# Importing personal belongings



## stefano1952

Hello,
Does anyone know what the restrictions are, if any, on importing personal property, such as clothing, etc? any tarrifs or taxes?

Grazie mille


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## Bevdeforges

If you're coming from the States, the usual drill is that you import your personal goods (household goods) within a year of your entry on your long-stay visa as part of your move and the shipment(s) are tax and duty free. You need to provide your entry document (usually passport with visa and/or whatever residence card or permit).

The one exception are any items you have owned for less than 6 months (sometimes 1 year) before you bring them into the country. Those may be subject to VAT.

Note, these are only the general rules for EU countries. I'm not familiar with Italy's specifics, but hopefully someone who has moved there recently will confirm or add detail.
Cheers,
Bev


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## stefano1952

Thanks Bev.


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## loly1981

Agree with Bevdeforges. These are the regulations of the EU.


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## PauloPievese

Does this include a car? I've taken a furnished apartment so all I really need is personal effects and a car. I think that I can cram all my stuff into the car and hopefully ship it as a chunk. What do I do about insurance and taxes on arrival?


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## NickZ

For Italian citizens you need to own the car for more than a year. I don't know if the same rules apply to everybody.

But unless it's a classic car you may find it's not worth the effort. You'll need to get it EU approved. If it's coming from the US it likely burns a fair bit of fuel.. Spare parts and maintenance may be an issue. Potentially even something simple like tires.

The shipper won't release anything without the fees being paid. The longer they hold it the more they charge you for storage.


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## PauloPievese

Thanks for the good advice. My car is a 2015 VW Golf which I imagine is the same as here. Not sure as to what fees you refer and what would delay my paying them.


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## NickZ

Don't assume an EU car sold outside of the EU will be the same as the model sold in the EU.

2015 EU model IIRC are mostly 1.6litre diesels. I can't remember the size of the gas engine but similar. There can be difference in safety equipment etc.

Oh wait you wanted to know about car insurance and road tax? Not the shipping insurance?

IIRC you can drive for up to a year with an American car and insurance. You'll have to check what your US insure thinks.

After that you will need an Italian firm. Roadtax is the bollo and is related to things like HP.


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## PauloPievese

Well then I would guess that for a rube and/or boob like myself it may make more sense to buy local. The simplicity of having all my belongings on wheels remains beguiling however.


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## PauloPievese

This site says that I can import my car duty free if I've owned it more than a year. https://www.a1autotransport.com/how-to-import-a-car-to-italy-from-the-usa/


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## Bevdeforges

PauloPievese said:


> Thanks for the good advice. My car is a 2015 VW Golf which I imagine is the same as here. Not sure as to what fees you refer and what would delay my paying them.


Just a word of caution here - to get the car registered, you'll need a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from the manufacturer that the car was built to European standards. If your car was built in the US, all bets are off because there really are somewhat different standards. Even if the car was built in Germany but for the US market, chances are you won't be able to get an EU CoC.

There's an OLD thread in the France forum about one of our members who insisted he was going to import his US cars to France. The bureaucracies between the two countries are similar, but you might get a bit of insight from looking at his quest: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/fr...ng-france/41885-bringing-your-car-france.html
Cheers,
Bev


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## baldilocks

PauloPievese said:


> Well then I would guess that for a rube and/or boob like myself it may make more sense to buy local. The simplicity of having all my belongings on wheels remains beguiling however.


If you can get all your stuff in a car the size of a Golf, you can just pack it up into a few bits of baggage and bring it with you as your baggage. Then get a car here, by far the best way to do it especially as it costs quite a bit to get a foreign vehicle re-registered in a EU country and often impossible depending on its origin. For example, it has just cost some French friends €2,000 to get a French vehicle re-registered in Spain so that is without the far greater complications that will arise with a vehicle from the US.


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## PauloPievese

*Give Up*



Bevdeforges said:


> Just a word of caution here - to get the car registered, you'll need a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from the manufacturer that the car was built to European standards. If your car was built in the US, all bets are off because there really are somewhat different standards. Even if the car was built in Germany but for the US market, chances are you won't be able to get an EU CoC.
> 
> There's an OLD thread in the France forum about one of our members who insisted he was going to import his US cars to France. The bureaucracies between the two countries are similar, but you might get a bit of insight from looking at his quest: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/fr...ng-france/41885-bringing-your-car-france.html
> Cheers,
> Bev


From a sports car page:

I will interject in general terms in this discussion based on my experience of importing several US cars to Europe including a Z8. Cars that were not produced for the European market will NEVER be given an official certificate of conformity. The registration process usually requires receiving a letter from the local representative of the manufacturer, BMW in this instance, stating that the vehicle in question is identical to the EU model that has received EU certification with the the exception of...(lights, tires, etc...). The next task is to have a certified mechanic or garage to address those exception by replacing these parts that did not comply with EU regulations with EU parts. The last step consists of taking the car through official inspection to confirm that the parts have been changed. While the car will never receive a certificate of conformity, the inspection organization will deliver a letter which confirms that the car is now "similar" to the model produced for the EU market. That process usually clears the way for registration. Those of you who are considering a US import to the EU should realize that without the cooperation of the local brand representative in writing the letter stating the differences, your task in importing will be VERY difficult. Some of them are very cooperative, others view parallel imports as competition and will drag their feet as much as they can. As an example I recently ran into a situation where the local BMW representative would not confirm that the import CO2 emission was the same as that of the local model which everyone knows is the case. In some European jurisdictions, road taxes do vary greatly depending on CO2 emissions and in the absence of certification the vehicle was automatically put in the dead beat category causing the road tax to be eye watering high and there was nothing I could do about it. In conclusion it is a good idea to to your homework prior to importing and verify that the local brand office representatives are prepared to be cooperative. Another problem I have run into is that registration in a country through the above process does not guarantee you won't have to do it all over again if you or someone who buys the car from you attempts to register the vehicle in another EU country. Again the reason for that is that the car will never be granted an official certificate of conformity and in its absence you are in the hands of bureaucrats who can if they chose to make your life difficult.


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## baldilocks

PauloPievese said:


> From a sports car page:
> 
> I will interject in general terms in this discussion based on my experience of importing several US cars to Europe including a Z8. Cars that were not produced for the European market will NEVER be given an official certificate of conformity. The registration process usually requires receiving a letter from the local representative of the manufacturer, BMW in this instance,* stating that the vehicle in question is identical to the EU model that has received EU certification *with the the exception of...(lights, tires, etc...). The next task is to have a certified mechanic or garage to address those exception by replacing these parts that did not comply with EU regulations with EU parts. The last step consists of taking the car through official inspection to confirm that the parts have been changed. While the car will never receive a certificate of conformity, the inspection organization will deliver a letter which confirms that the car is now "similar" to the model produced for the EU market. That process usually clears the way for registration. Those of you who are considering a US import to the EU should realize that without the cooperation of the local brand representative in writing the letter stating the differences, your task in importing will be VERY difficult. Some of them are very cooperative, others view parallel imports as competition and will drag their feet as much as they can. As an example I recently ran into a situation where the local BMW representative would not confirm that the import CO2 emission was the same as that of the local model which everyone knows is the case. In some European jurisdictions, road taxes do vary greatly depending on CO2 emissions and in the absence of certification the vehicle was automatically put in the dead beat category causing the road tax to be eye watering high and there was nothing I could do about it. In conclusion it is a good idea to to your homework prior to importing and verify that the local brand office representatives are prepared to be cooperative. Another problem I have run into is that registration in a country through the above process does not guarantee you won't have to do it all over again if you or someone who buys the car from you attempts to register the vehicle in another EU country. Again the reason for that is that the car will never be granted an official certificate of conformity and in its absence you are in the hands of bureaucrats who can if they chose to make your life difficult.


In which case, why go to all the bother and expense of importing something one could buy from the dealer down the road?


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## NickZ

There are some things worthwhile if you can avoid too many hassles.

SUVs/4x4s. Especially the older ones that might be worth almost nothing on the North American resale market. The 25% tariff on US cars means US vehicles have an extremely high value here. More than I'd pay but others will.

Same thing with some larger classic cars or older muscle cars. I've seen what the average North American would call a clunker selling for bizarre prices just because they're bigger than a 500. In spite of the fact the 500 is a better car -)

But a newer car similar to what is sold locally? Not a chance. The current Golf diesel is rated at 76 mpg and has been for quite a few years IIRC. Imperial gallon so convert to American. That's not even a super high number. With the price of fuel what you save getting a local car isn't something to sneeze at.


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## rsgraves

*Moving Household Goods*

Im looking into moving to Italy from the US. I have lots of pics that I took and had framed. I also have lots of books and some Native American Pottery that I have collected.. Does anyone know if there will be problems bringing them with me ???

Thanks 

Scott


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## NickZ

Photographs and books are for the most part a non issue. 

The pottery I've no idea what the US thinks about it's export. If the US is happy with it leaving Italy won't mind.

OTOH don't overestimate the size of your future home. Unless you want to pay shippers to have stuff stored in boxes think hard about what you're bringing.


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