Your Household Goods Come In Free, Including the Car - Owned Six Months, Imported Within Twelve, and Not Sold for Another Twelve
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Denmark on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
172 exceptions recorded across 63 countries · none match Denmark to Malta · Bringing your belongings
Malta does not write its own rule here. Relief for the belongings of someone moving in from outside the Union is Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, which applies directly in every Member State. Article 3 admits personal property imported by a natural person transferring their normal place of residence from a third country free of import duties, and article 2(1)(c) defines personal property widely enough to include not just household effects but cycles and motor cycles, private motor vehicles and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure craft and private aeroplanes, along with household provisions, pets and saddle animals. Three periods govern it. The goods must have been in your possession, and if non-consumable actually used, at your former home for at least six months before you stopped living there; you must have had your normal residence outside the customs territory for a continuous twelve months; and the goods must be entered for free circulation within twelve months of the date you established residence here, though they may arrive in several consignments. After they arrive a fourth period starts: for twelve months from the date entry was accepted, the property may not be lent, given as security, hired out or transferred without first telling the authorities, and doing any of those things before the twelve months are up triggers the import duty at the rate on that day. Four categories never qualify, whatever the circumstances of the move: alcoholic products, tobacco and tobacco products, commercial means of transport, and articles for use in a trade or profession other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts. There are two ways round the timing. Article 9 lets goods come in before you arrive if you undertake to establish residence within six months and give security; article 10 covers the person who leaves the third country for occupational reasons without yet settling here.
At a glance
- The instrument
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, applying directly
Article 3 grants the relief. Malta enacts nothing of its own for it, so the conditions are the same in every Member State.
- How long you must have owned the goods
- At least 6 months before you ceased to live in the country of departure
Article 4(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, and non-consumable goods must also have been used. Exceptions are possible in special cases justified by the circumstances.
- How long you must have lived outside the Union
- A continuous period of at least 12 months
Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009; article 5(2) lets the authorities make exceptions where the intention to stay away that long was clear.
- Deadline to bring the goods in
- 12 months from the date you established residence
Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009. Article 7(2) allows several separate consignments inside that window.
- Restriction after arrival
- 12 months during which the goods may not be lent, pledged, hired out or transferred without prior notification
Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009; doing so before the period ends makes the import duty payable at the rate on that day under article 8(2).
- What never qualifies
- Alcoholic products, tobacco and tobacco products, commercial means of transport, and trade or professional articles
Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009. Portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts are the one exception to the last category.
- Whether a car counts
- Yes - private motor vehicles are named as personal property
Article 2(1)(c)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, alongside cycles, motor cycles, trailers, camping caravans, pleasure craft and private aeroplanes. This is relief from import duty only.
- Bringing goods before you move
- Allowed against an undertaking to establish residence within 6 months, plus security
Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009; the six-month ownership period is then counted from when the goods arrive.
- Relief for someone fleeing
- The authorities may waive the ownership, use, vehicle, trade-article and twelve-month resale conditions
Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, where the move is the result of exceptional political circumstances.
Requirements
- Be transferring your normal place of residence from a third country into the customs territory of the Union
- Have had your normal residence outside that territory for a continuous period of at least twelve months
- Have owned the goods for at least six months before leaving, and used them if they are non-consumable
- Intend to use them for the same purpose at your new home
- Enter them for free circulation within twelve months of establishing residence
- Leave them unsold, unlent and unhired for twelve months after entry, unless you notify the authorities first
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Denmark
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
«Article 3 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 grant of relief. "Community" is the Regulation's own word throughout; it dates from 2009 and has not been reworded.
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.
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«(c) ‘personal property’ means any property intended for the personal use of the persons concerned or for meeting their household needs. The following, in particular, shall constitute ‘personal property’: (i) household effects; (ii) cycles and motor cycles, private motor vehicles and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure craft and private aeroplanes.»The definition continues that household provisions, pets, saddle animals and portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts also count, and that the property must not be such as might indicate by its nature or quantity that it is imported for commercial reasons.
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
«Article 4 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 are counted back from when you stopped living there, not from when the goods are shipped.
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
«Article 5 1. 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.»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
«Article 6 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.»A closed list of exclusions. Everything a tradesperson uses is out unless it is a portable instrument of the applied or liberal arts.
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
«Article 7 1. 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. 2. The personal property may be released for free circulation in several separate consignments within the period referred to in paragraph 1.»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
«Article 8 1. 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 condition that outlives the move, and the one most easily broken by selling a car that came in free.
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
«Article 9 1. By way of derogation from the first paragraph of Article 7, relief may be granted in respect of personal property entered for free circulation before the person concerned establishes his normal place of residence in the customs territory of the Community, provided that he undertakes actually to establish his normal place of residence there within a period of six months.»The undertaking must be accompanied by a security whose form and amount the competent authorities determine.
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
«Article 11 The competent authorities may derogate from Article 4(a) and (b), Article 6(c) and (d) and Article 8, when a person has to transfer his normal place of residence from a third country to the customs territory of the Community as a result of exceptional political circumstances.»A discretion rather than an entitlement, and it does not reach the alcohol and tobacco exclusions in article 6(a) and (b).
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
This is relief from import duty and nothing else. Value added tax on goods brought in on a transfer of residence is governed by a separate Union instrument which was not read for this record, and Malta's own registration tax on a motor vehicle is charged under the Motor Vehicles Registration and Licensing Act, which was also not read. A car that enters free of import duty under article 3 may still meet a Maltese registration tax bill.
The relief is irrelevant to anyone moving within the Union. It applies to a transfer of normal residence from a third country into the customs territory, so goods moving from one Member State to another are already in free circulation and need no relief at all.
Two of the four periods run in opposite directions and are easy to confuse: six months of ownership before you leave, and twelve months of restricted use after the goods arrive. The twelve-month residence abroad and the twelve-month import window are the other two.
The quotations here are taken from the HTML reading of the Regulation rather than the PDF. The Official Journal is set in two columns and the layout-preserving extraction of the PDF interleaves the left and right columns, so a sentence longer than a line cannot be verified against it.
No Maltese instrument was read for this record and none is cited, because the Regulation applies in Malta of its own force.
- consolidatesCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 of 16 November 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