Transporting UK car to EU for repair - Customs process?
Discussion
I'm hoping that the knowledgeable minds of PH can help.
I'm trying to find out the current process and procedures for taking a UK registered car to a EU country for repair, and then bringing it back again. The car is not drivable and will be trailered to Poland (via France, Belgium, Netherlands & Germany) and back again.
I've looked at GOV.UK about taking a vehicle out of the UK, and it mentions requiring a CPD carnet but this is in reference to taking the car to a non-EU country. Wikipedia also provides some info about carnets but this only seems to be relevant to parts of Africa, Asia & Australia.
Does anybody know the process & procedures involved with this?
Many thanks.
I'm trying to find out the current process and procedures for taking a UK registered car to a EU country for repair, and then bringing it back again. The car is not drivable and will be trailered to Poland (via France, Belgium, Netherlands & Germany) and back again.
I've looked at GOV.UK about taking a vehicle out of the UK, and it mentions requiring a CPD carnet but this is in reference to taking the car to a non-EU country. Wikipedia also provides some info about carnets but this only seems to be relevant to parts of Africa, Asia & Australia.
Does anybody know the process & procedures involved with this?
Many thanks.
I think you're probably over thinking it. You're not permanently exporting/importing the car either way, what you're proposing is temporary, although not quite the same as popping across the channel on holiday/business, but effectively it's not far off. I reckon you'd be liable for import vat on the value of any new parts fitted and that would be about it, I don't think they'd be able to levy import vat on the labour?
How long it is going to be over there and what's the nature of the work? A full service is hardly going to get picked up by anyone at HMRC, but If it's a full restoration then it may well be a case of not paying the local vat and then paying UK import vat upon return, just like any other goods.
How long it is going to be over there and what's the nature of the work? A full service is hardly going to get picked up by anyone at HMRC, but If it's a full restoration then it may well be a case of not paying the local vat and then paying UK import vat upon return, just like any other goods.
I'm guessing labour rate in the first instance. Or are you going to see Arthur?:
https://youtu.be/wR2f-q4WPfs
If the car is on a trailer and won't be driven on the road I would assume its the equivalent of having a trailer with a wardrobe on it......
The tow car and trailer need to be road legal - the stuff on it wouldn't matter
https://youtu.be/wR2f-q4WPfs
If the car is on a trailer and won't be driven on the road I would assume its the equivalent of having a trailer with a wardrobe on it......
The tow car and trailer need to be road legal - the stuff on it wouldn't matter
Carnet is the appropriate route, to be certain of no issues.
https://www.ata-carnet.uk/eu/?gclid=CjwKCAjwvMqDBh...
It would only take a keen customs officer to cause major issues/cost/delays/heartache otherwise.
https://www.ata-carnet.uk/eu/?gclid=CjwKCAjwvMqDBh...
It would only take a keen customs officer to cause major issues/cost/delays/heartache otherwise.
Why might it need a carnet? A foreign vehicle can usually stay in a country for six months before officials start clucking about it's import status? (Expats cars go unnoticed for years on end). Skim reading the carnet link it also says that no alteration to the goods is allowed, such as for repairs, so in this context might it not cause a problem in that you'd be expressly breaching it's terms?
Edited by 21st Century Man on Sunday 11th April 22:48
21st Century Man said:
Why might it need a carnet? A foreign vehicle can usually stay in a country for six months before officials start clucking about it's import status? (Expats cars go unnoticed for years on end). Skim reading the carnet link it also says that no alteration to the goods is allowed, such as for repairs, so in this context might it not cause a problem in that you'd be expressly breaching it's terms?
The key is you're not driving a foreign vehicle over the border - you're shipping it.Edited by 21st Century Man on Sunday 11th April 22:48
All it takes is someone to decide it's staying in country (and we've already seen examples of overzealous approaches) - and you're liable for at least VAT.
Repairing it overseas is naughty - but how determinable that is depends on the repair.
Sway said:
The key is you're not driving a foreign vehicle over the border - you're shipping it.
All it takes is someone to decide it's staying in country (and we've already seen examples of overzealous approaches) - and you're liable for at least VAT.
Repairing it overseas is naughty - but how determinable that is depends on the repair.
Why is it naughty? Any time my Polish registered vehicles need paintwork doing I drive them back to the Uk and have them repaired at my trusted body shop. Purely due to the fact I can’t seem to find a decent painter in Poland and that my best friend is an excellent painter. Porsche servicing costs via the opc are also significantly cheaper in the uk than in Poland too. All it takes is someone to decide it's staying in country (and we've already seen examples of overzealous approaches) - and you're liable for at least VAT.
Repairing it overseas is naughty - but how determinable that is depends on the repair.
The German Polish border at slubice is still unmanned from a customs perspective. I would have thought if you removed the plates from the vehicle to be restored then nobody on this side would bat an eyelid.
CDB1983 said:
Sway said:
The key is you're not driving a foreign vehicle over the border - you're shipping it.
All it takes is someone to decide it's staying in country (and we've already seen examples of overzealous approaches) - and you're liable for at least VAT.
Repairing it overseas is naughty - but how determinable that is depends on the repair.
Why is it naughty? Any time my Polish registered vehicles need paintwork doing I drive them back to the Uk and have them repaired at my trusted body shop. Purely due to the fact I can’t seem to find a decent painter in Poland and that my best friend is an excellent painter. Porsche servicing costs via the opc are also significantly cheaper in the uk than in Poland too. All it takes is someone to decide it's staying in country (and we've already seen examples of overzealous approaches) - and you're liable for at least VAT.
Repairing it overseas is naughty - but how determinable that is depends on the repair.
The German Polish border at slubice is still unmanned from a customs perspective. I would have thought if you removed the plates from the vehicle to be restored then nobody on this side would bat an eyelid.
Carnets remove that - they're a bond that it's only entering the country temporarily, therefore no VAT is due. However, Carnets work on the basis the goods repatriated are the same as sent - hence no repairs or changes.
The other approach which could be taken, is to pay VAT on entry to the EU, then get it refunded when it leaves the EU. That's an utter ballache - and effects cashflow.
Thanks for the replies so far.
To give a bit of background, the car is a 2016 Infiniti Q50 with a broken gearbox.
I posted a tread about it last month https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... but it didn't get a huge response, most likely because it was moved to an obscure part of the forum.
The upshot is that it is proving difficult and very costly to have the gearbox fixed in the UK, whereas it is apparently much more cost effective to do it in Poland, even with the transport costs taken into account. With my relatives being from Poland, and having found a specialist repair workshop there, this option is appealing to them.
The car will be trailered there and back via a Polish transport company, but my relatives want to save some costs by dealing with the paperwork themselves, rather than paying extra to the transport company, hence the questions about the customs process and procedures.
To give a bit of background, the car is a 2016 Infiniti Q50 with a broken gearbox.
I posted a tread about it last month https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... but it didn't get a huge response, most likely because it was moved to an obscure part of the forum.
The upshot is that it is proving difficult and very costly to have the gearbox fixed in the UK, whereas it is apparently much more cost effective to do it in Poland, even with the transport costs taken into account. With my relatives being from Poland, and having found a specialist repair workshop there, this option is appealing to them.
The car will be trailered there and back via a Polish transport company, but my relatives want to save some costs by dealing with the paperwork themselves, rather than paying extra to the transport company, hence the questions about the customs process and procedures.
Honestly I would just send it, if it’s your personal vehicle you are entitled to use it in Uk plates in Poland for 6 months aren’t you? Maybe you are just having it transported to Poland for use on your summer holiday and whilst it’s there you have the gearbox replaced? If it’s not being exported then how can duty be paid? If I bring a polish plated car to the Uk. Wouldn’t have to pay customs duty as the car isn’t staying in the Uk.
Where are you sending it to be fixed? There’s an excellent gearbox specialist on outskirts of Poznań, his company is famous all over Poland for being specialists in their field.
http://www.teomotors.pl/
Where are you sending it to be fixed? There’s an excellent gearbox specialist on outskirts of Poznań, his company is famous all over Poland for being specialists in their field.
http://www.teomotors.pl/
CDB1983 said:
Honestly I would just send it, if it’s your personal vehicle you are entitled to use it in Uk plates in Poland for 6 months aren’t you? Maybe you are just having it transported to Poland for use on your summer holiday and whilst it’s there you have the gearbox replaced? If it’s not being exported then how can duty be paid? If I bring a polish plated car to the Uk. Wouldn’t have to pay customs duty as the car isn’t staying in the Uk.
Where are you sending it to be fixed? There’s an excellent gearbox specialist on outskirts of Pozna?, his company is famous all over Poland for being specialists in their field.
http://www.teomotors.pl/
How do you prove to the customs agent that it's not staying in country?Where are you sending it to be fixed? There’s an excellent gearbox specialist on outskirts of Pozna?, his company is famous all over Poland for being specialists in their field.
http://www.teomotors.pl/
By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
Sway said:
How do you prove to the customs agent that it's not staying in country?
By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
I’ve never been asked by customs to prove that my cars are or are not staying in the uk. Nor do I need a carnet to cross the border. By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
Just call HMRC and ask. My guess is you don't need a carnet in this context and UK import vat might possibly be due on the cost of any new parts being imported when it comes back, if it's even picked up on at the port? I doubt there's a mechanism for UK vat on the labour. I reckon HMRC will be rather bemused as it's a bit of an odd one. Repatriating holiday breakdown non runners that are crossing the channel in either direction on a truck don't get bogged down in carnets and import/export stuff do they?
CDB1983 said:
Sway said:
How do you prove to the customs agent that it's not staying in country?
By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
I’ve never been asked by customs to prove that my cars are or are not staying in the uk. Nor do I need a carnet to cross the border. By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
Look, you do you chap. I've fairly decent experience in international shipping, and know the grief we sometimes go through even with carnets for some very expensive commissioning kit... Indeed, we've a kit stuck in Germany now, despite every bit of paperwork being belt and braces - all because a local customs officer has decided to be an arse and claim rather a lot in both duties and VAT...
Sway said:
CDB1983 said:
Sway said:
How do you prove to the customs agent that it's not staying in country?
By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
I’ve never been asked by customs to prove that my cars are or are not staying in the uk. Nor do I need a carnet to cross the border. By shipping it to another country, exporting is exactly what you're doing, its just that you can avoid duties if you create a bond (carnet) prior to bringing it in.
Look, you do you chap. I've fairly decent experience in international shipping, and know the grief we sometimes go through even with carnets for some very expensive commissioning kit... Indeed, we've a kit stuck in Germany now, despite every bit of paperwork being belt and braces - all because a local customs officer has decided to be an arse and claim rather a lot in both duties and VAT...
I have an old colleague who used to have a business transporting motorbikes to Europe for road trip holidays, etc.
Post-Brexit, all that has ended because customs see vehicles shipping on a truck as ‘freight’ meaning they are subject to VAT and Duty.
We were asked to ship a bike to Denmark a few weeks back, when the owner found out how much tax he was going to be liable for, he rode it instead.
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