Change of place of residence

Legal basis

Articles 3 to 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 of 16 November 2009 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty, sub-paragraph 3.1 of the Description of the Procedure for the Exemption from Customs Duties of Goods and Items Carried by Travellers and Other Natural Persons, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
No 968 of 18 August 2004 on the Approval of the Description of the Procedure for the Exemption from Customs Duties of Goods and Items Carried by Travellers and Other Natural Persons, provides for the relief from import duties, when a natural person transfers his permanent place of residence and moves from a country outside the European Union (further – third country) to the Republic of Lithuania and imports his personal property.

Exemption from import value added tax (further – import VAT), where a natural person transfers his permanent place residence and moves from a third country to the Republic of Lithuania and imports his personal property, is laid down in Article 40(1)(1) and Article 40(2) of the Law on Value Added Tax, paragraphs 4-13¹ of the Rules for the Exemption of Imported Goods from Import Value Added Tax, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania No 438 of 16 April 2004 on the Approval of Rules for the Exemption of Imported Goods from Import Value Added Tax.

Additional customs formalities applicable to imports of personal property by a natural person transferring his permanent place of residence and moving from a third country to the Republic of Lithuania (further – person transferring his place of residence) is laid down in the Rules for the Application of Customs Duty Exemption, approved by Order of the Director General of the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania No 1B-137 of 8 March 2010 on the Approval of the Rules for the Application of Customs Duty Exemption, the Rules on the Extension of the Time Limit for the Importation of Personal Effects of a Moving Person, approved by Order No 1B-636 of 2 August 2016 of the Director General of the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on the Approval of the Rules for Extension of the Time Limit for Importation of Personal Effects of a Moving Person.

Below, please find general information on when personal property imported by a person transferring his place of residence is exempt from import duties and VAT. When applying in each specific case exemptions from import duties and VAT or if the below presented general information is possibly inconsistent with legal acts, the legal acts must be followed.

Exemption from import duties and VAT

Personal property belonging to natural persons transferring their permanent place of residence from a third country to the Republic of Lithuania shall be admitted free of import duties and VAT.

Permanent place of residence means the country in which the address of the place of residence of the natural person included in the register of residents or similar register or provided to a tax institution is indicated or the country where the natural person usually resides because of his personal or occupational ties (or, in the absence of such occupational ties or where such ties relate the natural person with another country, the country where he usually resides because of his personal ties).

Personal property means any property intended for the personal use of the person concerned or for meeting his household needs: personal hygiene items, bedding, furniture, equipment and similar items, cycles, motorcycles, private motor vehicles and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure craft and private aeroplanes, food products (if their quantity corresponds to normal person`s and his family requirement), household pets and saddle animals and other personal effects, if, according to their purpose, quantity and other circumstances, they are obviously not intended for sale or use in economic activities, but are used by the person to meet his individual or household needs.

No relief from import duties and VAT shall be granted for:

- alcoholic products,

- tobacco and tobacco products,

- commercial means of transport as well as vehicles intended for mixed use, i.e. for commercial or professional purposes, of a person transferring his place of residence,

- articles for use in the exercise of a trade or profession, other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.

Conditions for granting reliefs from import duties and VAT

Free of import duties and VAT shall be admitted only such personal property, which:

- was used by a person transferring his place of residence at his former permanent place of residence in a third country for a minimum of six months before leaving it, and which is intended to be used for the same purpose in the new place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania,

- is imported by the person transferring his place of residence, whose normal place of residence has been in the third country for a continuous period of at least the last 12 months.

Reliefs from import duties and VAT may also be granted, if the person transferring his place of residence has not resided in his former permanent place of residence in the third country for 12 months, but intended to reside there for at least that period. In such case, personal property may also be used for less than six months.

Declaration of personal property

Personal property shall be declared:

-  by indicating in the customs declaration the concrete Combined Nomenclature commodity codes of items constituting personal property; or

-  by assigning the personal property in the customs declaration to subheading 9905 of the Combined Nomenclature. Personal property can be assigned to subheading 9905 of the Combined Nomenclature only when the personal property is released for free circulation or exported by exempting from customs duties. However, when items constituting personal property are declared for other procedures, they cannot be assigned to subheading 9905 of the Combined Nomenclature.

Documentation to be submitted

Documents which should be submitted by a person transferring his place of residence to the customs office together with the customs declaration for exemption from import duties and VAT:

- permission to reside in the Republic of Lithuania, which is valid for at least 12 months (except in cases when the person transferring his place of residence does not need the permission to reside in the Republif of Lithuania according to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens). The requirement to present the permission to reside in the Republic of Lithuania valid for at least 12 months shall not apply to those persons transferring their place of residence, who have been granted temporary protection and who present to the customs authorities a permission to reside temporarily in the Republic of Lithuania or a decision of the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania to grant temporary protection to an alien;

- documents demonstrating that a person transferring his place of residence has possessed or used items constituting personal property in his former permanent place of residence for a minimum of six months before leaving the above mentioned place (documents of the acquisition of goods, a free-form affirmation from the person that he possessed or used the imported items in his former permanent place of residence for a minimum of six months before leaving the above mentioned place, etc.),

- documents demonstrating that a person transferring his place of residence has been continuously living in his permanent place of residence in a third country for a period of at least the last 12 months (an employment contract concluded for a period of at least 12 months; a housing rent agreement concluded for a period of at least 12 months; documents about the payment of public utility charges; documents about children's attendance at school or other educational institution, etc.),

- documents, demonstrating person`s establishment in the permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania (documents of declaration of residence, a private housing purchase or rent agreement etc.),

- a free-form list of items, constituting personal property, if the items are indicated in the customs declaration by assigning them to subheading 9905 of the Combined Nomenclature. The list must include a sufficiently detailed description of every item to identify them easily, indicate the quantity of items. The list shall be confirmed by the person transferring his place of residence by indicating his name and surname and signing,

- a free-form application for relief from import duties and VAT, if a person transferring his place of residence has not resided in his former permanent place of residence in a third country for 12 months, but intended to reside there for at least that period. The application shall indicate the reasons, why he has resided in the third country for less than 12 months. The application shall be accompanied by evidence of the intention to reside in the third country for a continuous period of at least 12 months (for example, termination due to unforeseeable circumstances of an employment contract concluded for a period of at least 12 months, etc.),

- other documents, demonstrating the person`s right to exemption, if such documents are necessary (for example, if the above-mentioned documents being presented are contradictory, do not justify the conditions for exemption from import duties and VAT).

Period for entry of personal property

Any person transferring his place of residence must import personal property within 12 months from the date of receipt of the permission to reside in the Republic of Lithuania or, if such permission is not required, within 12 months from the first day of establishment in the Republic of Lithuania. All personal property can be imported by the person transferring his place of residence simultaneously or in several separate consignments.

The specified period of 12 months may be extended if, for reasons beyond the control of the person transferring his place of residence, the personal property could not have been imported within the specified period of 12 months. In such case, the person transferring his place of residence shall submit to the customs authorities together with the customs declaration an application for an extension of the said period. The application shall state the reasons, why the personal property could not have been imported within the period of 12 months. The application shall be accompanied by documents supporting the application.

Restrictions on the use of personal property

Until 12 months have elapsed from the date on which a person transferring his place of residence has imported personal property without paying import duties and VAT, he cannot lend, give as security, hire out or transfer, whether for consideration or free of charge, this personal property without prior notification to the customs authorities in a written form.

Where personal property is lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for consideration or free of charge, to other persons before the expiry of the specified period of 12 months, the person transferring his place of residence must, within five working days, inform of this the territorial customs office, in whose activity zone the personal property was imported, and to provide the data necessary for the assessment of import duties and VAT. The territorial customs office shall assess the import duties and VAT due, and shall inform the person accordingly. The import duties and VAT assessed must be paid within 10 days from the delivery of the notification on the import duties and VAT to be paid.

Import of personal property before establishment in the Republic of Lithuania

Reliefs from import duties and VAT may also be granted in accordance with the general provisions, if a person transferring his place of residence is importing personal property without yet having his permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania. In such case, the person transferring his place of residence must submit to the customs authorities together with the customs declaration an application for relief from import duties and VAT. The application shall state the reasons, why the person leaves the third country, where he had his permanent place of residence, but has not yet been established in the Republic of Lithuania, as well as the person’s obligation to settle in the permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania.

The person must undertake to settle in the permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania within six months. However, if the person transfers his permanent place of residence and arrives to reside in the Republic of Lithuania due to circumstances related to work activities, in such case the person must undertake to settle within 12 months.

If the person transferring his place of residence imports the personal property without yet having his permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania, he must provide a security to the customs authorities. Such security shall not be required, if the person arrives to reside in the Republic of Lithuania due to circumstances related to work activities and submits to the customs authorities, together with the customs declaration, an employment contract made with a company, which has concluded an investment agreement with the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or an institution authorised by it. The list of enterprises, which have concluded investment agreements with the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or an institution authorised by it, shall be drawn up by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation and published on its website.

If the person transferring his place of residence imports the personal property without yet having his permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania, the exemption from import duties and VAT shall be granted on the basis of the general provisions, but subject to the following exceptions:

- all personal property must have been used at the former permanent place of residence in the third country for at least six months prior to the date of importation of the first consignment of the personal property,

- if the person transferring his place of residence arrives to reside in the Republic of Lithuania due to circumstances related to work activities:

-- all personal property must be imported (all simultaneously or in several separate consignments) within 12 months from the date of importation of the first consignment of the personal property (the specified period of 12 months may be extended),

-- until 12 months have elapsed from the date on which the person transferring his place of residence has imported the personal property without paying import duties and VAT, he cannot lend, give as security, hire out or transfer, whether for consideration or free of charge, this personal property to other persons without prior notification to the customs authorities in a written form. Where the personal property is lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for consideration or free of charge, to other persons before the expiry of the specified period of 12 months, the person transferring his place of residence must, within five working days, inform of this the territorial customs office, in whose activity zone the personal property was imported, and to pay import duties and VAT, assessed by the customs authorities.

Any person transferring his place of residence, established in a permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania, must, within five working days from the date of establishment, inform of this the territorial customs office, in whose activity zone his personal property was imported, and submit documents demonstrating the person`s establishment (the permission to reside in the Republic of Lithuania, documents of declaration of residence, private housing purchase or rent agreement, etc.).

Change of permanent place of residence due to exceptional political circumstances

Where a person transferring his place of residence has been granted additional or temporary protection in the Republic of Lithuania or he has refugee status in the Republic of Lithuania, reliefs from import duties and VAT shall be granted on the basis of the general provisions, but subject to the following exceptions:

- personal property may have been used at the former permanent place of residence in a third country for less than six months before leaving it,

- imported personal property may be used in the permanent place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania not for the same purpose as in the former place of residence,

- reliefs from import duties and VAT shall apply on importing commercial means of transport and articles for use in the exercise of a trade or profession,

- imported personal property may be lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for consideration or free of charge, to other persons before the expiry of the period of 12 month without the payment of import duties.

Any person transferring his place of residence due to exceptional political circumstances must, among other documents, justifying the reliefs from import duties and VAT, submit to the customs authorities together with the customs declaration a permission to reside temporarily in the Republic of Lithuania, if he has been granted additional or temporary protection in the Republic of Lithuania, or a permission to reside permanently in the Republic of Lithuania, if he has refugee status in the Republic of Lithuania.