Importing a car from US and the duty implications

[PaulDav]

I'm looking to import a car from the US to the UK, has anyone any idea how duty / tax works? I assume I have to pay duty here in the UK at 20% when the car arrives, but can I claim the duty back from the US that I must have paid there?

Thanks!

[D_G]

What's the circumstances of the import? Are you coming back with the car or just buying it? It makes a big difference to what you might pay, also what year and model is it?

[PaulDav]

Just buying

Looking at importing a Cobra from either Kirkham Motorsport (http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/) or Backdraft Racing (http://www.backdraftracing.com/)

Cost around $80k so its a significant difference if i suddenly have to stump up another 20% duty here and cannot claim anything back from the US.

I live in the UK and it would be a pure import

[GC8]

Import duty on the cost of purchase and the cost of shipping to the UK, with VAT on top of that total. For the applicable rates you will need to refer to the C&E Tariff, which you can find in your local library.

Itd be easier to call C&E though as its a tome which runs to several volumes. You will need to enploy an agent to deal with the importation, which will cost about £50. They may be able to advise you too, if you use a firm like Penguin Shipping who deal with thousands of cars a year.

[NNH]

Because the US tax is a "Sales Tax" rather than a Value Added Tax, there is no automatic right to reclaim it when you leave the country.

However, some states allow you to reclaim sales tax if you register a car in another state within a short period - I know from personal experience that this is true of Pennsylvania.

[LuS1fer]

The bad news is you have to pay 10% import duty based on what you paid for the car in the US.
Having added that 10%, you then have to pay 20% VAT on the new total AND on the shipping.

Thank the lord it's not a pickup which has something like 22% import duty.

[Twin Turbo]

Ron Fenton at STS Imports handles the shipping of many Mustangs and parts.......so worth a call.

As stated above, you're looking at you $80k, plus shipping, plus IVA, plus 10% import tax...........then you can added the dreaded 20% VAT on top of whatever that lot comes to

[PaulDav]

Hmmm maybe back to the drawing board then! So basically I would end up paying around 35% on top of the list price to get it into the UK! So for an $80k vehicle I would be looking at around $108 to have it here?

[LuS1fer]

Unfortunately, yes.

[jke11y]

My car is being brought in on the 5% VAT rate; not sure if what you are looking at would qualify? Think its for old / factory standard cars that qualify. The company doing the shipping for me take care of all the various forms.

[LuS1fer]

That rate applies to old and historic, not new stuff.

[Monty Python]

Why not buy on here in the UK?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

[jke11y]

LuS1fer said:

That rate applies to old and historic, not new stuff.

I saw cobra and assumed old one not a new one.

[aeropilot]

PaulDav said:

Hmmm maybe back to the drawing board then! So basically I would end up paying around 35% on top of the list price to get it into the UK! So for an $80k vehicle I would be looking at around $108 to have it here?

Plus the fact that many (most) US built Cobra's 'replicas' will need lots of mods things changed to get them through SVA or whatever it's called these days.

I looked into bringing a ERA 427 over but, it would have to be butchered and modded so much it would have ruined the car.....

[PaulDav]

What kind of things need to be modified for the UK?

[LuS1fer]

PaulDav said:

What kind of things need to be modified for the UK?

How old is the car?

[aeropilot]

PaulDav said:

What kind of things need to be modified for the UK?

That depends massively on what the car has been built to represent (or not) and what bits used.
Essentially the more accurate the replica the more you might have to change…..but it depends on when the car was built in the USA (the older the better) and what paperwork it has been registered as etc.,….it’s a minefield to be honest, and I wasn’t ever able to get a definitive answer about an ERA that in the end I wasn’t prepared to risk it.
I joined the UK Cobra kit forum at the time, but just kept getting referred by people on there to the SVA paperwork – which was as clear as mud.
There’s probably a difference to SVA between building an imported kit here in the UK and imported a completed car, but again, I couldn’t get a definitive answer.

Exhausts, steering wheels, lights, wheel spinners, interior components etc., on most US built Cobras will likely need changing.

Edited by aeropilot on Tuesday 4th March 14:22

Edited by aeropilot on Tuesday 4th March 14:22

[NNH]

PaulDav said:

What kind of things need to be modified for the UK?

RHD headlights. Foglights. Orange indicators. Persuading a number plate to fit on the car (surprisingly annoying process).

[PaulDav]

If I was to buy the car from an agent in the Netherlands, how does that change the duty implications?

[aeropilot]

PaulDav said:

If I was to buy the car from an agent in the Netherlands, how does that change the duty implications?

Probably more expensive in the long run.

Car is still going to be an import into the EU, so there will still be charges and EU VAT (might be 19 instead of 20% though) but IIRC, Holland has some pretty hefty taxation on expensive cars, so might get stung even more......??

I don't know enough details about doing it that way around, but my guess is it won't be significantly cheaper and likely more expensive double handling it....??