Importing a car to the UK
Everything you need, in one place: what it costs, how the tax works, when you pay nothing, and how to get the car registered. Built on over 1,500 vehicles cleared since Brexit.
Importing a car to the UK comes down to three things: getting the car here, paying the right tax, and registering it. Most of the confusion, and most of the money, is in the middle one.
The single most important fact: a car over 30 years old and original pays 0% customs duty and just 5% VAT, whatever country it comes from. A standard car pays up to 10% duty and 20% VAT. On a £15,000 car, that is the difference between about £750 and nearly £4,800.
Below is every guide we have written, grouped by the stage of the journey it covers. Start with the tax if you are weighing up a purchase, or jump to your country. And if you would rather hand the whole thing over, that is what we do.
What it costs
What you will actually pay, broken down with worked examples.
Customs, duty and VAT
How duty and VAT work, who pays, when, and how the figure is built.
- How do I find a customs agent to import a car?
- How do I get a NOVA on an imported car?
- How do I pay import duty and VAT on a car?
- How many taxes do you pay when importing a car to the UK?
- How much VAT and duty on a classic car import?
- How much tax do you pay to import a 30-year-old car?
- How to import a car after Brexit
- How to import a classic car from the EU to the UK
- How to work out if your car qualifies as a classic
- Requirements for importing a car into the UK
- VAT reliefs when importing a car to the UK
- What is NOVA?
- When are you exempt from paying VAT when importing a car to the UK?
- When do you pay import duty on a car in the UK?
Paying no tax: the reliefs
The routes that remove the tax completely, and who qualifies.
Getting the car here
Bringing the car across, and how the method affects your cost.
Importing by country and type
Country-by-country guides and the different vehicle types.
- How long does it take to import a car to the UK?
- How to import a car from Austria to the UK
- How to import a car from Belgium to the UK
- How to import a car from Croatia to the UK
- How to import a car from Denmark to the UK
- How to import a car from Finland to the UK
- How to import a car from France to the UK
- How to import a car from Greece to the UK
- How to import a car from Ireland to the UK
- How to import a car from Japan to the UK
- How to import a car from Netherlands to the UK
- How to import a car from Norway to the UK
- How to import a car from Poland to the UK
- How to import a car from Portugal to the UK
- How to import a car from Romania to the UK
- How to import a car from Spain to the UK
- How to import a car from Sweden to the UK
- How to import a car from Switzerland to the UK
- How to import a car from the Czech Republic to the UK
- How to import a classic car from Canada to the UK
- How to import a motorcycle to the UK
- How to import an American muscle car to the UK
- Why use a car import agent?
Registering it in the UK
Everything from the arrival notification to the number plates.
- Do you need an MOT on an imported car?
- How do I get a V5C for an imported car?
- How to get number plates for an imported car
- How to import a kit car or replica to the UK
- How to insure an imported car before it's registered
- How to register a left-hand drive car in the UK
- How to register an imported car with the DVLA
- My car is in the UK on foreign plates but never registered
- What documents do I need to import a car?
Classic cars
The 30-year line, and why age is the biggest cost lever.
Rather not do it yourself?
We handle the whole import: customs, duty and VAT, HMRC and the DVLA, from £95. You tell us the car; we hand it back registered and road legal.