Importing Cars from Germany within EU as a business
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forums so I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this.
Does anyone have any experience in importing cars from Germany to sell them in other EU countries such as Belgium or Austria etc? I know that cars are very expensive in Austria and Belgium compared to Germany, and I've heard people talking about importing cars to these countries and selling them on and making decent amounts of profit per car as the same cars sell for considerably more.
I've done some research and the German car market for personal cars is definitely very active with around 3 million sales a year compared to e.g. Belgium and Austria which is in the 200k to 300k range, so not too sure about that and whether the cars would sell? Of course Germany is much bigger but German cars are cheaper in Germany.
I've been trying to research import taxes and other fees too, but I've been seeing different information on different websites, but one thing I read is that if you have a registered address in Belgium then no tax applies on the vehicle that is being imported, and I'm not sure if that would be beneficial to this type of a business or negative because on one hand it would obviously eliminate the fees for business but on the other hand wouldn't people just cross the border themselves to get the cars at a cheaper premium? Or would the hassle still put people off and thus create an opportunity?
I was wondering if anyone has done this/doing it or knows anyone that has and could give some input on this and if this is something that can still be done or are people just crossing borders themselves to buy cars for a cheaper premium?
I'm new to the forums so I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this.
Does anyone have any experience in importing cars from Germany to sell them in other EU countries such as Belgium or Austria etc? I know that cars are very expensive in Austria and Belgium compared to Germany, and I've heard people talking about importing cars to these countries and selling them on and making decent amounts of profit per car as the same cars sell for considerably more.
I've done some research and the German car market for personal cars is definitely very active with around 3 million sales a year compared to e.g. Belgium and Austria which is in the 200k to 300k range, so not too sure about that and whether the cars would sell? Of course Germany is much bigger but German cars are cheaper in Germany.
I've been trying to research import taxes and other fees too, but I've been seeing different information on different websites, but one thing I read is that if you have a registered address in Belgium then no tax applies on the vehicle that is being imported, and I'm not sure if that would be beneficial to this type of a business or negative because on one hand it would obviously eliminate the fees for business but on the other hand wouldn't people just cross the border themselves to get the cars at a cheaper premium? Or would the hassle still put people off and thus create an opportunity?
I was wondering if anyone has done this/doing it or knows anyone that has and could give some input on this and if this is something that can still be done or are people just crossing borders themselves to buy cars for a cheaper premium?
Sorry, am i getting this right?
Are you proposing setting up a business in Belgium, importing cars from Germany, whilst living outside the EU?
Also, whilst you may be able to import a brand new car from Germany in to Belgium and not pay German taxes, i can only assume you then have to pay Belgian taxes on the price, which is presumably whats making the car more expensive in the first place in Belgium?
Are you proposing setting up a business in Belgium, importing cars from Germany, whilst living outside the EU?
Also, whilst you may be able to import a brand new car from Germany in to Belgium and not pay German taxes, i can only assume you then have to pay Belgian taxes on the price, which is presumably whats making the car more expensive in the first place in Belgium?
No, I would be living in Belgium to run the business, so I would of course be living inside the EU.
Secondly, I have read that if you have a registered address in Belgium, then you do not need to pay the taxes when importing a car from another EU country, in this instance, Germany.
Thirdly, the whole idea is that German cars are cheaper in Germany, and therefore you can acquire cars for low prices, and then import them to Belgium to sell on as the same cars are more expensive over there.
My question was to anyone who has done this themselves before or knows anyone that has done it, and if there are any other costs and duties needed to, and whether this could actually work as a business model.
Secondly, I have read that if you have a registered address in Belgium, then you do not need to pay the taxes when importing a car from another EU country, in this instance, Germany.
Thirdly, the whole idea is that German cars are cheaper in Germany, and therefore you can acquire cars for low prices, and then import them to Belgium to sell on as the same cars are more expensive over there.
My question was to anyone who has done this themselves before or knows anyone that has done it, and if there are any other costs and duties needed to, and whether this could actually work as a business model.
I think you may run into problems with paperwork. Every car in Belgium has to have an individual Certificate of Conformity (COC) which is needed to register the car. Most EU countries don't have this requirement, so cars from other EU member states don't have the COC as it's not needed.
You can get a COC for an individual vehicle via the manufacturer's Belgian head office, most are based in or around Brussels. Some marques require that the car is "re-plated" - the id plate (usually under the bonnet) gets replaced - although all the details (chassis number etc.) remain unchanged. This requires that the car itself is presented to be re-plated. The administrative costs vary from €150 - €250 per car, depending on the manufacturer, plus your costs - transport, time etc. You may also find it harder to get paperwork from some manufacturers - trying to protect their own channels.
If you are doing it as a business you would also be obliged to give a year guarantee on every vehicle you sold.
You also have the challenge of establishing yourself in the market (I'm assuming you're not currently active/known - apologies if that's not right).
I would steer clear of Mercedes - the cars which tend to get exported are often lemons - German garages manage to place good secondhand cars in their home market, but are happy to sell the dodgy ones for export - this qualifies as a business-to-business transaction, so they are not obliged to give any warranty.
You can make money doing this, but you need to know what you're doing.
You can get a COC for an individual vehicle via the manufacturer's Belgian head office, most are based in or around Brussels. Some marques require that the car is "re-plated" - the id plate (usually under the bonnet) gets replaced - although all the details (chassis number etc.) remain unchanged. This requires that the car itself is presented to be re-plated. The administrative costs vary from €150 - €250 per car, depending on the manufacturer, plus your costs - transport, time etc. You may also find it harder to get paperwork from some manufacturers - trying to protect their own channels.
If you are doing it as a business you would also be obliged to give a year guarantee on every vehicle you sold.
You also have the challenge of establishing yourself in the market (I'm assuming you're not currently active/known - apologies if that's not right).
I would steer clear of Mercedes - the cars which tend to get exported are often lemons - German garages manage to place good secondhand cars in their home market, but are happy to sell the dodgy ones for export - this qualifies as a business-to-business transaction, so they are not obliged to give any warranty.
You can make money doing this, but you need to know what you're doing.
A UK based forum with 99% UK users is unlikely to be able to answer this.
There are some users in Belgium but the Belgium forum in the International PHer's section hasn't had an entry in 2 years.
Edited to add.....that ^^^^ poster is the only one I knew of that MAY have been able to help.
There are some users in Belgium but the Belgium forum in the International PHer's section hasn't had an entry in 2 years.
Edited to add.....that ^^^^ poster is the only one I knew of that MAY have been able to help.
Edited by Pericoloso on Sunday 16th February 15:36
Simpo Two said:
I thought the whole point of the EU was that it's a level playing field from an internal tax POV. Otherwise one country has a competitive advantage over another - and the EU hates competition.
I think there is also some funny extra tax with importing cars into Ireland. Even though the movement of goods within the EU is supposed to be free trade (i.e. not classed as import/export). Anything to keep the German Car Economy going.....AemAei said:
No, I would be living in Belgium to run the business, so I would of course be living inside the EU.
Secondly, I have read that if you have a registered address in Belgium, then you do not need to pay the taxes when importing a car from another EU country, in this instance, Germany.
Thirdly, the whole idea is that German cars are cheaper in Germany, and therefore you can acquire cars for low prices, and then import them to Belgium to sell on as the same cars are more expensive over there.
My question was to anyone who has done this themselves before or knows anyone that has done it, and if there are any other costs and duties needed to, and whether this could actually work as a business model.
I've been involved with selling cars between the UK and Ireland in the past, on a similar principle.Secondly, I have read that if you have a registered address in Belgium, then you do not need to pay the taxes when importing a car from another EU country, in this instance, Germany.
Thirdly, the whole idea is that German cars are cheaper in Germany, and therefore you can acquire cars for low prices, and then import them to Belgium to sell on as the same cars are more expensive over there.
My question was to anyone who has done this themselves before or knows anyone that has done it, and if there are any other costs and duties needed to, and whether this could actually work as a business model.
Basically cars were more expensive in Ireland than they were in the UK.
UK price was save £28,000. Irish price £35,000.
UK pre tax price was £20,000 + taxes of £8,000. Irish pre tax price was £17,000 + £18,000 of taxes. The manufacturers had to make the base price lower (sometimes by spec changes) to have a hope of selling the cars once the tax was added.
So you bought a car in Ireland, with tax as it was being exported, so £17,000 then when you registered it in the UK you had to pay UK tax @ £7,000 (based as a percentage of list price), so you had the same car for £24,000. So you could make an easy £1,000-£2,000 margin.
Over simplified example, and not taking in to account the Euro / Sterling difference.
I cant see how thats going to be different with what you're doing. I dont think you can avoid paying ANY tax in Belgium. You will i think end up getting the car "tax free" in Germany for export, but then pay all the Belgium taxes on the way in. Whether theres a price difference in the base price is where you'd hope to make profit.
Deep Thought said:
I dont think you can avoid paying ANY tax in Belgium. You will i think end up getting the car "tax free" in Germany for export, but then pay all the Belgium taxes on the way in. Whether theres a price difference in the base price is where you'd hope to make profit.
The only tax you'll pay in Belgium is on any profit you may make - as others have said, there is no tax imposed on cars sold between EU countries. EXCEPT - if the car in the originating country was registered to a company (as opposed to a private individual) and they claimed the VAT back on the purchase price.
sunbeam alpine said:
Deep Thought said:
I dont think you can avoid paying ANY tax in Belgium. You will i think end up getting the car "tax free" in Germany for export, but then pay all the Belgium taxes on the way in. Whether theres a price difference in the base price is where you'd hope to make profit.
The only tax you'll pay in Belgium is on any profit you may make - as others have said, there is no tax imposed on cars sold between EU countries. EXCEPT - if the car in the originating country was registered to a company (as opposed to a private individual) and they claimed the VAT back on the purchase price.
Different then indeed.
Whys everybody not doing it in Belgium then?
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