Customs and Duty-Free Household Goods for Moving to Norway

The Norwegian texts set three tests: a continuous year abroad, use of the goods there, and continued use in Norway. Tolletaten’s Norwegian page says you must have oppholdt deg i utlandet sammenhengende i minst ett år, meaning stayed abroad continuously for at least a year, and must have kept and used the items abroad and still intend to use them in Norway.

The sources do not word the use test the same way. The VAT regulation says the person importing must have eiet eller besittet og brukt the item abroad, which is owned or possessed and used, and the Bokmål form (RD-0030B, edition 07-2022) says eid eller besittet og brukt. The Nynorsk form (RD-0030N, edition 07-2022) (opens in a new window) says eigd eller hatt og brukt, and the English form (RD-0030E, edition 05-2023 (opens in a new window)) says “owned or owned and used”. Tolletaten’s Norwegian page says oppbevart og brukt, kept and used, and its English page says “owned and used”. None of them gives a number of months for household goods.

The goods must serve a personal purpose. Section 7-3 of the VAT Act (opens in a new window) makes the exemption for removal goods depend on the goods being used only for personal purposes and not exploited commercially. Tolletaten puts it as “for personal use”, and says there is no specific period you must keep the goods before you can sell them without losing the exemption. A leisure boat is the exception, with a holding period of its own.

The regulation gives the relief to goods imported by and for people who have stayed abroad for that year. The form turns this into a signed statement that you were registered as resident abroad and stayed there continuously for at least a year before moving to Norway. People registered as emigrated from Norway are mentioned on Tolletaten’s page only for the identity-number step, covered below.

You need a Norwegian identity number to declare removal goods. If you have neither a personnummer (national identity number) nor a D-nummer (temporary identity number), you apply to Tolletaten for a TRK number, short for Toll Registrert Kunde. The same applies if the population register shows you as having emigrated from Norway, so that the goods can be declared for you.

Tolletaten’s TRK page (opens in a new window) says the application is made online in the portal Altinn and that the paper form is no longer available. Someone with no Norwegian ID number logs in to Altinn without a personnummer or D-nummer and creates a new user first. A private person attaches a copy of valid ID, such as a passport, and a customs document, invoice or consignment note linked to the goods.

Tolletaten adds that a freight forwarder often applies for the number on a customer’s behalf, and recommends settling this with the forwarder in advance. A TRK number you already hold can be used again. Ask your removal company early whether it will apply for you or expects you to.

The regulation and Tolletaten both name goods that stay outside the relief. Motor vehicles, aircraft, occupational equipment, food, drink, tobacco and nicotine products are excluded. They are declared in the ordinary way, with VAT and any other duties. The notes to the RD-0030 form add that new goods are not covered either, with an exception for new goods you carry personally as travel goods, which the notes tie to a value limit.

Travellers’ allowances can still apply. Tolletaten says that if you travel with the load you may bring the same duty-free quota of alcohol and tobacco as other travellers. The form says that quota must be with you when you arrive, because alcohol and tobacco in a load sent later has to be declared in the ordinary way.

Weapons need a permit from the police. Tolletaten’s tips page says weapons can come in duty-free as moving goods, but a weapon permit and an import permit from the police are required first. The form’s notes say pepper spray and electroshock weapons count as weapons under the Weapons Act and are banned from import even where they are legal abroad.

Goods from a holiday home abroad cannot be declared as moving goods, so they are cleared in the usual way with duty and taxes. Our guide to international office and business removals covers moving a business rather than a household.

Some items need more than the RD-0030 form. Pets, plants, certain foods and goods covered by other legislation all have their own rules, and the form asks you to say if you carry any of them. Tolletaten’s examples of restricted goods include endangered species, food (potatoes included), medicines and herbs, plants, and cultural heritage items and works of art.

A pet can come as part of the household goods without customs duty or VAT if you have lived abroad for at least a year and owned the animal. Tolletaten’s pet page (opens in a new window) says it must be listed on the declaration, that the health requirements of Mattilsynet, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, must be met separately, and that for a rehomed dog or cat you must have owned and lived with the animal for at least six months; stray dogs and cats may not be brought in. For the general side of travelling with an animal, see moving abroad with a pet.

Money is checked too. If you carry the equivalent of more than NOK 25,000 in cash or other means of payment, you must report it to Tolletaten. On entry you hand in a declaration form in the red zone. Tolletaten’s page on currency (opens in a new window) says failing to report risks a fee of 20 percent of the whole amount, counted from the first krone. Bank transfers are not reported by private people.

The goods should come within a reasonable time and no later than a year after you move to Norway. If more than a year has passed, if the item is a leisure boat or if you want goods already brought into Norway approved afterwards, Tolletaten asks for a separate application. The VAT regulation lets customs extend the one-year deadline where there are special reasons.

Tolletaten’s page on special cases (opens in a new window) says most people need no application: handing in the declaration in the red zone is usually enough. The application can also be used before the goods arrive, for restricted goods or goods of unusually high commercial value, and Tolletaten recommends sending it well ahead, preferably four weeks before the goods reach the border.

When you carry part of the load and a carrier brings the rest, you still use one form for the whole move. Tolletaten’s tips page (opens in a new window) asks for two copies of the inventory, one for what you carry and one for what is sent, and two identical signed declarations. You show one set in the red zone, and the other travels with the carrier.

Goods sent by post must be declared as moving goods, with the inventory and the signed declaration attached. If a student’s parents transport the student’s belongings, they declare them on the student’s behalf, with a power of attorney from the student, an inventory and the signed declaration at the border.

Tolletaten’s moving-goods, special-cases and tips pages and section 7-3-2 of the VAT regulation make no distinction by the country you leave, and they do not mention the UK or the EU. Tolletaten’s import guide (opens in a new window) says everyone who brings goods into Norway must report to Tolletaten at the border and say what and how much they carry, privately imported goods included, so a load from the UK or an EU country reports like any other.

The RD-0030 form does ask one origin question: if you bring food or drink from outside the EU or the EEA, it asks you to say where it comes from.

Svalbard works differently. The import guide says Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Norway’s dependencies count as customs territory abroad, and goods from there are treated as goods from abroad. Tolletaten’s Svalbard page (opens in a new window) says no customs or import duties are to be introduced for goods brought into the Svalbard customs area, and that the duties to give advance notice, report and clear goods there are not yet in force.