Duty exemption for returnees

As a returnee, you may be granted a duty exemption for your personal belongings if your normal residence is located in Sweden, but you have been staying in a country outside the EU for more than one year for professional reasons.

Duty exemption for personal property

You can be granted duty exemption for personal property that has belonged to you for at least six months before your departure to Sweden. The personal property must also have been used by you or a member of your household for at least six months during which you stayed outside the EU for work.

You must also intend to use your personal property for the same purpose in Sweden after your return.

During the first year from when you were granted duty exemption for the goods, you may not transfer any part of the personal property to anyone else in any way. If during this period you want to sell, lend, pledge, rent or give away any part of the property, you must first notify Swedish Customs. This is because you will have to pay customs duties, VAT and other taxes on the items. There is no exemption from this time requirement.

You have one year to bring your personal property home in order to apply for duty exemption.

Duty exemption for vehicles

To be granted duty exemption for your vehicle, the vehicle must have belonged to you for at least six months before your departure to Sweden. In addition, the vehicle must have been used by you or a member of your household for at least six months, during which you stayed outside the EU for work purposes.

You must also intend to use the vehicle for the same purpose in Sweden after your return.

During the first year from the time you were granted duty exemption for the vehicle, you may not transfer it in any way to anyone else. If you want to sell, lend, pledge, rent or give away the vehicle during this period, you must first notify Swedish Customs. This is because you will have to pay customs duties, VAT and other taxes on the vehicle. There is no exemption from this time requirement.

How to request exemption from duty as a returnee

You can register your personal belongings with Swedish Customs by completing a number of forms. Learn more about the respective documents:

You can submit the documents in the following ways:

When you arrive with your personal belongings, you can present the documents to a Customs Officer at the border.
If your belongings are being delivered by a removal firm, you must provide the firm with the documents along with a power of attorney for the driver to present them to a Customs Officer at the border.
If you are to retrieve your personal belongings from a storage, present your documents to the customs clearance office at the warehouse where your items are located.

Where to find our customs clearance offices.

Power of Attorney For private individuals / sole proprietorships. Pdf, 160.8 kB.

The form “Declaration for obtaining relief from customs duty and tax on personal belongings when returning to Sweden”

Once you have completed the form “Declaration for obtaining relief from customs duty and tax on personal belongings when returning to Sweden”, you need to print and sign the original document.

You can either submit the completed and signed form directly to the customs office or scan it and attach your electronic customs declaration. If you use a representative to lodge your customs declaration, the representative can also help you attach the declaration form to the file.

Download the form “Declaration for obtaining relief from customs duty and tax on personal belongings when returning to Sweden”. Pdf, 256.7 kB.

Packing list

A so called packing list should contain information regarding your personal belongings. Specify capital goods, such as vehicles, televisions, computers, refrigerators and similar items. Other items can be reported under collective terms, such as books, household goods, linen and clothing.

Supporting documents

If you belong to the returnee category, you may need to provide supporting documents, such as:

Registration in the municipality where your residence has been located
Residence permit and, where applicable, work permit
Certificate from your employer
Lease agreement or contract of sale for your residence
Proof that you are moving back to Sweden (e.g. proof of residence permit or proof of right of residence, a decision from the Swedish Tax Authority concerning registration in the Population Register, employer’s certificate, lease agreement or proof of purchase for a residence)

You may also be asked to present documents proving that you have met the deadlines for owning and using a certain product in a country outside of the EU, such as:

Purchase documents (i.e. receipts, invoices or hire-purchase agreements)
Foreign insurance documents
Registration and traffic insurance documents for vehicles
Shipping documents

Making your customs declaration

If you choose to handle your customs declaration yourself, you can provide the information on a simplified form and lodge it at a customs office where you will be assisted by a customs officer to enter the declaration into our import system.

Forms

Download the Import manual customs declaration form. If you have several different types of goods, you may also need an supplement sheet to the form.

Forms for making your customs declaration:

Data for manual customs declarations for imports Pdf, 162.1 kB.

Data for manual customs declarations for imports - Supplement sheet Pdf, 135.6 kB.