Starting today, tourists need to prove in Finland that the alcohol hauled along is for private and personal use. Due to that, these past weeks Finns have been purchasing increasingly vast amounts of cheap Estonian alcohol.
Finns forced to give good reasons for bringing beer from Tallinn
1st July 2014, 19:09
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Pursuant to the new law, 110 litres of beer, 90 litres of vodka and ten litres of other alcoholic beverages may be taken to Finland, tax free, at one time. With any amount above that limit, people need to prove the alcohol is for personal consumption like for family members, gifts or parties. Whoever fails to give good reasons needs to pay custom duty.
According to Finnish public broadcasting Yle, the change looming, above the usual amounts of booze have been transported into Finland from Estonia.
Yesterday, Finnish tourists Aira and Osmo were lifting 35 crates of alcohol into a car in from the SuPerAlko shop, near the port. According to the married couple, they’ll be both turning 60 next month. Also, they had read of the law to enter into force today and figured out now was the time to get the drinks.
Aira and Osmo admitted to do the Estonian alcohol trip once a year, approximately. They reckon that with the new law entering into force, the trips will be rarer.
There was quite a buzz, at the alcohol store and around. Timo, a Finn, was also lifting crates into a car with a friend. Timo claimed to come for it once a year – while sailing the seas with his friends.
Timo said he had read about the law which, according to him, had caused a lot of confusion in Finns as it was not clearly understood what the exact allowable take-along load may be.
Timo also failed to understand how the personal use thing could be proven. «The Finnish newspapers were saying that it must be proven after use – how?! This is a stupid regulation, as no one will be able to do precision checks,» said Timo.
According to SuPerAlko store head Imre Poll, he could not tell the Finns were buying more than usual. «It’s the usual routine for us. Totally the last June level,» said Mr Poll.
Port of Tallinn marketing and communications chief Sirle Arro said that year-on-year, Tallinn-Helsinki travellers have increased 8.5 percent.
According to Ms Arro it cannot be stated, while unaware of the exact reasons for the increase, if the changes are related to alcohol tax amendments – considering that, in June, we had several grand events like the Harley Davidson European biker rally at the Song Festival Grounds and a concert by Andrea Bocelli. Mr Arro still thinks, however, that the alcohol tax did play a role.