The Norwegian border: what your removal van passes for free — and what never
Norway is EEA but stands outside the EU customs union: the border is real. Your household goods pass tax-free as removal goods — provided with the right declaration and an inventory list, through the red zone. Alcohol is never removal goods, new things aren't either, and whoever sends the mover across the border without papers brings the van to a standstill.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, your household goods go to Norway tax-free, but not by themselves. Norway is a member of the EEA, so you may live and work there. But it stands outside the EU customs union, so your things are simply imported.
Tolletaten, Norwegian Customs, exempts your removal goods from import duty and VAT, whatever their value. That applies if:
- you lived abroad for at least one continuous year;
- you owned and used the things there;
- you import them no later than one year after the move.
What you need: form RD0030, an inventory list and a declaration in the red zone, the lane for goods to declare.
The trap lies in what does not fall under it: alcohol, the car, new things, professional equipment and food.
Which conditions apply to the exemption?
Tolletaten names three, and for an ordinary Dutch emigrant they are true by themselves:
- you lived outside Norway for at least one continuous year;
- you kept and used the things during that time and will keep using them in Norway;
- you import them with your move.
The things must be for personal use. There is no minimum period to keep them afterwards. If you later sell something, the exemption does not lapse.
Note the flip side of "kept and used": new things are not removal goods. The laptop you bought just before leaving, the mattresses still in their plastic: VAT is simply due on those. So buy big items well before you leave, or only once you are there.
What do I fill in and bring?
You claim the exemption with the flyttegodserklæring (RD0030), the declaration for removal goods. You hand it in at the red zone. Without a correctly completed declaration the removal goods are not cleared, that is, not released by customs.
It comes with an inventory. Collective descriptions for the items are allowed.
Two details bring moves to a standstill:
- You are not there yourself. If a removal company, a friend or another private person drives the load across the border, the driver must be able to show the declaration signed by you, and Tolletaten advises giving them a power of attorney too.
- You do not yet have a Norwegian number. To declare removal goods you need an identification number. Without a Norwegian personal or d-number, you apply to Tolletaten for a TRK number, before the load arrives.
What falls outside the exemption?
| Category | What Tolletaten says |
|---|---|
| Cars and other motor vehicles | not exempt; engangsavgift and VAT, see below |
| Professional equipment | not exempt, declare separately |
| Food | not exempt, declare separately; own rules apply to some products |
| Alcohol and tobacco | not exempt; the ordinary traveller's allowance if you travel with the load |
| Weapons | police permit required |
| Animals and plants | own rules via Mattilsynet |
| Cash and other means of payment | declare above NOK 25,000 |
| Leisure boat | exempt only under its own conditions |
The car is the biggest item on that list; how the engangsavgift and the VAT work out is in your car to Norway. For a pet the chip, the passport and, for dogs, a tapeworm treatment just before the border apply. Animals are also declared in the red zone. See your pet to Norway.
How much alcohol may come, and what does the rest cost?
Alcohol is never removal goods. What is allowed is the ordinary traveller's allowance per person. For example:
- one litre of spirits, one and a half litres of wine and two litres of beer;
- or three litres of wine and two litres of beer, if you bring no spirits.
For wine and beer you must be eighteen, for drinks above 22 per cent twenty.
Above that you pay. Up to a certain quantity that can be done simply, via the app or in the red zone:
| Type (alcohol percentage) | Simplified up to | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Beer above 2.5 | 27 litres combined | NOK 26 per litre |
| Wine, above 4.7 and below 15 | 27 litres combined | NOK 71 per litre |
| Fortified wine, 15 up to and including 22 | 27 litres combined | NOK 136 per litre |
| Spirits, above 22 up to and including 60 | 4 litres | NOK 432 per litre |
Above those quantities the simplified route no longer applies, and it does not apply either to drink you buy in the tax-free shop at a Norwegian airport.
A wine cellar can move, but never for free. Fifty bottles of wine is almost 38 litres: more than the 27 litres of the simplified route, so an ordinary declaration instead of the fixed rate per litre. Work it out before you pack, or drink the cellar dry in the Netherlands and start again there.
For most households this is a footnote. How the border fits into the rest of the move is in the step-by-step plan for Norway.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Norway.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Tolletaten — removal goods (flyttegods), the conditions, form RD0030 and the exceptions — toll.no
- Tolletaten — the alcohol and tobacco quotas — toll.no
- Tolletaten — simplified clearance (forenkla fortolling), the rates per litre — toll.no
- Skatteetaten — importing a vehicle, the red zone and the customs office — skatteetaten.no
- Mattilsynet — with a dog from the EU/EEA to Norway, the red zone for animals — mattilsynet.no
- European Commission (Access2Markets) — the EU customs union does not extend to Norway — trade.ec.europa.eu
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