Shipping car from Dubai to UK without paying Import Tax/VAT

[VanquishDubai]

So, I plan to take my Vanquish to the UK in 6 months or so and I currently live in Dubai. Taking it there to keep there to drive when I come back and perhaps sell.

However, there seems to be a right minefield of possible issues re import duties etc. In short, you have to meet lots of criteria and even if you meet them all you have to ship the car and only when it lands on UK shores will they tell you if you have to pay any VAT/TAX or not. They cant give you any indication before you sail. On a 65k GBP car thats quite a big risk.

I heard of someone who sent his Ferrari through Croatia, registered it under a coratian company and then drove it back to france....avoiding any duties.

Any ideas? becuase I aint paying the tax man diddly squat.

[dvs_dave]

I thought the done thing was to just abandon the car at the airport?

As long as you can prove:
it's a personal vehicle,
it's not new,
you're permanently moving back to the EU,
your residency outside the EU for the prior 12 months,
you have owned the vehicle for over 6 months
you don't intend to sell it within 12 months of importing it,

you shouldn't be liable for any tax or import duty. The HMRC website has a lot of good info on the topic that google will find for you.

Also driving it into the country yourself will be a lot easier than shipping it unaccompanied, and would make for one hell of a roadtrip! I used to work out in DXB and heard stories of people driving home via Israel, ferry hopping into Italy and then up to the UK.

[zasker]

As dvs dave has said extract from the HMRC website.

Importing your motor vehicle to the UK from outside the EU

If you are importing a motor vehicle into the UK from outside the EU you must declare the vehicle to Customs. Some Reliefs are available subject to specific conditions being met.

To get Transfer of Residence Relief, you must fill in and sign form C104A and present it when you bring the vehicle into the country.
You don't have to pay duty or VAT on the vehicle provided you meet all these conditions:
• you are moving your normal home to the UK
• you have had your normal home outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
• you have possessed and used the vehicle for at least six months outside the EU
• you didn't get the vehicle under a duty/tax-free scheme
• you're going to keep the vehicle for your personal use for at least 12 months after it's imported

Obtain form C104A Importation of a private motor vehicle into the United Kingdom on transfer of residence from outside the European Community (EC)

[VanquishDubai]

Thanks all.
Yes, issue is I am not moving back. I want to drive the car when I am back in the UK on business 4-5 times a year. So that is an issue.

The driving it back sounds like a laugh, although not sure if I would start from Israel I have to say. If I were to drive in from another country outside the EU I suppose I would still have to pay the duty eh.

Assuming i just paid the duty I assume they work out a fair value for the car...which is where I come a cropper. I got it for considerably less than it is in the UK. I take it that its 20% duty these days yes?

Thanks

[dvs_dave]

Not transferring residency will make you liable to import duty, as well as making leaving the car in the UK for extended periods problematic as you'll eventually have to register it in the UK. Not easy if you're not resident. Also I presume your UAE Vanquish is LHD which in the UK will be worth much less and cost more to insure than an equivalent RHD. You would also have to modify it (lights etc.) back to UK spec which could be costly.

All things considered, your best bet is to import the car as a tourist each summer like all the Arabs do when they come to London, and then take it back once you're done. There's probably plenty of people that can do this for you in DXB given the amount of DXB registered exotica tooling around London in the summer. And you wouldn't want to be driving it around on salty slippery winter roads anyway.

Or just buy a UK car (used Aston's and the like are cheap enough these days) and register it with someone who you trust that is normally resident in the UK.

Edited by dvs_dave on Tuesday 1st May 17:54

[Cemesis]

It's 20% after the import duty isn't it?

You'd be better off driving it back and taking a week off work wouldn't you?

[RacingJames1]

I'm staying in South Africa for 2 years on an intra-company work visa. Will this allow me to import a car back to the UK when I return and avoid VAT and duty? I'm not sure I will fulfil points a) and b) below. Can anyone clarify? I am a UK resident btw.

If you’re moving to the UK

You don’t pay VAT or duty on vehicles imported from outside the EU if you qualify for transfer of residence relief. To qualify you must meet all of these conditions:

a)you’re moving your normal home to the UK
b)your normal home was outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
c)you’ve owned and used the vehicle for at least 6 months outside the EU
d)you didn’t get the vehicle under a duty or tax-free scheme
e)you’re going to keep the vehicle for your personal use for at least 12 months

Edited by RacingJames1 on Friday 8th August 13:53