In this section:
- VAT basics for consumers
- Reclaim VAT on a new home or converting a building into a home
- Paying reduced rate VAT on energy-saving materials
- Businesses who won't charge VAT if paid in cash
- How VAT applies if you import or export a personal vehicle
- Equipment and vehicles for disabled people might be free of VAT
- Reduced-rate VAT on mobility aids for older people
- VAT refunds for visitors to the UK
- Tax on goods ordered from or bought abroad
How VAT applies if you import or export a personal vehicle
When you import a motor vehicle into the UK you must normally pay VAT. You won't have to pay if you are moving from another country to the UK on a permanent basis, or the vehicle is not new and VAT has already been paid.
When you export a motor vehicle from the UK, you can often claim VAT relief.
On this page:
- Importing your vehicle from another EU country to the UK
- Exporting your motor vehicle to another EU country from the UK
- Importing your motor vehicle to the UK from outside the EU
- Exporting motor vehicles to outside the EU - the Personal Export Scheme
Importing your vehicle from another EU country to the UK
You must pay VAT when you import a new motor vehicle 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 and has driven less than 6,000 kilometres.
How to notify HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
You must notify HMRC within seven calendar days of whichever is the later of:
- when the vehicle arrived in the UK
- when you bought the vehicle
You may have to pay a fine if you don't notify HMRC within seven days.
You must provide the notification on form VAT 415, and you must include a copy of the final purchase invoice showing the chassis number and the price paid. If you're registered for VAT, you should use form VAT 414. If your vehicle arrives before or after you, you must also fill in and sign form C384.
You should send your forms to:
HM Revenue & Customs
Personal Transport Unit
Freight Clearance Centre
Lord Warden Square
DOVER
CT17 9DN
Alternatively, you can hand it in to your local Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) office when you register your vehicle. They'll forward it to HMRC.
What you have to pay
You have to pay VAT on all of these items:
- the vehicle
- any accessories purchased with the vehicle
- any delivery or incidental charges
HMRC will work out how much VAT you have to pay and send you a demand for payment. You must pay within 30 days of the date on which the demand was issued.
If you don't pay on time, you might have to pay a fine as well as the VAT.
Second-hand vehicles and temporary visits
If you're importing 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.
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 - or pay any VAT.
Obtain form VAT 415 New Means of Transport: Notification of Acquisition
Obtain form VAT 414 Vehicles Brought into the United Kingdom
Find out about bringing vehicles from other EU countries into the UK in VAT Notice 728
Find a list of DVLA local offices in VAT Notice 728
Exporting your motor vehicle to another EU country from the UK
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 do all three of these things:
- you or your authorised driver personally take delivery of the new vehicle in the UK
- you export it within two months of its supply to you
- you and your supplier complete and sign form VAT 411 and send it to the address on the form
If you sell a new vehicle to someone who is moving 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
Importing your motor vehicle to the UK from outside the EU
If you are permanently importing a motor vehicle into the UK from outside the EU you must declare the vehicle to customs, and 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
Re-importing a vehicle that was previously exported
You can get VAT relief if you are importing a vehicle that was previously exported from the EU provided you meet all these conditions:
- the vehicle was taken outside the EU by you or on your behalf within the past three years
- any VAT or equivalent tax had been paid on the vehicle in the EU and was not refunded when the vehicle was taken outside the EU
- the vehicle has had no alteration outside the EU other than necessary running repairs
If your vehicle meets these conditions, then you don't need to declare it for VAT purposes when you bring it into the country, as long as you bring it in yourself. 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
Temporary importation
If the vehicle is registered outside the EU and you're bringing it into the UK temporarily for your own private use, you can claim 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. 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 should complete notification form 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, send the second copy 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
Exporting motor vehicles to outside the EU - the Personal Export Scheme
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:
- read VAT notice 705
- complete the form
- sign it to say you have read Notice 705
- hand it back to the supplier.
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.
Re-importing vehicles after export
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:
- you are moving your normal home to the EU
- you have had your normal home outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
- you have owned and used the vehicle for at least six months outside the EU before it is imported
- you didn't get the vehicle under a duty/tax-free scheme
- you will keep the vehicle for your personal use for at least 12 months following the importation
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.
