Page 76 - DIPLOMATIC PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES IN FINLAND

5.4 Export and Sale of used Motor Vehicles (acquired in Finland)
The export or sale of a used motor vehicle which has been purchased in Finland is not restricted unless the vehicle has been purchased exempt from VAT from a business that is VAT liable. In the latter case the following restrictions will apply:
A motor vehicle acquired exempt from VAT may be sold without any restrictions to another mission or member of a mission having the same right to import commodities exempt from taxes, or after three years of the date of its first registration for the use of a mission or a member of a mission.
If a vehicle is sold in Finland before the three-year period since its registration for such a use has elapsed, the owner of the vehicle is liable to pay the amount of VAT from which the purchase was exempted.
Whenever a staff member is leaving Finland permanently or terminating his/her functions in the mission, he/she should either sell his/her vehicle in Finland or export it abroad. If he/she chooses to sell his/her vehicle in Finland before the expiry of the three-year period since its registration, he/she is liable to pay 1/36 of the amount of VAT per every remaining month of the three-year period.
If the motor vehicle has CD or C registration plates the export or sale of the vehicle must be informed by a verbal note and the plates must be returned to the Protocol Services. It should be mentioned in the note whether the vehicle has been exported from Finland or whether it has been sold in Finland.
If the vehicle has CD or C registration plates, the plates must be returned to the Protocol Services within two months of the exportation. As soon as the Finnish Transport Safety Agency receives the information from the Protocol Services that the vehicle has been registered abroad the vehicle will be removed from the vehicle register in Finland. In case the plates are not returned to the Protocol Services the registration number is withdrawn from use for a period of three years.
76