HMRC does not charge a fee for the NOVA itself: GOV.UK lists no fee for telling HMRC about an imported vehicle. The money goes on three other things: the import VAT and duty that must be paid first, any fee from the shipping company or customs agent who files for you, and the cost of getting the details wrong. Our NOVA service is from £45, not including duty and VAT.
NOVA from £45 (duty and VAT not included). We process between customs clearance and NOVA within one business day.
The Classic Import Co. is a trading name of Imexs Brokerage LTD, company no. 13989357. Over 1,500 vehicles cleared since Brexit.
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Does HMRC charge for a NOVA?
No fee is listed. The GOV.UK page on telling HMRC about an imported vehicle gives no fee for the notification, and the NOVA online service page mentions no cost either. NOVA stands for Notification of Vehicle Arrivals. It is the way you tell HMRC that a vehicle has arrived in the UK.
So when a price is attached to a NOVA, it is not a government fee. It is the price of someone doing the work for you, or the tax that has to be paid before the NOVA can go through.
The big cost: import VAT and duty
GOV.UK is clear on the order: you must have paid any import taxes due before HMRC can make the NOVA declaration. For most imports this is where the real money is. VAT is charged on the cost of the vehicle plus delivery and any customs duty. Here are three examples, using the same rules as our import duty and VAT calculator:
| Vehicle | Duty | VAT | Total tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car built in the USA, £10,000 | 10%: £1,000 | 20% of £11,000: £2,200 | £3,200 |
| Car built in the EU, £10,000, origin claimed on the customs declaration | 0%: £0 | 20% of £10,000: £2,000 | £2,000 |
| Classic over 30 years old, original, model no longer in production, £15,000 | 0%: £0 | 5% of £15,000: £750 | £750 |
Examples are for the vehicle price only. Delivery and extra charges add to the VAT. Rates as in the UK Trade Tariff; where the car was built decides the duty, not where you buy it. Source for the VAT base: GOV.UK, paying VAT and customs duty.
Your own figure depends on the age of the vehicle, where it was built and what you paid. Work it out before the vehicle ships, not after.
Would you rather not do this alone? Let us handle your NOVA: we submit the customs declaration and the NOVA, and we prepare every DVLA form, you just sign and post.
Not sure what your tax will be?
Check your duty and VAT in seconds, then send us the details and we confirm the NOVA price for your case.
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What an agent or shipper charges
If your vehicle is shipped, GOV.UK says the shipping company or customs agent can make the NOVA declaration for you, and that they may charge an extra fee for doing this. The amount is theirs to set and GOV.UK gives no figure. Prices differ a lot between companies, so compare what each one includes.
For a sense of the market: one UK site advertises its NOVA service at £90 plus VAT, and says that in many cases that is all you will pay. That is their price for their service, quoted on their own website, and it tells you little about what the rest of your import will cost.
Three questions to ask any company before you agree a price:
- Does the price cover the NOVA only, or also the customs declaration?
- Is VAT on top of the price they quote?
- What happens, and what does it cost, if the details need correcting?
What we charge
Our NOVA service is from £45. That price does not include duty and VAT, which you pay to HMRC on your own figures. Send us the details of your vehicle and we confirm the price for your case in a free quote.
We present the customs declaration and the NOVA. We prepare every DVLA form, you just sign and post. The DVLA's own fees are separate.
The cost of mistakes and delays
This is the cost most people do not plan for. A NOVA that is filed with a wrong or missing detail, such as a VIN that does not match your documents or a value that does not match the invoice, can mean delays, corrections and extra cost. Nothing moves until it is sorted, because GOV.UK says you cannot register the vehicle with the DVLA until HMRC has processed the NOVA.
Being late is a cost too. You have 14 days to tell HMRC after you bring a vehicle into the UK permanently, and GOV.UK says you may be fined if you are late. It publishes no amount, so be careful with any figure you see quoted on other sites. In practice the 14 days run from the moment the vehicle crosses the border. We prepare the documents carefully to try to avoid a fine, but we cannot guarantee it. If you are already late, read what to do if your NOVA is late.
A wrong VIN or value is one of the most common reasons a case stops. Our guide to fixing a wrong VIN or value on a NOVA explains how corrections work.
Can I do it myself to save money?
Yes, a private importer can ask for a NOVA without an agent. For a shipped vehicle that means the shipping company, a customs agent or HMRC's CARS team makes the declaration. If you bring the vehicle in yourself, you contact the CARS team. We explain the routes in how to get a NOVA on an imported car and in whether private importers need a NOVA.
If the details are wrong or missing, the result is delay, corrections and more cost, so many people hand it to us with all the details prepared. That is the saving: not the fee, but getting it right first time.
For the full picture of the journey, see our guide to importing a car to the UK, and for what the NOVA is, what NOVA is and how it works.
Get your NOVA price confirmed
We process between customs clearance and NOVA within one business day. NOVA from £45, excluding duty and VAT. We prepare every DVLA form, you just sign and post. See how our NOVA service works.
Get a free quote for my NOVAFree and no obligation.