exporting a car from germany

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mjt

mjt

mjt

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this might be a long shot, but does anyone have experience of exporting a car from germany?

afaik all you need to do is get the "tollkennzeichen" (customs plates) and insurance, but does anyone know the best way to do this, or know of any companies which will provide such insurance?
 
No need for any SVA check or the liike is there? or is that covered under EU law?
 
wouldn't the cheapest way just be to get a cheap flight over there and drive it back, then register with the dvla on return?
 
i used to live in Germany as a kid and mother bought her car back. From memory it was pretty easy drove it back on the german plates. Had a bit of work done to modify it to UK standards (lights, speedo was still in KM!) and then got a British plate on it.
 
You may need to pay tax, I know if I were to of bought my BMW in Germany I would have saved thousands but I would have been hit will a large tax bill when I came back to the UK.
 
TONY said:
You may need to pay tax, I know if I were to of bought my BMW in Germany I would have saved thousands but I would have been hit will a large tax bill when I came back to the UK.
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The only tax bill you would normally be hit with would surely be VAT? But then if you were exporting then you should not have paid German VAT (assuming the sale of cars in the EU works the same way as moving electronic items around). If it's second hand I really don't see why you can't just drive the thing home and take the ferry from France if you have insurance. Then on return to England sort it out and SVA.
 
Forgot that we are in the EU for a minute there, I still didn't think it was this straight forward to import a car and save £££.
 
Its very simple I have done it before.

You simply buy the car in Germany, buy a set of export plates which are valid for one week and drive to where ever you are going. The plates include the insurance (3rd party).
There is no tax or import duty to be paid at all, unless you buy the car Tax free which would require different plates (red one).
 
Paras said:
Its very simple I have done it before.

You simply buy the car in Germany, buy a set of export plates which are valid for one week and drive to where ever you are going. The plates include the insurance (3rd party).
There is no tax or import duty to be paid at all, unless you buy the car Tax free which would require different plates (red one).
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cheers, i was hoping you'd reply ;D
do the export plates really include insurance? i thought you need both the plates and insurance..
i'm guessing if you buy from a dealer, they'll do everything for you
if you buy private, you have to go get the plates yourself?


btw, i'm not bringing it to the UK, so i don't need any info on importing into the UK, i just want to know about taking it out of germany.
 
From memory the plates where called Ausfuhrkennzeichen or Zoll plates (I think), you can buy the insurance in the traffic office, I think its called halbpflichtversicherung and should cost around 160 euro for a week.

Where do you plan to take it to? If its not in the EU you should buy the car from a dealer and claim back the VAT.
 
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Paras said:
From memory the plates where called Ausfuhrkennzeichen or Zoll plates (I think), you can buy the insurance in the traffic office, I think its called halbpflichtversicherung and should cost around 160 euro for a week.

Where do you plan to take it to? If its not in the EU you should buy the car from a dealer and claim back the VAT.
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yeh, the plates are ausfuhr- or zollkenzeichen. was wondering how to get the insurance, and whether there are any companies worth checking out.
i'm importing into belgium, where VAT is 21% against the german 19%, so i'll pay the VAT in Germany.

DB_SamX said:
It can't be done; you can only import from or export to Germany.
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no, you're wrong. would you like some examples?

1. I'm exporting a car from Germany (into the UK)
2. I'm exporting a car to Germany (from the UK)
3. I'm importing a car from Germany (into the UK)
4. I'm importing a car to Germany (from the UK)

in this case, #1 is the correct choice as i don't want to know about importing cars. i want to know how to get a car out of Germany
 
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DB_SamX said:
It can't be done; you can only import from or export to Germany.
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the word "export" is not mutually exclusive to the country you're currently in

importing a car into the UK from germany, is the same as exporting it from germany

same goes vice versa, importing a car into germany from the UK, is the same as exporting it from the UK
 
Or you could buy the car Tax free and import it to Luxembourg pay the 15% VAT at a lower declared value and export it into Belgium at a later date. Or if it’s a 4x4 or anything that falls under N1 rating you could register the car under a company in Czech or Slovakia and avoid the VAT altogether.
 
but how would i register it in luxembourg? i have a permanent address in belgium..

you got msn or something?

actually, don't worry. i know someone who has a company in slovakia, but it's not worth the hassle, because i'll be driving around in Norway anyway. A brit in Norway with a slovak car and a belgian licence will just be too suspicious :p
i think i'll just suck it up and pay VAT ;)
 
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mjt said:
but how would i register it in luxembourg? i have a permanent address in belgium..

you got msn or something?

actually, don't worry. i know someone who has a company in slovakia, but it's not worth the hassle, because i'll be driving around in Norway anyway. A brit in Norway with a slovak car and a belgian licence will just be too suspicious :p
i think i'll just suck it up and pay VAT ;)
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Don’t forget you cannot keep the car in Norway for over 1 year without paying the Norwegian import taxes which are very high and if you end up paying the Norwegian taxes there is no point in paying the EU VAT.

Also check with your insurance company, they may not cover the car in Norway for over 3 months. My old golf which is still registered to my Czech company is now in Norway, I had to get a special insurance policy. Its worth looking at clements international based in the USA or All Risk based in Austria They normally manage to do very unusual policies for me, for example they have insured a car for the last 2 years on Tax free Swiss export plates.
 
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