Paying VAT on car from Guernsey
Discussion
I've seen a car for sale in Guernsey. The advert states that you will need to pay VAT on the vehicle if importing to the UK.
How does this work? Is it 17.5% on cars?
What reg plates will be on it?
If I bought it there and drove it back to England, why can't I just run that car without paying VAT just as somebody driving over from France in their car doesn't have to pay VAT?
How does this work? Is it 17.5% on cars?
What reg plates will be on it?
If I bought it there and drove it back to England, why can't I just run that car without paying VAT just as somebody driving over from France in their car doesn't have to pay VAT?
torqueofthedevil said:
Is it 17.5% on cars?
Where did that figure come from? Why would it be 17.5%?torqueofthedevil said:
What reg plates will be on it?
The Guernsey plate, of course. Until you register it in the UK.torqueofthedevil said:
If I bought it there and drove it back to England, why can't I just run that car without paying VAT just as somebody driving over from France in their car doesn't have to pay VAT?
Presumably you are planning to keep it and will therefore register it in the UK?Check whether the car was registered from new in Guernsey. If it was first registered in the UK and subsequently bought s/h by a CI resident there may be an exemption when re-imported. If VAT has already been paid (and not reclaimed on export) it surely can't be right the HMRC gets another bite of the cherry. Got to be worth a call.
I was looking to buy a Guernsey car 5 years ago that had originated from the mainland. My understanding then was that because VAT was paid on the initial purchase it was payable at the current rate at the time if it was brought back to the mainland and registered over here on UK plates.
I think you might have to pay 20% VAT on the purchase price at the point of entry.
I stand to be corrected of course as I am only an internet "expert" on VAT.
I think you might have to pay 20% VAT on the purchase price at the point of entry.
I stand to be corrected of course as I am only an internet "expert" on VAT.
If the car has never had VAT paid on it, you need to complete a C384 form and send this, a covering letter and a copy of your invoice to:
The Car Team, HMRC
NCH
Ralli Quays
3 Stanley St
Salford
M60 9HC
They will then send you and invoice for the VAT due and, at that point, when HMRC declare that VAT has been paid you need to send a copy of the MOT and a V55/5 (application for first tax disc and registration) to the DVLA.
If the car has had VAT paid on it in the past, you need to get HMRC to confirm they consider the car to be VAT-paid and then it's MOT & V55/5 time.
This, I think, is correct. I'm in the middle of moving back to Jersey from the UK and am importing 2 cars with me (one has no VAT to pay as it has been owned for more than 6 months and will be kept for more than 12, the other is a more complex beast).
The Car Team, HMRC
NCH
Ralli Quays
3 Stanley St
Salford
M60 9HC
They will then send you and invoice for the VAT due and, at that point, when HMRC declare that VAT has been paid you need to send a copy of the MOT and a V55/5 (application for first tax disc and registration) to the DVLA.
If the car has had VAT paid on it in the past, you need to get HMRC to confirm they consider the car to be VAT-paid and then it's MOT & V55/5 time.
This, I think, is correct. I'm in the middle of moving back to Jersey from the UK and am importing 2 cars with me (one has no VAT to pay as it has been owned for more than 6 months and will be kept for more than 12, the other is a more complex beast).
Edited by EJH on Thursday 14th August 07:38
@EJH - what you said confirms my thinking.
If a car's first registration from new is in Guernsey then no VAT will have been paid (or else it will have been paid and then reclaimed on export from the UK). A used car (2nd/3rd/4th hand, whatever) will have had VAT paid when first purchased in the UK. HMRC getting double bubble when it returns to these shores can't be correct (certainly not fair anyway!).
If a car's first registration from new is in Guernsey then no VAT will have been paid (or else it will have been paid and then reclaimed on export from the UK). A used car (2nd/3rd/4th hand, whatever) will have had VAT paid when first purchased in the UK. HMRC getting double bubble when it returns to these shores can't be correct (certainly not fair anyway!).
HootersGsy said:
Out of interest, what is the car? I might go and have a gander if it's something interesting enough for you to be thinking of exporting from here!
[/nosey]
I saw a TVR Cerbera for sale in Jersey last year. I thought "daft having that 380 bhp, 190 mph car on an island with a 40 mph speed limit" and "Gold coloured? You must be joking!", but the VAT question never crossed my mind.....[/nosey]
As people have said if the car was imported from the UK then you shouldn't have an issues. The current owner can tell straight away as the Guernsey V5 doc will say on it if the car was imported in to the island.
I bought a car from the UK, imported it in to the island then when I sold it, it went back to the UK. All I did was phone up the DVLA, checked that the plates were still active for the car which they were. So I put them back on the car, got it taxed and had an MOT done. Bloke was happy with it and bought it.
I know of another person who bought a Guernsey car and never registered it back in the UK. Obviously this is illegal but he is still going strong 10years later. Mean's no tax or MOT.
I bought a car from the UK, imported it in to the island then when I sold it, it went back to the UK. All I did was phone up the DVLA, checked that the plates were still active for the car which they were. So I put them back on the car, got it taxed and had an MOT done. Bloke was happy with it and bought it.
I know of another person who bought a Guernsey car and never registered it back in the UK. Obviously this is illegal but he is still going strong 10years later. Mean's no tax or MOT.
Prev said:
I know of another person who bought a Guernsey car and never registered it back in the UK. Obviously this is illegal but he is still going strong 10years later. Mean's no tax or MOT.
And he's got a Guernsey insurance policy, has he? Or does it also mean "No insurance"? He's my hero. No, really, he is. Not at all a total scumbucket. Heavens, no...QBee said:
I saw a TVR Cerbera for sale in Jersey last year. I thought "daft having that 380 bhp, 190 mph car on an island with a 40 mph speed limit" and "Gold coloured? You must be joking!", but the VAT question never crossed my mind.....
Apparently we/Jersey have one of the highest ownerships of fast cars in the world. It is ridiculous when you consider our speed limits and small roads, but then again it's only a short ferry ride to St Malo...torqueofthedevil said:
In not saying I would do this, and I'm not even going to buy the car, but surely you could bring the car back and drive it here without registering it here formally. I see so many foreign number plates in the uk and I doubt they have registered them here
Sure you can, no problem at all.Until you get a tug & the car does not show on DVLA records. Or have any tax. Or MOT.
HootersGsy said:
QBee said:
I saw a TVR Cerbera for sale in Jersey last year. I thought "daft having that 380 bhp, 190 mph car on an island with a 40 mph speed limit" and "Gold coloured? You must be joking!", but the VAT question never crossed my mind.....
Apparently we/Jersey have one of the highest ownerships of fast cars in the world. It is ridiculous when you consider our speed limits and small roads, but then again it's only a short ferry ride to St Malo...it's only a short ferry ride to St Malo..
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