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When you import a new or used motor vehicle permanently into the UK you must normally pay VAT and duty. If the vehicle arrives from outside of the EU, some reliefs from duty and VAT may be available.
When you export a motor vehicle from the UK, you can often claim VAT relief.
On this page:
You must pay VAT when you bring a new motor vehicle permanently into the UK from another EU country.
A motor vehicle is classed as new if it first entered into service in the past six months or has driven less than 6,000 kilometres.
You must notify any new or used road vehicles brought permanently into the UK and pay any VAT due to HMRC. You must do this before you can register and license the vehicle with the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Northern Ireland. Your notification must be made within 14 days of your vehicle arriving in the UK.
The quickest and easiest way to make your notification is online using the 'Notification of Vehicle Arrivals' (NOVA) service. By making an online notification you will usually receive an immediate acknowledgement from HMRC and calculation of the VAT due if the valuation of the vehicle is verified. You will have to set up a Government Gateway account if you do not already have one before you can use the NOVA online service. A tax agent, adviser or a freight forwarding agent can make a notification on your behalf.
To make your notification, you will need to have detailed information available about the vehicle, including:
Sign up for or log in to HMRC Online Services to make your NOVA declaration
You can also make your notification by completing a paper form (VAT NOVA1) and returning it to HMRC but it will take longer for such a notification to be processed (up to 8 days). You must phone the VAT Helpline to request a form VAT NOVA1.
Contact the VAT Helpline for advice about how to notify your vehicle
You have to pay VAT on all of these items:
The NOVA online service will calculate any VAT due. You must pay the VAT due before your notification can be fully processed and HMRC can confirm, in writing, that you can register and license the vehicle with the DVLA or DVA.
Read about paying VAT on vehicles brought into the UK
Find out more about bringing vehicles from other EU countries into the UK in VAT Notice 728
Access a list of DVLA and DVA offices in VAT Notice 728
If you do not notify HMRC within 14 days of the vehicle arriving in the UK you may receive a late notification penalty at the rate of £5 for each day late.
If you're bringing into the UK a second-hand vehicle, you don't have to pay VAT - as long as you paid VAT in another EU country when you bought it,but you must still complete a NOVA notification to HMRC within 14 days of the vehicle arrival.
If you normally live in another country in the EU and bring a vehicle with you on a temporary visit to the UK, you don't need to notify HMRC,as long as your stay is for less than 6 months in a 12 month period.
The process for notifying HMRC and accounting for the VAT due is different if you are a VAT-registered business.
Read about notifying HMRC and paying tax on vehicles brought into the UK for your business
If you buy a new motor vehicle in the UK to take to somewhere else in the EU, you'll have to pay VAT on the vehicle in the other country when you arrive there. You won't have to pay UK VAT when you buy the car if you tell the supplier that you will be taking the vehicle to another country within the EU. You complete form VAT 411, which the supplier will give you and you agree to do all three of these things:
If you sell a new vehicle to someone who then removes it to another EU country within two months, you may be entitled to a refund of VAT. This only applies if you aren't registered for VAT in the UK, and you can demonstrate that you have paid UK VAT on the vehicle.
Obtain form VAT 411 New Means of Transport
Find out about exporting vehicles from the UK to other EU countries in VAT Notice 728
If you are importing a motor vehicle into the UK from outside the EU you must declare the vehicle to Customs and pay the VAT and duty due. HMRC will give you confirmation that you have paid the VAT and this will allow you to register the vehicle with the DVLA or DVA.
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 can get Returned Goods Relief for VAT and duty relief if you are importing a vehicle that was previously exported from the EU provided you meet all these conditions:
If it arrives before or after you, you'll need to fill in and sign
form
C 179B.
Obtain form C 179B Re-importation of an unaccompanied private motor vehicle from outside EC
If you arrive with your vehicle you will be able to claim Returned Goods Relief by driving it through the 'green channel'. You must still have evidence of the original export of the vehicle and that you originally exported it, to present to a Customs Officer should they require it or to attach to form C21 if required at the port or airport.
Whichever method you choose to re-import your vehicle, if you don't provide evidence at the time of import security for the full amount of VAT and duty will be required.
More information about claiming Returned Goods Relief is available in Notice 236 and Notice 3.
Obtain Notice 236 - Importing returned goods free of duty and tax
If the vehicle is registered outside the EU in the name of a non EU resident (if the vehicle is not registered outside the EU it must be owned by a non EU resident) and you're bringing it into the UK temporarily for your own private use, you can claim duty and VAT relief - as long as you don't sell, lend or hire the vehicle out anywhere in the EU, and provided you re-export the vehicle from the EU within six months. You will not be required to notify the vehicle arrival in the NOVA system.The six month time limit can be extended if you are a student or someone undertaking an assignment of a specific duration.
Although you don't need to make any formal customs declaration to claim VAT relief on a temporary importation, you can complete a notification form C110 which will help you identify for customs purposes that you are claiming relief in the event the vehicle is stopped for verification checks. If Police vehicles checks are subsequently carried out, use of the C110 may also help to avoid the vehicle being unnecessarily detained. Complete the C110 in duplicate, send one copy to the address on the form and keep the other copy with the vehicle whilst it is used within the UK. When you take the vehicle back out of the UK, enter the date of re-export on the second copy and send it to the address on the form.
Obtain form C110 Temporary Importation - Notice of arrival of a private motor vehicle
More about importing vehicles in Customs Notice 3
Other reliefs are available for motor vehicles arriving from outside the EU, Inherited Goods Relief and Returned Goods Relief. More information on both these reliefs is available in Notice 368 and Notice 3.
Read Notice 308 Temporary admission - temporarily importing non-EU means of transport
Read Notice 368 - Importing inherited goods free of duty and VAT
The Personal Export Scheme is for visitors to the UK from outside the EU, and EU residents who intend to leave the EU and remain outside it for at least six months. Under the scheme, when you buy a motor vehicle in the UK and you're going to export it, you don't have to pay VAT.
When you buy a vehicle under the scheme, the supplier will give you an application form VAT 410.
You must:
If it's a new car, your vehicle will then be issued with a pink registration book - VX 302 - which means the car has been bought tax-free. For both new and old cars, you'll get a special tax disc.
If you are from outside the EU, you may use the vehicle in the UK during the last 12 months of your stay in the EU. If you are an EU resident who is emigrating, you may only use the vehicle during the last six months before you emigrate.
If you can't export the vehicle because it has been stolen, or involved in an accident and written off, you'll have to pay the VAT. If you don't export the vehicle by the due date, you'll have to pay the VAT - and the vehicle may be taken from you.
When you finally export the vehicle, you should notify the DVLA. For new vehicles you do this by completing and returning the tear-off section of the pink registration document VX 302. For second-hand vehicles you should complete and return the relevant section of the V5 registration document. The address is on the forms.
You don't have to pay VAT if you temporarily re-import a vehicle, or if you are permanently re-importing a vehicle and you meet all these conditions:
Otherwise, if you are re-importing the vehicle at least six months after it was exported, or you can show that both you and the vehicle have remained outside the EU for at least six consecutive months, the VAT payable will be based on the value of the vehicle when it is re-imported. In all other cases, you'll be charged the VAT that wasn't paid when you bought the vehicle.
More about the Personal Export Scheme in VAT Notice 707
How agents can use the NOVA online service
Read more in the VAT Information Sheet 'Notification of Vehicle Arrivals'
