customs grief

[flectron]

hi guys.

my car\'s nearly here and i\'ve just spoken to the shipping guys about customs clearance.
now, i AM a total newbie to such things as car importing and therefore a bit naive, but i was stunned to find out that customs will want 10% duty and 17.5% VAT!
have any other forum members stumbled upon a 27.5% increase in the total cost of your import, or do trade importers factor this into the cost of advertised cars?

i can\'t believe i gotta find another £2k:mad: :mad: :mad:

gord:D

[J4P RX]

Its factored in.  Everyone has to pay it.  Its actually more than 27.5%.

First off you pay the 10% import duty on everything, and then the VAT at 17.5% is added on top of this so you pay VAT on the Duty too.

[flectron]

jeez. oh well.

personal importers beware!

cheers

gord:D

[J4P RX]

Hmm this is for the RX3?

I think theres a date before which you dont have to pay some of the stuff.  Im not sure if the 70\'s is old enough but might be worth a look.

Cheers
Lee

[MikeLMR]

yup been stung for that before, it also aplies to parts over a certain value too but then you also get stung for the shipping company charging you for them paying the tax for you !

Its actually 117.5% of 110% of the price inlcuding the shipping charges so you end up paying 29.25% of whatever it cost to buy and ship !

[Lesmon]

and the duty is 10% of the (cost of Car + Cost of shipping).

[flectron]

holy shit it just grows and grows:reallymad

this car is gonna bankrupt me before i can drive it:(

i guess the lesson is: learn all there is to know before you take something on...

hope some other members can learn from my mistakes.

thanks for the info guys

gord:D

[20B_boy]

Originally posted by flectron
but i was stunned to find out that customs will want 10% duty and 17.5% VAT!

Nice to see you looked into this importing thing thoroughly!

Yep, as Lee says its more than 27.5%, more like 29%+

Declared cost of car say £10,000
(including I think: Export, shipping and insurance?)
Duty (£10,000 x 0.1) = £1,000
Sub total = £11,000
VAT on cost+duty (£11,000 x .175) = £1925

Total cost £12,925

Get saving quick matey! Will be worth it tho

Rich

[flectron]

yeah i feel mighty stupid now mate. like i say i hope my mistakes are helpful to others.

i just did the math.... if i don\'t get any breaks for an older car then i owe customs.... £2778.75!!

that stings i can tell you.

gord:D

[20B_boy]

Originally posted by flectron
yeah i feel mighty stupid now mate. like i say i hope my mistakes are helpful to others.

Dont worry mate, we are just more used to being done in the butt as far as any thing tax is concerned!

[Archbish]

Is this a car you owned elsewhere as a resident or one you are importing?  Cos I thought if you already owned it as a resident, you didn\'t need to pay so much tax...??

[flectron]

alas no, bought it off a guy on ausrotary forum. i think you\'re right tho, it would be way cheaper if i\'d owned it overseas.

gord:D

[sadgoth]

At least it isn\'t as bad as where my dad is, they have 65% duty on new car imports or 45% secondhand. Needless to say when my dad buys cars he has 2 receipts made up! (one cheap one for the taxman!)

Although surely we could just buy a car in Aus/NZ or Japan and keep it over there for 6 months, import it as our own car? Hmmm, plotting ways to avoid tax is always a good way to spend a Monday

[J4P RX]

I think its 2 years not 6 months.  Would have to check though.  Youd probably need it registered to you out there as well though to get it without duty.

[fro]

I think it\'s 2 years too. I\'m looking at jobs in Aus at the moment and I don\'t think I\'m going to be able to take my car with me