Household goods to Zanzibar: duty free as a new resident, within 90 days
If you are coming to live in Tanzania for the first time, you may import your used household goods duty free. Your belongings must arrive within 90 days of your arrival; customs can extend that to 360 days. In the Netherlands you file an export declaration with an inventory list. One sentence from Tanzanian customs about baggage shipped separately needs confirming before you book a container.
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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.
If you are moving to Tanzania for the first time, you may bring your household goods to Zanzibar duty free. The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the tax and customs authority for all of Tanzania, applies this to the island too. It covers clothing and personal and household belongings you used in your previous home. The goods must arrive within 90 days of your arrival; customs can extend that to at most 360 days. In the Netherlands it starts with Dutch Customs and an export declaration.
What is certain, and what do you need to ask?
| Topic | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Export from the Netherlands | export declaration with Dutch Customs, with an inventory list | Dutch Customs |
| Exemption in Tanzania | clothing and used personal and household belongings, from age 18 | TRA |
| Term | within 90 days of arrival, extendable to 360 days | TRA |
| Leaving again within 90 days | export the goods within 30 days (extension to 60), otherwise duty is still due | TRA |
| Drink, perfume, tobacco | 2 litres, half a litre, 250 grams free | TRA |
| Declaration | through a licensed agent in TANCIS, preferably 7 days before arrival | TRA |
| Baggage shipped separately | contradictory on the TRA page; ask | TRA |
| Port charges on Zanzibar | not found at an official source | — |
| Back to the Netherlands, duty free | at least 12 months living outside the EU, goods owned for at least 6 months, imported within 12 months | Dutch Customs |
What do you arrange in the Netherlands?
The export declaration. According to Dutch Customs you submit an inventory list of the goods you take with you. Make that list carefully, with what is in each box. Take a copy to Zanzibar: Tanzanian customs asks for a packing list, and later the list is also your proof when you come back. Dutch Customs advises asking the destination country which customs formalities you need to handle there. You can also do that through an international removal company.
What does Tanzanian customs ask for?
The exemption is for someone who, in the view of customs, is moving their residence to Tanzania in good faith. You must be 18 or older. According to the TRA, the declaration includes:
- a copy of your passport;
- a packing list;
- the completed customs declaration for baggage (the Customs Baggage Declaration, available at customs offices);
- the original Bill of Lading (the transport document for sea freight) or Air Waybill (for air freight);
- invoices showing how long you have owned the goods;
- your residence permit.
That last one matters for your planning. Make sure your permit is in place when your goods arrive, and remember that the 90-day term runs from your own arrival.
The declaration itself is made by a licensed agent, a Clearing and Forwarding Agent. They work in TANCIS, the customs system that according to the TRA covers both the mainland and Zanzibar. File the declaration preferably 7 days before the goods arrive. Also ask the agent about the port and the port charges: we have not found those at an official source.
On the same page the TRA also writes that the exemptions do not apply to unaccompanied baggage: baggage that does not travel with you. Read literally, that would also rule out a container, while the document list mentions a Bill of Lading. The sentence probably only concerns what you may bring free as a traveller, but it does not say so. Get written confirmation that your household goods in a container fall under the exemption before you book it.
And if you leave again within a few months?
Then the exemption lapses. If you move back to a place outside the East African Community within 90 days of arrival, you must export your goods within 30 days. Customs can extend that to 60 days. If you do not, you still pay import duty, counted from the day of import.
Which papers do you take?
Your diplomas, your birth and marriage certificates and, for the children, their school records. Tanzania is not a party to the Apostille Convention. A Dutch document therefore does not get an apostille (a stamp that is enough in many countries), but is legalised: a series of stamps from Dutch authorities and then from the Tanzanian embassy. Ask the embassy which stamps it wants to see.
Documents from Zanzibar that you later need in the Netherlands must, according to NederlandWereldwijd, first be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zanzibar. Then come the Tanzanian ministry and the Dutch embassy in Dar es Salaam.
And if you come back?
Then you can import your household goods duty free if you lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months, owned and used the goods for at least 6 months, and import them within 12 months of moving to the Netherlands. You may not lend, rent out or sell them for 12 months after that. So keep your inventory list and your receipts.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 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 Zanzibar or look inside the open plan first.
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.
- TRA — Returning Resident and First Arrival, the exemption for household goods, the 90-day term and the documents — tra.go.tz
- TRA — Import Procedures, the declaration in TANCIS through a licensed agent, also for Zanzibar — tra.go.tz
- Dutch Customs — moving to a country outside the EU, the export declaration with inventory list — douane.nl
- Dutch Customs — back to the Netherlands from a country outside the EU, the exemption for household goods — douane.nl
- HCCH — status table of the Apostille Convention; Tanzania is not a contracting state — hcch.net
- NederlandWereldwijd — legalising documents from Tanzania and Zanzibar for use in the Netherlands — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
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