Importing a car as "Personal Goods" from EU

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 2:50 am

Dealing with the Finnish customs authorities about importing a car from the UK as personal goods has become very muddled for me on certain points.

I know I have to own the car 6 months prior to bringing it to Finland and show that I have been using it in the UK i.e insured and taxed ( and there's me thinking I could by a lhd car in Germany and lock it up in the garage for 6 months.. oh was I wrong)

The issues here is that within the 6 months that I would have owned the car abroad before officially bringing it here, I was wondering whether I could drive it over and transport a few of my possessions. Would the time in Finland count against me or will I categorically not allowed by Tulli to bring into Suomi as personal goods later.

One customs official said driving here temporarily "for holiday purpose" is not a problem if the car is taken back out. Not sure though if I could fully trust this and the disclaimer at the bottom of Customs emails does not fill me with confidence " Answer does not bind the State "

So does anyone have good experience of using a car temporarily in Finland before then officially importing it as personal goods.

PS any info of custom checks they do at Hanko would be useful.

Thank you

Pedro

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abishopp · Post by **abishopp** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:46 pm

I am moving to Finland soon and am considering buying a car in the UK and importing it. I'd like to choose one which is relatively inexpensive to run in Finland. How important is the spec of car to overall running price, i.e. are insurance premiums/tax based on size of engine, number of doors, value/age of car? I'd obviously expect a small car to be cheaper to run, but what I would really like to know is will it make a big difference if I buy say a 1997 VW Polo 1.4 or a 1994 Fiat Uno 1.0. Any other tips would be appreciated, such as advice on availiability of spare parts. Can I use my UK driving lisence or do I need to apply for an international one.

Thanks in advance for your help

Tony

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 8:04 pm

Sparks1 how long does "holiday use/temporary stay" last for. The reason I ask is that I wish to drive over possesions in April, let my wife use the car until late August when I return with it to the UK. Load it up again with worldly belongings and drive back in late September. At this point I will declare the car as tax exempt under the "personal goods" clause for importing a car.

I just dont want Tuli to turn round and say "the car has to be outside of Suomi for a clear, uninterrupted 6 moths".

What do you think. Anyone in the same boat here.

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:09 am

Discovered from Tulli that I am allowed to stay 72 days in the year before registering the car as personal goods. Cheers!

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 9:03 am

Just remember then the restrictions that will be put on the car (not able to sell, not able to let anyone else drive it, the time your not in finland not counting towards the time the car is having the 2-year restrictions, not to mention the nonexistant resale value etc...) and no use trying to get a refund for the tax if you decide in one year to move out.

Oh, and bugger the headlights a problem (get them from Germany on the way here) - you need to get a block heater and get the underside of the car rustproofed - and get those plastic liners for the wheelwells also. Otherwise your car will disintegrate into rust the minute you get the stamp its got no restrictions.

Cod · Post by **Cod** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 3:38 pm

..Toyota reckon that we can get a tax free car from Finland, drive it around on Finnish export plates for 6 months then drive it straight back into Finland...

...this is great since it means

i) we don't need to register here in UK
ii)we don't need to MOT the car for road worthyness in UK
ii)we can run it on Finnish insurance

so we get a Toyota Yaris (scoff! but we're not loaded) for E 10500, pay tax at %22.5 in uk and get it back to Finland in 6 months saving around %20.

So.....can anyone spot the obvious mistake in my logic...( I can't

)

taa
Dave

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 11:18 am

Finnish export plates.

Cod · Post by **Cod** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 11:35 am

Hi Hank...

if you had a 'penny for your thoughts', you know you'ld be minted by now..

heres what tax free Honda in Finland said...

"Finnish export plates are valid up to 13 months depending on when the registration start.How long you can drive there, depends on the country where you are and their regulations"...

since I can't get insurance in uk till I get registered and MOT'd, all that would need to be Finnish.....

...I'll follow this up with DVLA today and see if they can give me an idea when their 'import plates grace' runs low.....

Dave

Cod · Post by **Cod** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 2:46 pm

...seems do-able, DVLA simply arnt interested....if its on export plates then it can be driven for 6months in every 12 months on foreign plates....and Customs office said, no problem...pay your tax here as long as DVLA are happy with us driven a car on foreign plates....

Dave

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 3:21 pm

The http://www.ake.fi page has information on export registration. There are a few points there to observe. Looks like a pretty straighforward job.

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