 pm

Timppa wrote: It's a bit "funny" that the car tax might be higher than the car itself.
Finnish cars are really painted tax.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

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Post by Guest » Tue Mar 30, 2004 4:40 pm

Timppa wrote:
Arno wrote:
neil wrote: Does that mean that you dont have to pay taxes when the car is more than 10 years old?


That depends on the original value of the car and to which car it is compared.
But in most cases I think it's safe to say that, yes.

Unless ofcourse the vehicle is SO old that its ancientness supplies it with new value :wink:

Geri Bush
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Post by Geri Bush » Tue Mar 30, 2004 7:59 pm

[quote="Hank W."][quote="Timppa"] It's a bit "funny" that the car tax might be higher than the car itself. [/quote]

Finnish cars are really painted tax.[/quote]

You said that. I bought a 1995 used car in Germany for under 10,000€ and paid OVER 10,000€ in Finnish taxes. Something like 120% tax. Yippee! But still cheaper than buying the same car in Finland. I'm happy!

Geri

hemuli

Post by hemuli » Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:15 pm

Wasn't there a larger car dealer near Tampere who sells used cars straight from Germany? You also have to pay the tax yourself.
Does anybody know the address of this one?

Rosamunda
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Post by Rosamunda » Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:50 am

dusty_bin wrote:Buy a junker and plan to scrap it. Driving to here is cheaper than paying for transport for the goodies. Keep the car six months and then kill it. If you can find a way to keep it then u win a bonus, if not then still money saved.
Not sure what you mean by kill it.... Fill it with pink granite and drive it into a lake????

You will still be due for import tax.

A friend of mine, here on vacation, recently wrote her car off in Finland. The insurer had the wreck shipped back to the UK because that was cheaper than scrapping it in Finland.... import duties would have to have been paid!!!!!!!

dusty_bin
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Post by dusty_bin » Wed Mar 31, 2004 1:56 am

in that case perhaps creativity is called for. It has to be imported to scrap it! Madness!

jwesthues
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Post by jwesthues » Wed Mar 31, 2004 3:29 pm

shoppo wrote:regulations about who could drive the car: for a period of time (I think it was a year), there had to be at least one member of our family in the car (even if it was just the baby!). So, there is no possibility of lending the car to other people for a while.
Actually, it's three years. If you import the car when moving here, it is actually pretty straight forward in my opinion. However, you have to own the car for three years of PHYSICAL residence in Finland before letting anyone drive it without a member of your nuclear family in it, or selling it. If you sell the car before the three years is up, they slap you with the import tax. If your best friend is caught (for whatever reason) driving without a member of your family in the car, they slap you with the import tax.

As regards alterations, you shouldn't have much of a problem with most newer cars. We brought over a 2000 VW, and only had to add the back fog light (cost about EURO 60 at the nearest Teboil).

We had no problems getting it through customs - just the physical hastle of having the car in länsisatama and the customs office responsible for cars in Sorniainen.

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Post by Guest » Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:14 am

jwesthues wrote:Actually, it's three years. If you import the car when moving here, it is actually pretty straight forward in my opinion. However, you have to own the car for three years of PHYSICAL residence in Finland before letting anyone drive it without a member of your nuclear family in it, or selling it. If you sell the car before the three years is up, they slap you with the import tax. If your best friend is caught (for whatever reason) driving without a member of your family in the car, they slap you with the import tax.

That depends on how long you have owned the car in your previous country.
You've had to be in posession for at least three years. Would the total of those three years have been already in your previous country of residence, then it's only one year in Finland that you need to own the car before you can sell it without being slapped with the import tax.

The duration of which you cannot lend your car to anyone without lending along at least one part of your family (that includes unmarried partner) is one year, regardless the time you owned the car previously.

jwesthues
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Post by jwesthues » Thu Apr 01, 2004 2:41 pm

Arno, if you are right, then I dealt with a moron in the customs office (which strangely does not seem that unlikely). She clearly explained in both Finnish and English (for my wife's benefit) that we had a three year wait on both lending and selling. We owned thcar for three years before moving to Finland. She even further explained that if we spent time outside of Finland, that would "stop the clock" until we were back in Finland - even vacations, etc. - which seems a little odd to me... I'll have to follow-up on this.

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Richard
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Post by Richard » Thu Apr 01, 2004 2:53 pm

Arno wrote:
jwesthues wrote:Actually, it's three years. If you import the car when moving here, it is actually pretty straight forward in my opinion. However, you have to own the car for three years of PHYSICAL residence in Finland before letting anyone drive it without a member of your nuclear family in it, or selling it. If you sell the car before the three years is up, they slap you with the import tax. If your best friend is caught (for whatever reason) driving without a member of your family in the car, they slap you with the import tax.

That depends on how long you have owned the car in your previous country.
You've had to be in posession for at least three years. Would the total of those three years have been already in your previous country of residence, then it's only one year in Finland that you need to own the car before you can sell it without being slapped with the import tax.

The duration of which you cannot lend your car to anyone without lending along at least one part of your family (that includes unmarried partner) is one year, regardless the time you owned the car previously.
Arno is correct here from my experience. One further detail probably not relevant to a car, but was for my motorbike. The 1 year in Finland has to be time the vehicle is insured and legal for road use (My bike I had to wait for 2 summers to pass to have accrued 1 years road time). Probably not relevant unless car is a summer toy only.

Guest

Post by Guest » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:01 pm

I've happen to been working on this thing for the . how-to's so I have some documentation here (Hank, you'll be getting the stuff ASAP, I'm workin on it!).

Here's a quote regarding this issue:

A vehicle which has been imported free of car tax or at a reduced tax may not, without payment of the tax, be sold, hired out or otherwise transferred to another person, or permitted to be used, whether for a cosnderation or free of charge, by persons other than members of the immigrant's family before the vehicle has been under ownership, or under the possession leading to ownership, of the immigrant or his spouse and in the use of the immigrant for all in 3 years, of which, however, at least 1 year in Finland.

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Richard
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Post by Richard » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:31 pm

Arno wrote:I've happen to been working on this thing for the . how-to's so I have some documentation here (Hank, you'll be getting the stuff ASAP, I'm workin on it!).

Here's a quote regarding this issue:

A vehicle which has been imported free of car tax or at a reduced tax may not, without payment of the tax, be sold, hired out or otherwise transferred to another person, or permitted to be used, whether for a cosnderation or free of charge, by persons other than members of the immigrant's family before the vehicle has been under ownership, or under the possession leading to ownership, of the immigrant or his spouse and in the use of the immigrant for all in 3 years, of which, however, at least 1 year in Finland.
Arno are you posting this for further info, or suggesting I'm incorrect?


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