Your household goods to Luxembourg: no customs, but guide levels for your wine cellar

Yes, your entire household can come along to Luxembourg, and without paperwork at the border: Dutch Customs writes that when you move to another EU country you generally take your belongings without a declaration, in the Netherlands and in the country of destination. No inventory, no import duties, no VAT. So what it costs is only the transport. The find on guichet.lu: Luxembourg does apply guide levels for alcohol and tobacco, and whoever moves with a well-stocked wine cellar is quickly above them. The trap is at the other end of the drive: from the day you move into your new home, you have eight days to report to the commune.

Do I have to declare my household goods to customs?

No. Within the EU, customs formalities at the internal borders have been abolished, and guichet.lu says it plainly: what you bought for your own use in another EU country you bring along without any limit on quantity or value and without formalities at the border. You have already paid the VAT in the Netherlands, and that is where it ends.

The rules you find online about an inventory, a guarantee or having lived outside the EU for twelve months concern moves from outside the EU. They do not apply to you.

Why you should look at your wine cellar

For alcohol and tobacco there is an exception to that freedom. Above certain quantities Luxembourg assumes it is trade, and it may then levy excise duty. Guichet.lu advises private individuals to stay below these guide levels:

Product	Guide level
Wine	90 litres, of which at most 60 litres sparkling
Beer	110 litres
Intermediate products (port, vermouth)	20 litres
Spirits	10 litres
Cigarettes	800
Cigars	200
Smoking tobacco	1 kilo

Ninety litres is a hundred and twenty bottles. Whoever moves a cellar of several hundred bottles is therefore above it, and then Luxembourg excise duty may become payable. If in doubt, check with customs before the move — guichet.lu itself recommends that — and record what you take, with purchase receipts if you have them.

What may not simply come along?

Guichet.lu names a short list of goods subject to restrictions or a ban. The points that matter in a move:

• Weapons and ammunition. They are on the list; ask customs before the move what applies to your weapon.
• Medicines. Only what you need for your own use.
• Fuel. What is in the tank, plus one spare jerrycan of at most ten litres.
• Cultural goods, protected animals and plants — and products made from them — and plants or soil whose import is banned in all EU countries.

When do you move?

The eight-day clock starts with the key, not with the lorry. As an EU citizen you report to the commune within eight days of arrival, with proof of your home. So plan the moving day so that you can also get to the town hall within those eight days — and know that opening hours differ per commune.

Whoever works as an employee in Luxembourg is entitled to two days of special leave for a move, with pay maintained. For a private move you get that leave once every three years with the same employer. The proof is the certificat de résidence, which you get after your report to the commune.

Moment	What is at play
Before departure	map out cellar, weapons and medicines
Moving day	no customs, no declaration
Within 8 days of arrival	report to the commune
After the report	certificat de résidence for your employer

Groupage or a lorry of your own?

Because there are no border formalities, the choice is purely a question of cost: groupage for half a house, a lorry of your own for a full household. The cost estimate for Luxembourg works out the ranges for your situation; you find it via the journey to Luxembourg.

Two things do not travel with the household goods but have a procedure of their own. The car must be on Luxembourg plates within six months — see car and driving licence in Luxembourg. And where the belongings will stand begins with a lease the commune accepts — see renting in Luxembourg.

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 Luxembourg or go straight to step 3.1 in the open plan.