Importing a car to Australia - All the facts... Hopefully!

[pikey]

james280779 said:

said:

Mattt said:

What have people done with regards to stamp duty value?

What do you mean?

• There is an agreed "customs" value
• They charge you 3% on the first $45k and 5% on everything over.

I didn't think you got a choice of whether you wanted to pay this or not.

(That's how it was 2 weeks ago in NSW, anyway)

???

Customs Import duty is a flat 10% of car value plus freight costs. GST is then another 5% with the Duty included. The only other tax is luxury xar tax at 33% if applicable. I have never paid anything else and I am on my fifth shipment.

You've never paid Stamp Duty on registration? On 5 cars?

How? What am I missing?

[madazrx7]

I've never imported a car, but as I understand it, stamp duty is payable on purchase, ie change of ownership. If you import a car which you already own I wouldn't have expected to pay stamp duty, just import duty.

BTW, WA has the highest rate of stamp duty (it varies State to State) I bought my Monaro in Sydney, if I could have registered it there I would have saved nearly $2000.

Oh and if the WA DOT are anything to go by you will get 5 different answers from 5 different people. Even the simplest question seems to baffle them. I bought a custom plate for one of my bikes, when I went in to transfer it I was given a completely different price to that given over the phone, the girl behind the counter told me "the phone enquiry people have no idea what they are talking about"...

Edited by madazrx7 on Tuesday 18th September 15:09

[james280779]

said:

You've never paid Stamp Duty on registration? On 5 cars?

How? What am I missing?

Stamp duty is paid on every car but this is done when registering it and not when importing it. I have imported two personal imports - stamp duty not applicable, the other pre-1989 vehicles I owned for a while before shipping. they should have been liable for stamp duty but I was never charged - I presume due to the receipts being in my name and nearly a year old. One has yet to be registered as is waiting ADR compliance testing and I am doing various upgrades as its to be my daily driver.



Oh how I cant wait!!

Edited by james280779 on Wednesday 19th September 00:32

[james280779]

said:

Hi Matt,

Sorry to add confusion, but this is what happened to me two weeks ago:

• My vehicle cost me 93,000 AUD (or 60,000 GBP as it was purchased in the UK, 2 years ago)
• The value was determined at dockside to be 57,500 AUD
• On registering the car, I paid stamp duty of ( (3% of 45,000AUD) + (5% of 12,500AUD) )

The import duty, GST, LCT and Stamp Duty have all looked at the same valuation; the one done at dockside. Some of the paperwork refers to it as "valuation" and some as "customs valuation", but none use the word "market".

Regarding non-import, a few months ago I bought a local Honda CRV to tide me over. That cost 12,000 AUD and I paid stamp duty of (3% of 12,000AUD)

And if it should help explain the differences, I'm in NSW.

Fun this, isn't it? I found loads of conflicting stuff too. If only the government's website was clear, concise and updated..

Ben

this is correct, the trick is to use the lower valuation - in your case obviously the dockside valuation is the cheapest. In my case I paid considerably less in the UK than the valuation here so I use the original receipts. ($15k - UK VS. $45k Aus)You can use the valuation if its more favourable - sorry I should have made that clearer.

[lotuselan7]

James, if I don't qualify under personnel import rules I assume its still possible t import cars they are currently a 2012 and 2008 year cars. Looks like ill be working in Phillipines for a coupe of years before we move to Oz and plan to import from UK. I assume only extra cost is local compliance test.
Cheers mark

[james280779]

lotuselan7 said:

James, if I don't qualify under personnel import rules I assume its still possible t import cars they are currently a 2012 and 2008 year cars. Looks like ill be working in Phillipines for a coupe of years before we move to Oz and plan to import from UK. I assume only extra cost is local compliance test.
Cheers mark

no and no

2012 and 2008 - you have to be here to import them firstly, secondly with those model years, whatever you paid for the car I would say you need the same again providing they are not available in Australia and are on the SEVS list. Even if they are on the SEVS list its possible you could end up with a bill for $100k for emissions testing IF you are the first to import that vehicle. you need to pay shipping, insurance, agents costs, Duty 10%, GST5%, engineers reports and testing - allow up to another $20k for that and on top of that if they are classed as a Luxury car then add another 33% on top of that.

If they are not on the SEVS list you wont get import approval.

I presume you are trying to get out of the hefty tax charges on vehicles in the Phillipines, my advice is to sell cars- have a moped while in phillipines. You will also struggle to get a visa from Phillipines to Australia, you will most likely have to return to the UK first.

basically if you are not living here with a visa in your passport (or one in last stages) you wont get import approval as this is part of the application process.

[NSNO]

Hi quick question. Does my car need to be de-gassed before getting shipped? I read that it does but then I'm sure I've read since that other people have shipped their car no problem without getting it de-gassed first.

[pikey]

NSNO said:

Does my car need to be de-gassed before getting shipped? I read that it does but then I'm sure I've read since that other people have shipped their car no problem without getting it de-gassed first.

No. You can leave the airconditioning as is. You also do not need to sign or submit a statement.

Note the rules do change, hence you may have found old information that differs to what I'm saying.

My experience is from personally importing a car (2011 Porsche Cayenne) into Sydney last mont (September 2012).

[james280779]

depends on the age of the vehicle as they changed gas types mid naughties.

My 2002 MGTF had all sorts of grief getting through customs as they kept insisting I provided evidence of De-gassing it. After four conversations explaining it did not have aircon, I had to pay for them to inspect it to confirm ..... your car doesnt have Aircon.

My Lotus had to be degassed also.

[Mc F]

The import agent I used said not to degass the aircon as it would not be an issue:

He was right & I had no problems with clearing the cars through Brisbane a fortnight ago.

Maybe it was there ages;


A 2007 Model and a 2005.

[james280779]

Mc F said:

The import agent I used said not to degass the aircon as it would not be an issue:

He was right & I had no problems with clearing the cars through Brisbane a fortnight ago.

Maybe it was there ages;


A 2007 Model and a 2005.

I have spoken to a few contacts and clarified, one the older cars that use the cyanide type gas (I know) it is illegal for obvious reasons. Most cars manufactored after 2004 are fine. before you need to check the type of gas

[custardtart]

I'm about to bring a car in to Sydney from the UK under the pre 1989 scheme.

It looks reasonably straighforward, I've filled in my IO2 General Application form which being a pre-89 with no modifications seems v. simple.

The UK seller is organising delivery to Southampton port.

I'd appreciate any recomendations on who to organise the shipping and the marine insurance through?

James, I've dropped you an email. Any advice appreciated especially if you've been through the pre-89 scheme.

Cheers
Matt

[pikey]

custardtart said:

I'd appreciate any recomendations on who to organise the shipping and the marine insurance through?

After recommendations from quite a few different sources, I used Karman Shipping for transportation and insurance. http://www.carshipping.co.uk

..once landed (in Sydney) I used Cargo Online to deal with the customs and quarantine http://www.cargoonline.com.au

..and then once cleared I used Complete Car Care to get it on the road http://www.completecarcare.net.au

All of them handed over between themselves, all hassle free, no problems, nice and easy!

[james280779]

custardtart said:

I'm about to bring a car in to Sydney from the UK under the pre 1989 scheme.

It looks reasonably straighforward, I've filled in my IO2 General Application form which being a pre-89 with no modifications seems v. simple.

The UK seller is organising delivery to Southampton port.

I'd appreciate any recomendations on who to organise the shipping and the marine insurance through?

James, I've dropped you an email. Any advice appreciated especially if you've been through the pre-89 scheme.

Cheers
Matt

YHM - Do not use one of the above mentioned- they tried fraud and got caught out by me.

[custardtart]

P I K E Y, thanks for the info mate.

James, got your email and replied.

PH's comes up tops again!

Edited because the word P I k E Y keeps coming up censored

Edited by custardtart on Wednesday 7th November 19:24

Edited by custardtart on Wednesday 7th November 19:25

[hurricane_82]

james280779 said:

YHM - Do not use one of the above mentioned- they tried fraud and got caught out by me.

One of the PH'ers over here in NZ has imported two TVR's with Karman without any problems and swears by the service they received.

I'm thinking about using these for my next import so if you have any negative experience like potential fraud, i'd be really keen to find out the details from you, PM me if you don't mind or share the details on here...

Cheers

[james280779]

hurricane_82 said:

One of the PH'ers over here in NZ has imported two TVR's with Karman without any problems and swears by the service they received.

I'm thinking about using these for my next import so if you have any negative experience like potential fraud, i'd be really keen to find out the details from you, PM me if you don't mind or share the details on here...

Cheers

Karman was not the culprit.

I havent used them- I always use 1st move international as they are simply the best for Ro/Ro, just ring them both for a quote and go with who is cheapest. They are only a middle agent for the shipping line anyway and dont actually get involved aside from making the booking.

[ukdennis]

Mattt said:

Sorry, but stamp duty is payable on first registration also.

Depends on which State you register the car in.

For WA, they will not charge stamp duty on a car you already own in your name (e.g. in the case of a personal import).

Other States have different rules.

[james280779]

ukdennis said:

Depends on which State you register the car in.

For WA, they will not charge stamp duty on a car you already own in your name (e.g. in the case of a personal import).

Other States have different rules.

this is because stamp duty is applicable on registering a vehicle for the first time in your name as a new purchase - Obviously due to the rules of personal imports, you have to own the car for 12 months first so its not applicable. As far as I am aware stamp is payable in every state for a purchase of a vehicle when registering.

[lotuselan7]

james280779 said:

no and no

2012 and 2008 - you have to be here to import them firstly, secondly with those model years, whatever you paid for the car I would say you need the same again providing they are not available in Australia and are on the SEVS list. Even if they are on the SEVS list its possible you could end up with a bill for $100k for emissions testing IF you are the first to import that vehicle. you need to pay shipping, insurance, agents costs, Duty 10%, GST5%, engineers reports and testing - allow up to another $20k for that and on top of that if they are classed as a Luxury car then add another 33% on top of that.

If they are not on the SEVS list you wont get import approval.

I presume you are trying to get out of the hefty tax charges on vehicles in the Phillipines, my advice is to sell cars- have a moped while in phillipines. You will also struggle to get a visa from Phillipines to Australia, you will most likely have to return to the UK first.

basically if you are not living here with a visa in your passport (or one in last stages) you wont get import approval as this is part of the application process.

James the plan is wait till we get back to Oz, then apply for import so that will solve the residancy issue. Why do you say visa for myelf will be an issue. Ill be applying for spousal visa as my wife is Aussie and we have been married a few years?
Re SEVS scheme I was looking at the Letter of Compliance Scheme Approval which seems to suggest you can get approval from Ferrari confirming car was built to Aussie design standards at time of original build. The RVCS website is useful here:
http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/pls/wwws/pubrvcs.No...
Im waiting a reply form RVCS on whether car will require any further mods if it has LCA.
Never was the intention to ship to Phillipines as i get car and driver with the job. Dont want to sell in UK as depreciation is a killer and we can use in the interviening years as transport when we come back 3 or so times a year.
Ill post once I get a reply from RVCS.