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

To import a car from Denmark to the UK, get the original registreringsattest and a signed købsaftale from the seller, then have the car cleared through UK customs, notified to HMRC on NOVA and registered with the DVLA. A historic collector's car (over 30 years old, in its original state and of a model no longer in production) pays 0% duty and 5% VAT; any other car pays 20% VAT, and 10% duty as well unless it was built in the EU (or another country with a UK trade agreement) and origin can be shown.

Deregistration in Denmark, 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.

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What you pay in the UK

The historic rate needs all of these: the car is at least 30 years old, the model is no longer made, and it is in original condition without substantial changes to the main mechanical parts or body. Sensible restoration is allowed. HMRC sets out the test in its vehicle classification guidance, and our article on working out if your car qualifies as a classic puts it in plain terms.

For a younger car, Danish plates prove nothing about duty. Most cars on Danish roads were built in other countries, so the question is the factory. A car made in Germany or elsewhere in the EU can come in at 0% duty under the UK-EU trade agreement if its origin is backed by a statement on origin or other evidence. A car built in the United States pays 10%, however long it lived in Denmark; one built in Japan or South Korea pays 0% only with proof of that origin.

Danish classics and veteran cars

Denmark's registration tax, registreringsafgift, is a big part of what a car costs there, and that shows in Danish asking prices. None of that tax travels with the car: in the UK you pay import VAT, and duty where it applies, on the price you actually paid. So judge a Danish price on the car itself, not on what the same car would cost new in Denmark.

Danish winters mean salted roads, and a lot of the country is close to the sea. Look underneath with care: sills, floor pans, suspension mounts and the bottoms of doors and wings. A run of synsrapporter, the reports from Denmark's vehicle inspection, helps you see how a car has been kept and what mileage it has covered. None of it is a DVLA requirement, but it is the best history a Danish car usually has.

The UK paperwork

• Import declaration with the correct commodity code and any origin claim, and payment of VAT and duty: done by us.
• NOVA notification to HMRC within 14 days of arrival: done by us.
• A UK MOT if the car needs one, which can be done before the car has UK plates. A car built or first registered more than 40 years ago with no substantial changes is exempt (you sign a V112 declaration instead), and a car under 3 years old does not need one.
• The V55/5, prepared by us, which you sign and send to the DVLA with the original registreringsattest, the NOVA letter, the MOT certificate or V112, photo ID, proof of UK address, the £55 first registration fee and the road tax.