The Same Union Relief Every Member State Applies: Six Months of Ownership, Twelve Abroad, Twelve to Bring It In
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Costa Rica on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
147 exceptions recorded across 54 countries · none match Costa Rica to France · Bringing your belongings
Household goods brought in on a move to France are relieved of import duty by Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, the same instrument in every member state and not a French one. Three conditions and one deadline do the work. You must have owned the goods and, for non-consumables, used them at your former normal residence for at least six months before you ceased to be resident in the third country, and they must be intended for the same purpose at the new residence. Your normal residence must have been outside the Union's customs territory for a continuous twelve months. And the goods must be entered for free circulation within twelve months of your establishing normal residence in the customs territory - that is article 7(1), and it is a different twelve months from the one in article 5(1) and from the one in article 8(1), which forbids lending, pledging, hiring out or transferring the goods for twelve months after import without telling the authorities first. Alcohol, tobacco, commercial means of transport and the tools of a trade are excluded outright by article 6, which spares portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.
At a glance
- The relief
- Free of import duties on personal property moved on a transfer of residence
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009.
- Ownership before the move
- At least six months, and non-consumables must have been used
Article 4(a), which also leaves an opening for special cases justified by the circumstances.
- Residence abroad before the move
- A continuous twelve months outside the customs territory
Article 5(1).
- Deadline to bring the goods in
- Twelve months from establishing normal residence in the customs territory
Article 7(1). This is the deadline; the twelve months in article 5(1) is a qualifying period and the twelve in article 8(1) is a restriction after import.
- Excluded outright
- Alcoholic products, tobacco, commercial means of transport, and the tools of a trade or profession
Article 6, which spares portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.
- Disposal after import
- Not for twelve months without notifying the authorities first
Article 8(1).
Requirements
- Ownership of the goods for at least six months before you ceased to be resident abroad, and use of non-consumables
- Normal residence outside the Union's customs territory for a continuous twelve months
- Entry for free circulation within twelve months of establishing normal residence in the customs territory
- The goods are intended for the same purpose at the new residence
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Costa Rica
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Subject to Articles 4 to 11, personal property imported by natural persons transferring their normal place of residence from a third country to the customs territory of the Community shall be admitted free of import duties.»The relief itself, and the hinge on which it turns: a transfer of normal residence from a third country.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The relief shall be limited to personal property which: (a) except in special cases justified by the circumstances, has been in the possession of and, in the case of non-consumable goods, used by the person concerned at his former normal place of residence for a minimum of six months before the date on which he ceases to have his normal place of residence in the third country of departure; (b) is intended to be used for the same purpose at his new normal place of residence.»The six months of ownership, and the second limb that is easy to miss: the goods are to be used for the same purpose at the new residence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Relief may be granted only to persons whose normal place of residence has been outside the customs territory of the Community for a continuous period of at least 12 months.»Twelve months of residence outside the customs territory, as a condition on the person rather than on the goods.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«No relief shall be granted for: (a) alcoholic products; (b) tobacco or tobacco products; (c) commercial means of transport; (d) articles for use in the exercise of a trade or profession, other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.»The exclusions, stated as a closed list.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Except in special cases, relief shall be granted only in respect of personal property entered for free circulation within 12 months from the date of establishment, by the person concerned, of his normal place of residence in the customs territory of the Community.»The twelve-month deadline for entering the goods for free circulation. Article 5 carries the same number for a different rule, and taking one for the other changes the answer.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Until 12 months have elapsed from the date on which its entry for free circulation was accepted, personal property which has been admitted duty-free may not be lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for a consideration or free of charge, without prior notification to the competent authorities.»The twelve months after import during which the goods may not be lent, pledged, hired out or transferred without telling the authorities.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Three different twelve-month clocks sit within six articles. Article 5(1) is how long you must have lived outside the Union before the move; article 7(1) is how long you have to bring the goods in afterwards; article 8(1) is how long you must keep them once they are in.
The relief is from customs duty. Import VAT is relieved by a separate instrument, Directive 2009/132/EC, which was not read.
Nothing French is recorded here. France's own customs code and the registration taxes on a vehicle brought in on a move were not read, because Legifrance answers 403 to every request this project can make. Austria's record on this topic carries a national layer, a car registration tax with no removal relief in it; whether France has an equivalent is not something this record can say.
- consolidatesCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty
EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
About this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source