Hi all –

We get around 100 queries per week on the Duty Calculator of people calculating the duty and VAT due when importing a car or motorbike. Most cars are imported from the USA and Japan. The cars that are imported are a mix of collector cars (we had a Ford GT), cars that are simply not available in the UK, for example the Infinity FX35 or cars where there is pure price arbitrage, for example the Nissan 370z.

Almost 20% of the queries relate to intra-EU trade of cars. This is not surprising as Duty & VAT regulation for importing cars within the EU is a complicated matter.

Lets start with duty. In general there is no import duty due when importing a car from another EU member state. There are two exceptions: Portugal and Cyprus do levy an import duty on cars from within the EU.

Then there is VAT. In the EU most goods are charged with VAT in the country in which they are purchased. However for a new car, VAT will be due in the member state of destination if the car is new, or the car is sold to a customer who intends to take it to another EU member state.

A new car means here, that less than 6 months have elapsed since the date of its first entry into service or it has, since its first entry into service, travelled under its own power for more than 6000km. If the car is not new, you will not have to pay VAT if you have paid VAT on its purchase in the EU member state of supply.

Plenty more information on this you can find in the Duty Calculator FAQ and the HMRC Notice 728.

Happy bundling

Andre