Moving from a non-eu country

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When you're moving abroad, I know the best policy is to only pack what you can carry but I have some books that I would be very sorry to leave behind.
I've checked with the post office and they gave me an estimate of 120 euros for a 20kg package (which is the max. weight per one box.)
I have around 50 large photo books, I can say goodbye to some of them and fit everything into two boxes. It will take ages but seems financially doable.( I paid around 40 euros to fedex for an envelope last month, that was insane.)
My question is about customs duty. I'll be shipping from a non-eu country to Finland. Does anyone know the customs policy concerning personal belongings? Are personal belongings dutiable? If so what will be tax rate?
I'm assuming it would be really hard to clear them through customs myself if they get stuck considering I can't speak finnish and also it'll be impossible for me to carry those boxes myself so I need a door-to-door option.

In short, how can I pull this one off? Kiitos

[Rip]

As a main rule you don't have to pay duty for stuff you bring here when moving (with some exceptions): http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... 008_en.pdf

In my experience they don't really care about used low value items even otherwise

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But my books look good as new just kidding, Rip thank you for answering.
The problem is I can't carry them with me, so technically I won't be bringing them when I move. They will treated just like any other package sent from a non-eu country. (The guy at the post office didn't know a paperwork to avoid that.) I'm of course concerned about duty fees but I'm more concerned about the trip to the customs, handling things there without speaking finnish and being stuck there with boxes I can't possibly lift.

[Upphew]

But my books look good as new just kidding, Rip thank you for answering.
The problem is I can't carry them with me, so technically I won't be bringing them when I move. They will treated just like any other package sent from a non-eu country. (The guy at the post office didn't know a paperwork to avoid that.) I'm of course concerned about duty fees but I'm more concerned about the trip to the customs, handling things there without speaking finnish and being stuck there with boxes I can't possibly lift.

If you move and hire movers to deal with your piano, would that be any different than hiring post to deal with your books?

[Adrian42]

I'm of course concerned about duty fees but I'm more concerned about the trip to the customs,
and being stuck there with boxes I can't possibly lift.

Contact with customs is usually through phone/email/letters.

If they don't let your stuff through you will anyway not get access to it.
If they let it through, it will be delivered normally.

When you are sending photo books, customs shouldn't be a problem.
I'd be more worried about how the boxes and their contents look like after the shipment.

If you are shipping from Turkey, Turkey is part of the European Union Customs Union and there is no customs between the EU and Turkey (except for agricultural products).

handling things there without speaking finnish

Don't worry about that, you can expect that everyone working at Finnish customs speaks a very good English.
Just like everyone official you have contact with in Helsinki (e.g. police, tax office) will usually speak a very good English.

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Upphew, hiring movers to deal with my piano wouldn't probably cost 5 times more than the piano itself. So, it's different.

Thanks Adrian, that was helpful.

[ritan7471]

I sent several boxes of my things in the post when I moved to Finland (professional relocation company had a minimum of 3x the cost of the post office). 6 of the 13 boxes were delivered to my door by the postman, and the other 7 had to clear customs. They opened one box to check it was household and personal goods and let me take the rest with me, duty-free. If you are moving to Finland and fill out the forms from the Tulli website they do not treat your packages the same as any other packages from a non-eu country. They treat them as your personal belongings.

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Ritan, thank you for your answer.
Do you happen to remember any details about those forms? Do I fill them beforehand and somehow send them with the boxes or they are only required after they got stock?
Did you had any electronic items in the boxes? I'll take all the electronics with me but I was thinking maybe I can send two speakers and an amp via post.

[ritan7471]

I included a copy with the package (I put it behind the shipping form in the plastic envelope that I stuck to the box) but do keep a copy with you, because they didn't even look there, and it was nice to be able to just hand over the copies rather than dig them out of each box.

I did not bring any electronics with me because most of my electonics aside from laptop, ipad, phone, etc that I brought as carry-on luggage wouldn't work in Finland without a voltage converter so I sold it all before I moved (my move is permanent).

The forms I filled in were here: http://www.tulli.fi/en/businesses/eServ ... ms/45e.pdf

And here is more information about bringing personal effects: http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... 008_en.pdf

I'm not sure how the rules change if your move is not permanent, but found that I got a very quick answer in English when I used the contact information on the Tulli website. The rules allow you to send things in advance of the move but the Tulli officer explained that I would need to get a power of attorney for my husband. So instead, I just dropped my boxes at the post office on my way to the airport

Good luck with your move!

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Thank you very much for all the information Ritan.
Initial plan is to be there min. 4 years but I'm moving to Finland with a student visa, so I won't be considered a permanent resident. I'll only post 2-3 boxes anyway but it may be a good idea to send an e-mail and check with Tulli first. Thanks again.