Import VAT in Finland: goods from outside the EU, Customs or the VAT return?

Karma Accounts · Published 27 October 2026

If your business is in the Finnish VAT register when Customs accepts the import declaration, you do not pay import VAT to Customs. You calculate it yourself and report it on your VAT return for the month in which the customs decision was issued, under "Imports of goods from outside the EU" and "Tax on imports of goods from outside the EU". To the extent the goods qualify for deduction, you deduct the same amount on the same return; when they are fully for deductible use, nothing is left to pay. Private individuals and businesses not in the VAT register pay the import VAT to Finnish Customs (Tulli) with the duties. Either way, the import declaration goes to Customs.

Customs or the Tax Administration

Since 1 January 2018, the Tax Administration has handled import VAT for importers in the VAT register. Your status when the declaration is accepted decides:

Importer when the declaration is accepted	Who collects the VAT	How
In the VAT register (a sole trader: goods for the business)	Tax Administration	VAT return in MyTax
Not in the register, or application pending	Customs	customs invoice
Private person, or registered sole trader importing for private use	Customs	customs invoice

For a registered company, the use of the goods affects only the deduction. Registering afterwards, even with a retroactive start date, does not move an import from Customs to the Tax Administration. Customs also levies the VAT from any importer when customs rules were breached, for example when goods were not declared.

An import means goods entering the EU VAT area from outside it, for example from China, the United States or Great Britain (Northern Ireland follows the EU rules for goods). Åland is outside the EU VAT area, so Customs treats goods moving between Åland and mainland Finland or other EU countries as imports too.

Who is the importer

The declarant is liable, but if the declarant is a representative, the representative's principal is liable instead (AVL 86 b §). A VAT-registered company importing for its business must be the importer on the declaration. When a forwarder acts as an indirect representative, it lodges the declaration in its own name on your behalf and enters your Business ID; you remain the importer, and only you can deduct the VAT. If it names the wrong company, ask Customs to invalidate the declaration.

The delivery term decides who pays for what, not who owes the VAT. Under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), which Customs describes as delivered cleared for import, the seller also pays for the customs formalities and the price includes the import taxes; under DAP the seller pays the freight and related costs to the destination. If a DDP seller declares the goods as importer, you are not the importer and cannot deduct that import VAT.

How to calculate the base

Start from the customs value on the customs decision, usually the price paid for the goods including transport and insurance up to where they enter the EU. Then add (AVL 88–93 §):

Duties and charges levied on import, such as customs duty and anti-dumping duty, but not the VAT itself, plus taxes and other charges payable outside Finland. Car tax stays out.
Transport and related costs to the first destination in Finland under the transport contract: freight, loading, unloading, insurance, the forwarding commission and port goods charges. If you already know when the declaration is accepted that the goods go on to another place in Finland or the EU, costs to that place go in too.

Do not add costs already in the customs value, but check what it covers: transport after EU entry is not in it, and only part of air freight is. Multiply by the rate: 25.5 % for most goods, 13.5 % for example for food (see VAT rates in 2026). If one shipment mixes rates, split shared costs such as freight by the value of each group of goods.

Customs' comparison data in MyTax (customs values, duties and charges) is a check, not the answer: the real base is usually higher, because it leaves out costs outside the customs value.

Which month it belongs to

Import VAT goes on the return for the period in which the customs decision was issued, not the month of the supplier's invoice or the day the goods arrived (AVL 135 a §). A quarterly or annual filer uses the quarter or year containing that date. In the special procedure for imports (AVL 100 a §), the month the declaration was accepted applies instead. The deduction goes on the same return; keep the customs decision with your bookkeeping, because the deduction rests on it. If Customs later corrects the decision, correct the return for the original period.

Worked example at 25.5 %

A Helsinki Oy in the VAT register, filing monthly and using the goods only for taxable sales, buys electronics from a US supplier; the customs value covers sea freight to Helsinki. A forwarder clears the goods in the Oy's name, and they go on by truck to the Oy's warehouse in Tampere, as the transport contract says.

Item	Euros	Document
Customs value	8 000.00	customs decision
Customs duty	240.00	customs decision
Forwarding commission	85.00	forwarder's invoice
Unloading and transport to Tampere	275.00	forwarder's invoice
Import VAT base	8 600.00
Import VAT 25.5 %	2 193.00

The forwarder charges no VAT on these services, as their value is in the import VAT base (AVL 71 § 2). The customs decision is dated Wednesday 14 October 2026, so the October return shows 8 600.00 under "Imports of goods from outside the EU", 2 193.00 under "Tax on imports of goods from outside the EU" and the same 2 193.00 within "Tax deductible for the tax period". It is due on Monday 14 December 2026, as 12 December is a Saturday. A decision dated 30 September, with the goods reaching Tampere on 2 October, would belong to September, due Thursday 12 November.

If the Oy were not yet in the VAT register, the forwarder's costs would be declared on the customs declaration and Customs would levy the same 2 193 euros on its customs invoice.

Foreign companies importing into Finland

The same rule applies: what counts is the company's status in the Finnish register when the declaration is accepted.

Registered for VAT in Finland: it reports import VAT on its Finnish VAT return like a Finnish company and deducts it to the extent the goods qualify for deduction.
Registered only for the notification duty (for example for intra-EU acquisitions): it cannot report import VAT and must register as VAT-liable if it imports.
Not registered: Customs levies the VAT. An eligible business may reclaim it, to the extent it would be deductible, through the refund procedure for foreign businesses, where import VAT belongs to the month of customs clearance.

Where a principal without a Finnish Business ID uses an indirect representative, Customs holds the representative liable for the import VAT too. Whether the company must register depends on what it sells in Finland afterwards: see our guide to VAT registration for foreign companies and, from outside the EU, VAT representatives.

Low-value parcels and IOSS

When a web shop registered for the import scheme (IOSS) sells goods from outside the EU to a private person or a business outside the VAT register, in a consignment with an intrinsic value of at most 150 euros and with no excise goods, the buyer pays the VAT at checkout and the IOSS number on the declaration prevents a second charge. See e-commerce VAT and the OSS.

Not the same as buying from another EU country

Goods from a VAT-registered seller in another EU country are not imports: the base is the purchase price, the VAT belongs to the month after receipt (or the receipt month if the invoice is also received then), and other fields apply. See our article on intra-EU acquisitions.

Common mistakes

Using the invoice or arrival date instead of the customs decision date.
Assuming the customs value covers all freight. Check what it includes, add the rest to the first destination, and count nothing twice.
Treating the forwarder's invoice as the VAT document. The deduction rests on the customs decision. VAT that Customs levied, passed on by a forwarder, stays out of the import fields.
Wrong importer on the declaration, such as another company or your personal ID.

How Karma helps

Karma Accounts keeps the books and files VAT returns for importing businesses in Finland and for foreign companies registered for VAT here, building the base from each customs decision and the forwarder's invoices. See our Finnish VAT services for foreign companies; each client gets a quote through our quote request form.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay import VAT to Customs or on my VAT return in Finland?

On your VAT return, if your company is in the Finnish VAT register when Customs accepts the declaration; a registered sole trader only for business goods. Otherwise, or if customs rules were breached, Customs levies it.

Which month does import VAT belong to?

The period in which the customs decision was issued, except in the special procedure for imports. The deduction goes on the same return.

Does a foreign company need Finnish VAT registration to import goods?

Not for the import as such: without registration, Customs levies the VAT. A company registered only for the notification duty must register as VAT-liable to import, and later sales here may require registration.

Sources

Please note: this is general information about Finnish rules, not advice for your own situation, and the rules change. Ask us before you act on it.

VAT returns off your desk?

We keep the books, file the VAT return by its due date and tell you the amount before it is due. A sole trader pays from 69 € a month and a limited company from 199 €, plus VAT.

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