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| A classic car we shipped recently |
If you’re lucky enough to buy a classic car from abroad, you’ll need to know how to get your latest luxury purchase into the country. It’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the procedures before you take the step of making the purchase, or consult experts like t.ward shipping limited for advice. Importing a classic can be somewhat complicated affair and how it’s done will depend on whether you and the car are in the EU, and also your circumstances.
Transportation
If you’re importing for the love of the car and not for business reasons, once you’ve looked into the prices and made the decision to buy, you’ll have to think about how you intend to get the car from where it currently is to where you are. We would, of course, recommend that you have the car shipped across!
Duty & VAT
If you’re in the UK and want to import a classic car from mainland Europe, it’s quite simple, tax wise. Because of the EU, it’s not considered an import as such by HMRC, but a movement of goods from one member state top another. This is great news because it means that you don’t have to pay ant import duty, and VAT won’t have to be paid as you’ll already have paid VAT on the purchase of the car in the country the goods are being exported from.
The procedure is:
- Once you’ve bought the car, make sure it has an MOT – or the local version of an MOT.
- Get it insured in advance - use the car’s VIN number as you won’t have a registration plate yet. Insurance companies will be fine with this.
- In some EU countries you need to apply for temporary plates, which can be expensive. Check beforehand as it might affect your decision to import the car!
- Get the official declaration of sale signed by you, the seller and a notary
- Get a Certificate of Ownership
- Transport your classic car back to the UK
- Notify HRMC
- Get the car MOT’d in the UK
- Register the car with the DVLA
You’ll have to pay a customs fee and a DVLA registration fee too, around £50 each.The process for importing from outside the EU is trickier. Once you’ve bought the car, you’ll have to;
- Get the documentation organised - sale agreement and registration documentation
- Ship the vehicle back to the UK
- Complete a C384 form to work out the amount of Customs Duty and VAT liable
As a rough guide expect to shell out 10 per cent in Import Duty for non-EU manufactured cars and 20 per cent for VAT. It’s complicated to work out but there’s a handy calculator here: http://www.dutycalculator.com/
- Notify HRMC and organise an MOT
- Register the vehicle with DVLA
We love classic cars at t.ward shipping – and we’d love to talk to you about importing your latest purchase. Let our friendly team guide you through the red tape and help you enjoy your lovely classic car stress-free.
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