Your household goods to Hungary: no customs, and the few things that do have a rule

Do you have to declare your household goods when you move to Hungary? No. Within the EU you take what you use for yourself or your family, without a declaration and without stopping at the border. There is no customs declaration, and you already paid the VAT on your belongings where you bought them. What does have a rule is a short list: alcohol and tobacco above the guideline values, fuel in a jerrycan, medicines, and the car. That last one isn't household goods in Hungary, but a procedure of its own with registration tax.

What can come along without further ado?

Everything you take for your own use. Your Europe puts it like this: you may take home what you bought in another EU country without a declaration, as long as it is for yourself or your family and not for resale. The VAT has already been paid in the country where you bought it. That applies to your furniture, your clothes, your tools and your books, even if it's a whole lorry.

Food can come too. Meat and dairy from an EU country you may carry for your own consumption, and vegetables, fruit and cut flowers if they were grown in the EU and are free of pests and disease. For powdered baby milk there is a limit of less than ten kilos.

Where do limits apply?

What	Guideline value or rule
Cigarettes	800
Cigarillos (up to 3 grams)	400
Cigars	200
Smoking tobacco	1 kilo
Spirits	10 litres
Fortified wine, such as port or sherry	20 litres
Wine	90 litres, of which at most 60 sparkling
Beer	110 litres
Fuel in a separate jerrycan	at most 10 litres, besides a full tank
Powdered baby milk	less than 10 kilos

The quantities for alcohol and tobacco aren't a maximum but a guideline value. Each EU country may choose its own guideline values, but not lower than these. If you bring more, customs may ask you to prove it's for your own use, for example with receipts. If you can't, you pay excise duty in Hungary after all, or lose the goods. Stricter rules apply to anyone under seventeen.

A wine cellar isn't household goods without questions. Anyone moving a wine collection or a stock of cigarettes quickly ends up above the guideline values. Keep the receipts and have them to hand in the lorry or the car. Without proof of own use the Hungarian customs can levy excise duty or seize the goods.

May you take cash with you?

Between EU countries there are no European rules on cash; a country may have its own rules, though, so check in advance with the customs of the countries of departure, transit and arrival. A European declaration obligation only applies if you enter or leave the EU with 10,000 euro or more; there is a European declaration form for that.

And your medicines?

A prescription from a Dutch doctor is valid in every EU country. A medicine may just have a different name in Hungary, or not be available there. So ask your doctor for a prescription with the substance name rather than the brand name, plus the form, the strength, the dosage and his full details. The Hungarian pharmacist does follow Hungarian rules when dispensing, for example on how much he hands out at once. Take a supply for the first weeks.

Why the car doesn't belong with the household goods

Your car crosses the border freely, but as soon as you live in Hungary it must enter the Hungarian registration within sixty days, and Hungary levies a registration tax with no exemption for removal goods. How that works and what it costs is in the article on car and driving licence in Hungary. Work it out before you fill the car with boxes.

Where should the lorry go?

Plan the arrival of your household goods at an address you can prove. For the registration certificate the immigration office asks for proof of accommodation: a tenancy agreement, a statement from whoever is providing your accommodation, or for a bought home a title deed no older than thirty days, or another supporting document. Without such proof, no registration. What to settle in advance for a rented home is in renting in Hungary.

After the move you may still order from Dutch web shops. A shop selling more than 10,000 euro a year to other EU countries then charges the VAT of the country of destination, so the Hungarian rate. That rule doesn't apply to second-hand goods, art and antiques.

When the household goods come up in the rest of your move is in the step-by-step plan for Hungary.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Hungary or go straight to step 3.1 in the open plan.