Ordering or sending alcohol or tobacco to yourself from abroad – how to file and pay excise duties
If you order alcohol or tobacco products as a private individual from another EU country and you arrange their transport to Finland, you are liable to pay duty.
If you send alcohol or tobacco from abroad to Finland to youself, you must pay excise duties to the Tax Administration. Importing alcohol or tobacco is duty-free only if the products are for your own use and you bring them to Finland yourself. Sending products does not meet these requirements, so excise duties must be paid.
Before products can be sent to Finland, you must submit an advance notice to the Tax Administration and pay a guarantee. In the advance notice, you will need to specify the product group and product volume.
Excise duties on alcohol are determined according to the excise duty table for alcohol products (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).
Excise duties on tobacco are determined according to the excise duty table for tobacco products (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).
In addition, containers containing alcohol, alcoholic beverages or soft drinks are subject to the excise duty on beverage containers. The excise duty on beverage containers is €0.51 per litre of beverage.
Instructions for filing and payment
File and pay excise duties as follows:
File an advance notice and pay a guarantee.
After you have received the products, file and pay the excise duties.
1. File an advance notice and deposit a guarantee
You must report your order or consignment in advance and pay a guarantee corresponding to the excise duty on alcohol and tobacco before the products are sent to Finland. Note that excise duties must be paid even if the products were taxed in another EU country.
Also remember to submit an advance notice for the excise duty on beverage containers. However, you do not need to pay a guarantee for it.
You can file the advance notice and pay the guarantee in MyTax. You can see the guarantee amount, account number and excise duty number in MyTax. The advance notice serves as a template for the excise duty return.
You can also file the advance notice and report the guarantee on a paper form (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).
Send the form to:
Finnish Tax Administration, P.O. Box 20, FI-00052 VERO
If you file on paper, we will inform you of the guarantee amount and give you a bank account number. Pay the guarantee to the Tax Administration’s account. After we have received the guarantee, we will assign an excise duty number to your order or consignment. If necessary, give the excise duty number to the sender.
2. After you have received the products, file and pay the excise duties
File an excise duty return and pay the excise duties no later than on the 12th day of the month following the month when you received the products. If the due date is a Saturday, Sunday or other public holiday, you can pay on the next business day.
Example: If you receive the products you ordered or sent to Finland on 3 February, you must file and pay the excise duties by 12 March. If you receive the products on 30 May, you must file and pay the excise duties by 12 June.
If the guarantee you paid is not enough to cover the excise duties, you must pay the missing amount afterwards. You can see the excise duty amount in MyTax. If the guarantee you paid was too big, we will refund the excess amount to you.
Also remember to file and pay the excise duty on beverage containers.
File an excise duty return and pay the excise duties in MyTax.
You can also submit the excise duty returns on paper:
Excise duty on alcoholic beverages
- File a tax return for excise duty on alcoholic beverages
- (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)
Excise duty on beverage containers
- File a tax return for excise duty on beverage containers
- (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)
Excise duty on tobacco
- File a tax return for excise duty on tobacco
- (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)