if i was to take my car to finland, which is right hand driven, how do i go abour avoiding paying the import duties if possible, and is my car practical for the roads there? what i mean, headlights am sure need to be adjusted, insurance needs to be bought, road tax? could i live with the vehicle long term?
thanks.
Right hand car in Finland.
Yes, if the car originally had the steering on the "wrong" side, you do not have to change it to the otherside. 
Further info on importing a car as removal goods you can find in the customer bulletin of the Finnish Customs: http://www.tulli.fi/en/02_Publications/ ... 006_en.pdf
Further info on importing a car as removal goods you can find in the customer bulletin of the Finnish Customs: http://www.tulli.fi/en/02_Publications/ ... 006_en.pdf
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Hank W.
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If you go to http://www.tulli.fi and read the part of "importing vehicles as removal goods" to get your head totally twirling with the legal hoops and whistles...
Basically you may bring under certain conditions a car to Finland free of import duties, but there are some restrictions then to its use, as you cannot let a mate borrow it, and sales is not allowed within a moratorium of 2 years. Not that anyone would be much interested in buying a car with the steering wheel on the passenger seat (so unless its a classic I wouldn't really bother, as selling it would require a trip back to the UK or peddling it to someone as an escape vehicle).
To get the car into Finnish plates you'd need to change the headlights and maybe a few other things like that. Insurance depends on the age of the car, your residence and engine size (the car is insured, not the driver as in the UK).
Now if you get a bright idea and wish to buy a car say from Germany and import that, but cannot wiggle it in as removal goods, then the tax value of the car is assessed by the infamous trilby-method i.e. pulled from the hat - depends on tha tax value of a Finnish car and then calculated by some obfuscated mathematics and slammed with 22% VAT on top.
Basically you may bring under certain conditions a car to Finland free of import duties, but there are some restrictions then to its use, as you cannot let a mate borrow it, and sales is not allowed within a moratorium of 2 years. Not that anyone would be much interested in buying a car with the steering wheel on the passenger seat (so unless its a classic I wouldn't really bother, as selling it would require a trip back to the UK or peddling it to someone as an escape vehicle).
To get the car into Finnish plates you'd need to change the headlights and maybe a few other things like that. Insurance depends on the age of the car, your residence and engine size (the car is insured, not the driver as in the UK).
Now if you get a bright idea and wish to buy a car say from Germany and import that, but cannot wiggle it in as removal goods, then the tax value of the car is assessed by the infamous trilby-method i.e. pulled from the hat - depends on tha tax value of a Finnish car and then calculated by some obfuscated mathematics and slammed with 22% VAT on top.
Last edited by Hank W. on Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
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Hank W.
- The Motorhead
- Posts: 29973
- Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 10:00 pm
- Location: Mushroom Mountain
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The thing is, you can bring a car in and drive around for a time as long as you are not a resident. The second you register as a resident, your driving turns illegal, and the customs sometimes takes a bit of an anal stand of "removal" category, so you need to 'deconfuse' the paperwork bit. Bringing a car in is doable, but if you try to get cute they might nail you with a bill with a lot of zeroes.
Oh, a car is a luxury object subject to luxury taxes
Public transport... errrmmm... maybe in the cities but not in the boonies. Then again you can look at Denmark. They have a 180% car tax + 25% VAT on top - no wonder "bicycling is popular".
Oh, a car is a luxury object subject to luxury taxes
Public transport... errrmmm... maybe in the cities but not in the boonies. Then again you can look at Denmark. They have a 180% car tax + 25% VAT on top - no wonder "bicycling is popular".Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
On contraray, public transport here kind of sucks. Maybe it's good in Helsinki region but apart from there you're lucky not to depend on public transport! So, the government is pretty smart: As everyone needs a car it's convenient to put high taxes on them. People would buy them anyway and generate a nice source of income for the government.simlee888 wrote:looks like finland does'nt like people owning cars due to the hugn taxes invloved, but i guess public transport is far better than in the uk.
OK, the new rules are slightly more confusing.
I beleive you need to own the car for 3 years.
at least 6months of that in the foreign country.
at least 1 year in finland.
So regardless of how long you have owned it, the 1yr still applies.
My friend just brought a BMW back from the US and tax was about 1200E.
BUT as Hank says, the ONLY reason to do this is for the profit you can make due to the higher prices in Finland. Your car will be worthless (except for tax purposes)
Oulu has pretty good bus system and apartments are pretty cheap near the centre. I lived there for a few years and never missed having a car.
I have a friend who brought a car in. The bit to think about is that once in, you cant avoid the fees....and they keep on coming.
Another example is daytime running lights, the reflectors need to be the correct colors.... on modern cars this is often not so easy as it requires computer updates, and in some cases manufacturers will not allow EU coutries to *interload* SW updates from other countries....
A friend was just quoted 1200E for them to TRY AND SEE IF they could update his SW to get the daytime running lights configured correctly!!
I beleive you need to own the car for 3 years.
at least 6months of that in the foreign country.
at least 1 year in finland.
So regardless of how long you have owned it, the 1yr still applies.
My friend just brought a BMW back from the US and tax was about 1200E.
BUT as Hank says, the ONLY reason to do this is for the profit you can make due to the higher prices in Finland. Your car will be worthless (except for tax purposes)
Oulu has pretty good bus system and apartments are pretty cheap near the centre. I lived there for a few years and never missed having a car.
I have a friend who brought a car in. The bit to think about is that once in, you cant avoid the fees....and they keep on coming.
Another example is daytime running lights, the reflectors need to be the correct colors.... on modern cars this is often not so easy as it requires computer updates, and in some cases manufacturers will not allow EU coutries to *interload* SW updates from other countries....
A friend was just quoted 1200E for them to TRY AND SEE IF they could update his SW to get the daytime running lights configured correctly!!
The engine heater is an extra cost, but prolongs the lifesspan of the car, it would make sense to have these fitted in the UK too.penelope wrote:....and a full set of studded winter tyres, engine heater, etc....
(just my 2 cents worth)
The full set of studded tyres is not an extra cost. Your car will need tyres in the future, having winter tyres means you aren't wearing out your summer tyres so quickly.
You are just paying for them sooner rather than later but in the long term the cost is about the same. In six and a half years I'm on my second set of winter tyres and second set of summer tyres, and there was a lot of mileage left in the first sets.
