Moving to Norway: customs and household goods
Household goods enter Norway free of duty and VAT if you have lived outside the country for at least a year, but the car always incurs charges. Removal goods are declared on both sides of the border.
Two declarations, one on each side
The Swedish side is an export declaration. The Norwegian side is a removal goods declaration (flyttegodserklæring), form RD-0030, which is handed in in the red lane at the border.
Out of Sweden. Swedish Customs (Tullverket) require your household goods to be declared for export when you move to a country outside the EU. This is done on a customs declaration with commodity code 9905 00 00 for personal property, and you attach a list on which vehicles, TV, computer, fridge and other capital goods are listed separately. The rest may be grouped together, for example "40 boxes of books". You can do it yourself at a customs office at the border, or let the removal company or a freight forwarder do it.
Into Norway. The removal goods cannot be cleared until the declaration has been handed in and correctly completed. It must be accompanied by an inventory list stating whether the goods are new or used, and if you have used a removal firm, the packing list you gave them must be presented.
When removal goods become duty free in Norway
- A year abroad
- You must have lived outside Norway continuously for at least one year. If you are moving from Sweden, your time here counts.
- Owned and used
- The goods must have been owned or held and used by you abroad, and must continue to be used by you in Norway.
- No later than a year after the move
- The removal goods must be brought in within a reasonable time and no later than one year after you moved. Norwegian Customs (Tolletaten) can extend the deadline on application.
- No value cap
- The value of the removal goods makes no difference to the relief, and it covers both duty and VAT.
Conditions for duty free removal goods
The relief covers both duty and 25 per cent Norwegian VAT, and it has no cap. A whole household can therefore go in without charges as long as the conditions are met.
What does not count as removal goods
- Cars and other motor vehicles
- Never removal goods. VAT, the one-off registration tax (engangsavgift) and the scrapping fee (vrakpantavgift) are payable, however long you have owned the car.
- Food, alcohol and tobacco
- Not removal goods. If they come in a load sent on after you, they must always be cleared through customs.
- Professional equipment
- Not removal goods, and neither are aircraft.
- New goods
- Not removal goods. What you carry with you on the journey is covered by the ordinary traveller's allowance.
Excluded from the relief
The car is never removal goods in Norway, however long you have owned it.
The car
This is the item that most often costs more than expected. Norway gives no relief from charges for a car when you move. You pay 25 per cent VAT on the customs value to Norwegian Customs, where an electric car is taxed only on the part of the value above 300,000 Norwegian kroner (NOK). You also pay the one-off registration tax, the scrapping fee and the greenhouse gas charge (klimagassavgift) to the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten).
On the Swedish side, the car must be declared for export to Swedish Customs before it leaves, and it must be available if Swedish Customs want to inspect it. It is then registered in Norway, and only after that deregistered in Sweden. Vehicle tax and motor insurance run until the deregistration is complete. The Swedish plates may be used for no more than 30 days after customs clearance in Norway.
For more on exporting the car itself, there is a separate page on exporting a car.
At the border
Svinesund on the E6 and Ørje on the E18 are open around the clock for the border crossing itself, but other matters are handled there Monday to Friday from 08.00 to 15.30. Plan the load around those hours until you have been told otherwise. Several Swedish customs offices at the border also process Norwegian documents, among them Eda, Hån, Idre, Storlien and Tärnaby.
If you bring weapons that require a licence, they must be declared to Swedish Customs when you leave. Animals, plants, medicines and certain cultural objects require their own permits, and cash over NOK 25,000 must be declared on entry.
Read on
Is your company exporting goods to Norway? That is covered on our page about exporting to Norway.
Moving to another country outside the EU? Read about moving from Sweden.
Common questions
Does my time in Sweden count as time abroad?
Yes. The requirement in Norway is that you have lived outside Norway continuously for at least one year. If you are moving from Sweden, it is therefore your time here that counts. Norwegian citizens moving home follow the same rule.
May I sell the furniture after the move?
Norway has no fixed period for which you must keep your household goods. Norwegian Customs state expressly that there is no such deadline. The requirement is that the goods are for your personal use and are not used commercially.
Can the removal company declare for me?
Yes, on both sides. In Sweden the removal company or a freight forwarder can declare the export. In Norway the carrier or a representative can declare using your signed removal goods declaration, preferably together with a power of attorney. If you are registered as having moved out of Norway in the National Population Register (Folkeregisteret), a TRK number is needed.
Can I move in several stages?
Yes, within the one year deadline. If the move is split up, there must be two identical sets of the inventory list and the declaration, one kept by you and one that travels with the load.
What about a boat?
Leisure boats have a rule of their own: five years abroad, at least twelve months of ownership, no more than 15 metres, and the relief is lost if the boat is sold within two years. Get in touch before the boat is shipped.
