How do you import a car from Croatia to the UK?

To import a car from Croatia to the UK, collect two things from the seller: the original Croatian registration document, which Croatians call the prometna (in full, prometna dozvola), and a signed sale contract (kupoprodajni ugovor) or invoice. Once the car is in the UK, we handle customs, NOVA and the DVLA paperwork. A qualifying historic car pays 0% duty and 5% VAT; other cars pay 20% VAT and 10% duty, unless the car was manufactured in the EU and that origin can be proved.

Deregistration in Croatia, any export plates and the export paperwork are handled by the seller. If you need it, we arrange the transport to the UK, and we handle the customs declaration, NOVA and the DVLA paperwork.

Match the VIN on the prometna to the car before paying. For a car first registered or made more than ten years ago, UK vehicle approval may not be needed at all; for a newer car, a European certificate of conformity (potvrda o sukladnosti) shows it is approved, and we obtain it for you.

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Duty and VAT on a Croatian car

Croatia joined the EU in 2013, but EU membership of the selling country is not what sets the duty. The car's own history does.

A historic collector's vehicle is one over 30 years old, in its original state without substantial changes, and of a model no longer produced. Restoration is fine; modernised or modified cars are not, according to HMRC's vehicle classification guidance. A qualifying car pays 0% duty and 5% VAT whatever its origin.

For other cars, 0% duty needs preferential origin: the car must have been manufactured in the EU, backed by proof of origin. A German-built car bought in Split can qualify with that evidence; a car built outside the EU cannot, however long it has been registered in Croatia. Without the evidence, count on 10% duty.

Yugoslav-era cars and oldtimers

Many older cars in Croatia date from the Yugoslav period, and the best known were built by Zastava in Kragujevac, in today's Serbia: the Zastava 750, nicknamed the Fićo, the Zastava 101 and the Yugo. That has a direct tax consequence. A Zastava was not manufactured in the EU, so buying it in Croatia does not give it EU origin. An original example over 30 years old whose model is out of production can still pay 0% duty and 5% VAT; a younger or modified one should be budgeted at 10% duty and 20% VAT.

Croatian oldtimers (starodobno vozilo) assessed by an authorised association run on special PV plates. They are a good sign that someone has checked the car's originality, but HMRC applies its own test, so look for non-original engines, brakes or suspension before you rely on the 5% rate.

What happens in the UK

• We lodge the customs declaration and pay the import VAT and any duty.
• We submit the NOVA notification to HMRC, within 14 days of the car arriving.
• If the car needs a UK MOT, Croatian plates are no obstacle to the test. Cars built or first registered more than 40 years ago with no substantial changes are exempt and use a V112 declaration instead.
• We prepare the V55/5, and you send it to the DVLA with the prometna, your photo ID, proof of UK address, the £55 first registration fee and the road tax.