Shipping your things and your car abroad

Ship, store or sell? How duty-free import of household goods works when you change country (EU, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, the UK), the paperwork customs asks for, and the basics of taking your car.

When you move your home to another country, you can often bring your used household goods in without paying import duty or VAT. The EU, the UK and Mexico all have a relief for people changing residence. Each has conditions: you lived abroad long enough, you owned and used the goods before the move, and you bring them in within a set time. Cars are a separate question, with their own taxes and technical checks.

This guide explains the rules so you can decide what to ship, store or sell. It does not name or rank moving companies. We may add a plain way to ask movers for quotes later. It would pass on your details only when you click.

Ship, store or sell

There is no right answer. These are the questions that decide it.

• Does it qualify for duty-free import? The reliefs below generally cover goods you have owned and used for at least 6 months. Something you buy just before you move may not qualify.
• Will it work there? Check voltage, plug types and, for TVs and phones, local standards. Furniture may not fit smaller homes.
• What does replacing it cost? Compare that with the shipping quote, plus insurance, storage at either end and any customs broker fee.
• Can you sell it in time? Selling a whole household takes weeks. Start with the large items.
• Will you come back? Storage at home can make sense for a trial year abroad. It costs money every month you are away.
• Is it something customs restricts? Alcohol, tobacco, firearms, plants, food and some medicines have their own rules everywhere.

Moving within the EU is simpler. French customs, for example, says there is no particular customs formality for a move to France from another EU country.

Moving to the EU: transfer-of-residence relief

The EU has one set of rules for people moving their normal residence into the EU from outside it. Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 waives customs duty. Council Directive 2009/132/EC waives import VAT on the same conditions. Every EU country applies them, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and France.

What counts as personal property:

• household effects: personal effects, linen, furniture and equipment for your household
• bicycles, motorcycles, private cars and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure boats and private planes
• household provisions in normal family quantities, household pets and saddle animals
• portable instruments you need for your trade or profession

Nothing may suggest, by its nature or quantity, that you are importing it to sell.

The conditions:

1. You lived outside the EU for at least 12 months in a row. Customs can make exceptions if you clearly intended to live outside the EU for 12 months.
2. You owned the goods, and used them if they are not consumable, for at least 6 months at your old home before you left. Customs can make exceptions in special cases.
3. You use them for the same purpose at your new home.
4. You bring them in within 12 months of setting up your residence. You can bring them in several shipments.
5. You do not lend, pledge, hire out or transfer them for 12 months after they clear customs, unless you tell customs first. If you do, duty becomes payable.

Countries may also require that the goods bore the normal customs or tax charges in the country you came from.

What is excluded: alcoholic drinks, tobacco, commercial vehicles, and equipment for a trade or profession other than portable instruments.

Shipping before you arrive. Customs can release your goods before you set up residence if you undertake to settle within 6 months. It asks for a security, such as a deposit or guarantee, and sets its form and amount.

France

French customs applies the EU relief to people who have lived outside the EU for at least 12 months and move their main residence to France. Your goods must have been in private use for at least 6 months, and they must have borne customs or tax charges where you came from.

What French customs asks for:

• a detailed, dated and signed inventory of the goods, with estimated values, in 2 copies
• form cerfa 10070, the declaration for duty-free entry of personal goods from outside the EU
• proof that your main residence was outside the EU
• proof that you are settling in France, such as a residence card

If you ship in several loads, the inventory you hand in with the first load must list everything you plan to claim relief on. Customs returns a stamped copy of the inventory. If you bring a car, it gives you a certificate 846 A, which you need to register the car in France.

French customs also excludes utility vehicles, mixed-use vehicles, mobile homes, and stocks of raw materials or goods. Goods for a second home in France do not qualify. You pay duty and VAT on those.

Spain

The EU relief covers your household goods. Spain’s customs and tax agency, the Agencia Tributaria, applies it.

A car brings one more tax. Spain charges a registration tax, the impuesto especial sobre determinados medios de transporte, when a vehicle is first registered there. Ley 38/1992 exempts a car you bring because you are moving your habitual residence to Spain, if:

• you lived outside Spain for at least the 12 months in a row before the move
• you bought or imported the car with the normal taxes paid in that country, with no tax refund when it left
• you used it at your old home for at least 6 months before you left
• you apply to register it within 60 days of starting to use it in Spain
• you do not sell or transfer it for 12 months after registration

Registering an imported car also means meeting Spain’s technical requirements. Before you ship, ask Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) and a vehicle inspection (ITV) station what your model needs, especially if it was never sold in Spain.

Portugal and Italy

The EU relief applies in both countries on the same conditions. In Portugal, the tax and customs authority (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) handles it. In Italy, the customs agency (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli) does. Both countries also tax and register imported cars under their own national rules. We have not yet confirmed those rules on official pages, so ask the authority before you ship a car.

Mexico: menaje de casa

Mexico’s term for household goods is menaje de casa. Under its customs law, permanent residents and returning Mexican nationals can import the household goods they used while living abroad without paying import taxes. Vehicles are not included. Neither is anything you used abroad for commercial or industrial work.

What counts: used furniture and household items for a family’s ordinary use, clothes, books and bookcases, and works of art or science that are not complete collections. Professionals’ scientific instruments and workers’ tools count if you need them for your work, but not complete sets of equipment for a laboratory, clinic or workshop.

The conditions and paperwork:

• Timing. ANAM, Mexico’s customs agency, says you can import your menaje in the 3 months before you enter Mexico or the 6 months after you arrive.
• Ownership. ANAM says you must show you acquired the goods at least 6 months before you bring them in.
• A declaration certified by the Mexican consulate where you lived. It gives your name, your address abroad, how long you lived there (at least 6 months), where you will live in Mexico, a description and quantity of the goods, and details of any earlier menaje import.
• A second menaje within a year of the first needs separate customs approval.

The import goes through Mexican customs on a customs entry (pedimento). Ask the consulate early, because its certified list is the core document.

Temporary residents use a different rule. Mexico’s customs law lets temporary residents and temporary resident students bring in used household goods temporarily, for as long as their residence lasts. The same law lets visitors and temporary residents temporarily import one vehicle they own. Permanent import of a used car is a separate customs process that ANAM describes on its own pages.

Costa Rica

We could not confirm Costa Rica’s current rules for household goods and cars on an official page in time for this guide. Ask Costa Rica’s customs service, part of the Ministry of Finance, before you ship. If you hold or are applying for pensionado, rentista or investor residence, also ask the immigration office (DGME) whether any import benefits under Ley 9996 apply to you. You can compare those routes on the Costa Rica page.

Residence routes with their own import benefits

Some residence routes include their own import relief. Uruguay’s retiree route under Law 16.340 is one. Decree 119/004 lets a qualifying retiree import household goods and one car duty-free, once, within 6 months of being granted residence. The car cannot be sold for 4 years. See the Uruguay retiree route for the full conditions, or use the visa route finder to see which routes fit you.

Moving to the UK: transfer of residence relief (ToR1)

If you move your main home to Great Britain, you may not pay duty or VAT on your belongings.

The conditions:

• You lived outside the UK for at least 12 months in a row.
• You owned the goods for at least 6 months before you moved.
• You bring them in within 12 months of moving. They can come in several shipments.
• You use them for the same purpose as before.
• For 12 months after you move, you do not lend them, use them as security, hire them out or transfer them.

The relief is for individuals moving their main home. A second or holiday home does not qualify.

How to apply. Fill in form ToR1 before you move. If you ship your goods, apply for the unique reference number before they are shipped, and quote it on the import declaration. Without a valid number, you may be billed for duty and admin charges. If you have already paid duty, you can still apply for a refund.

What it covers: household and personal effects, furniture and household equipment, bicycles, motorcycles, private cars and trailers, caravans, pleasure boats, private planes, household pets and portable tools of your trade. It does not cover alcohol, tobacco, commercial vehicles or non-portable work equipment.

If you do not qualify, you pay any duty and VAT before you can collect your goods. VAT is charged on the value of the goods plus shipping, insurance and any duty.

Your car

Leaving the US. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires the original certificate of title, or a certified copy, plus two complete copies. If the car is financed or leased, you need a letter from the lender or lessor. For export by ship or plane, you present the car and its documents at the port at least 72 hours before export.

Leaving the UK. Fill in the “permanent export” section of your V5C log book and send it to the DVLA. Keep the rest of the log book: you need it to register the car abroad. Transfer or retain a personalised registration before you go, or you lose it.

Leaving Canada. Check the Canada Border Services Agency’s export reporting rules before you book shipping.

Arriving in the EU. A private car can be part of your duty-free personal property under the EU relief, on the same 6-month and 12-month conditions. National registration taxes and technical checks are separate. In France you need customs’ certificate 846 A to register the car. In Spain, see the registration tax exemption above.

Arriving in the UK. Tell HMRC within 14 days that the vehicle has arrived. If you bring it yourself, you also make a Notification of Vehicle Arrival (NOVA). Then get vehicle approval to show it meets safety and environmental standards, register and tax it with the DVLA, and insure it.

Arriving in Mexico. A car is never part of a menaje de casa. Temporary residents can temporarily import one vehicle they own. Permanent import follows ANAM’s vehicle rules.

Is it worth it? Add up shipping, import taxes, technical changes, registration and insurance, then compare the total with the price of a similar car where you are going. Ask whether the car’s lights and emissions meet local rules, whether you can get parts, and, for the UK or Ireland, whether a left-hand-drive car suits roads where traffic keeps left.

The paperwork customs usually asks for

Each country sets its own list. Expect to need most of these:

• your passport, and your visa or residence permit
• proof you lived outside the country, such as a lease or utility bills
• proof of your new home, such as a lease, a deed or a residence card
• a detailed inventory of the goods, often with values, signed and dated
• the relief application or reference number (form cerfa 10070 in France, ToR1 in the UK, the consulate-certified list in Mexico)
• the shipping documents from your mover
• for a car: the title or registration document, proof of purchase and taxes paid, and proof of how long you owned and used it

Keep copies. Several reliefs last 12 months after import, and customs can ask questions during that time.

Budgeting

Members can add shipping quotes, storage and car costs to their move budget. Your move tracks your shortlist and next step.

What catches people out

• Buying new before you go. Most reliefs need 6 months of ownership and use. New items may be taxed.
• A partial inventory. In France the first inventory must list everything you will claim. Late additions may not qualify.
• Missing the window. The EU and UK give 12 months from your move. Mexico gives 3 months before arrival to 6 months after.
• Selling too soon. Selling, lending or hiring out relieved goods within 12 months can make duty payable. In Spain, selling a car within 12 months of registration ends its tax exemption.
• Assuming the car comes free. Duty relief does not cover registration taxes, technical approval or insurance.
• Mexico and cars. A menaje de casa never includes vehicles.
• Second homes. Goods for a holiday home do not qualify in France or the UK.

Related guides

• Moving abroad with a pet
• Country guides: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, Costa Rica and the UK
• Cost of living calculator: what your income buys in each country

This is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Customs rules and forms change. Confirm with the customs authority of the country you are moving to, or with a licensed customs broker, before you ship.