LitchfieldImports

The VAT mans not stupid , if you import a car from Jersey you will have to show that the VAT has been paid in the EU. If it hasn't then you will need to cough up.

Iain

wrx

I have just come back from Jersey and spoke to a couple of importers. Apparently if you set up a PO BOX address in Jersey, or Know someone living there, you can import a UK car from Holland through England then into Jersey. I know you'd have to pay the vat then claim it back. You then register and insure the car in Jersey explaining to the insurance that you'd be driving more in the UK (or just tell them what you are doing). You can then legally bring the car back to the UK and drive around with Jersey plates on for six months before registering it in the UK saying that you have owned it in Jersey. Thus saving yourself all the VAT, as long as you don't sell the car within a year.

What I need to know is

1 Has anyone done this?
2 When bringing the car back from Holland through the UK and into Jersey, how do you go about paying and getting back the VAT?
3 How do you register the car in Jersey?

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

cant be done.

Stephen Read

Ialnit,

I agree that VATman (or VATwoman) for that matter) is not stupid but I think there is a ruling that only imports of cars less that 6 months old (with less than 6,000kms/miles {don't know} on them) are subject to UK VAT.

The Jersey scam sounds like it could be on the edge of what is legal.

WRX,

I am not sure about any restriction on selling within the first year but as someone who has imported a Dutch Scooby (and paid the VAT) I beleive that you are 'duty' (ho ho ho) bound to keep the receipt issued by HMC&E for 6 years and/or pass this on to the next owner should you sell.

(PS. I am not an expert in this BTW)

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

well u could probably do it, but it wouldnt be legal! so i would warn u away from doing it..

DavidLewis

But......

If you can import a car to Jersey and claim the VAT back......

and......

you can import a car from any EU country free of taxes if its older than 6 months.....

does this not make wrx's theory possible??

MattN

you have to pay VAT on anything imported in to the UK, regardless of age or mileage.

If the car is to be registered in Jersey, don't they have an equivelent of our VAT? So that would have to be paid, and that's when you could claim the UK VAT back?

Personally I think if it was doable we'd be seeing a lot of cars with Jersey plates on. Also the selling on part, if it's your car you can do what you like with it surely?!??!

Crapaud62

Just typed all this out and the board went down for maintenance. Hope this doesn't double post!

At last! A topic I can contribute to in a useful manner. I have bought cars/motorbikes in Jersey and UK and sold in both markets and I used to work as a tax accountant.

To clarify a few basic points.

If it was that simple then everyone would buy their cars over here and take them back to the UK. So the simple answer is, as Christian said, can't be done.

However, as with all things to do with tax there are loopholes for good reasons.

Firstly, Jersey has no VAT or equivalent (at the moment). If a Jersey resident buys a new car locally then it is net of VAT.

Secondly, a Jersey resident can buy a car from "Europe" (and I'll include England in that) and buy it net of taxes. Often the dealers will prefer you to pay the gross price and claim back the taxes but if you stand your ground it is possible to just pay the net. My brother-in-law has just collected a new XK8 convertible from Belgian and saved over £10k.

The fun starts when you want to export the car from Jersey. Obviously, we are allowed to take our cars on holiday, so for up to six months you are just treated as a tourist provided you intend to return to Jersey. This covered me when I was a student.

However, if you are intending to permanently export the vehicle from Jersey then you should inform the licencing authority here in Jersey and they give you a temporary "log book" showing all details and history of the vehicle. If you intend to sell the vehicle in England then the VAT must be paid in full at the point of entry. I've done this before with specialist vehicles for which the market in Jersey was too small. One time I had to hand over thousands of pounds in cash to the customs man in Poole (yes, I got a reciept!). The possible scam here of course is to underrepresent the value of the vehicle. The day I got off the boat the chap behind me had a 1960 original Ferrari Testarrosa (spelling?) which he managed to convince Mr Custome and Excise was only worth £250,000 when I knew damn well it was much more than that.

If the vehicle is PERMANENTLY coming to the UK then it should be re-registerered onto UK plates "as soon as possible" ie the six months tourist exemption DOES NOT apply.

BUT, the law has to allow for the free movement of people and goods around the EU. Jersey isn't in the EU buts thats another story.

Hey, is anybody still awake out there???

If a person decides to move from Jersey to the UK (God knows why!) then they want to take their assets without paying VAT on all their worldly goods. So the law allows GENUINE assets to be exempt providing you meet the anti-avoidance criteria which is designed to prevent the "pop over and pick up a cheap motor" merchants. You have to have owned the vehicle and lived in Jersey for the preceding six months. The cost of accomodation over here for six months would wipe out any VAT savings!
Secondly, you have to keep the vehicle for (I think) one year from arriving in the UK for it to continue to be exempt.

Wake up at the back there!

Despite all the above, various VAT scams do go on. An amusing case years ago was when a very famous miserable English golfer (with a taste for fast cars and fast women) took delivery of his new Porsche 911 Turbo supa dupa special. I think it was Car magazine that featured a big pic of it on the cover clearly showing a Jersey number plate and the story inside told how it was being sent via Jersey. Several people got in serious trouble over that.

So basically, it can't easily be done legally.

Now, any other questions?

Sid


[This message has been edited by Crapaud62 (edited 21 August 2001).]

DavidBrown

You can do it.

I bought a new Toyota Celica while in Switzerland (not part of the EU) from Toyota UK Export division. The car was VAT free.

6 months later the car could be brought back to the UK without paying VAT.

RobinSherwood

They only advice I would give you is DO NOT mess with Customs and Excise.

Of all the various goverment agencies this is the one whose s*** list you do not want to be on.

I may be telling you something you all ready know, but anyway - Did you know this is the one agency that does not need a warrant to conduct a search of your premises. They have some serious powers.

Unless you can do it legally of course!

Cheers

Robin

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

lets say you are lucky and have a relative living in Jersey.

they buy a scoob TAX free and then decided to give it to you as a birthday prezzy. are gifts liable for tax?

Of course you would need to register your gift etc etc... oh and don't forget to send your relative £15K to buy a beer or two as a little thank you for such a wonderful thought

LitchfieldImports

You have to be very careful with Mr Tax man they seem to know everything. I had a VAT inspection when I formed my Limited company (which was fine ) and he knew every car I had ever imported !
The 6mths/6,000km rule only counts on cars that have been registered else where in the EU and the VAT has been paid.

I would not recommend it.

Iain

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

hi Crapaud62 - nice to see someone else from jersey posting on here!

RonaldoH

Tip:

Buy your scoob from Iain Litchfield Imports, cost you a little more (only a little I am sure) but loads of good service and no hassle from Mr VAT man



There you go, sorted.

MattN

steve001,

gifts are taxable if they are worth more than 5k.

(I think!)

carl

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by iainlit:
<B>The 6mths/6,000km rule only counts on cars that have been registered else where in the EU and the VAT has been paid.
[/quote]

What about DavidBrown's case where he exported a new car from an EU country to a non-EU country (UK to Switzerland) and then imported it back six months later? I have heard of this trick before, and it used to be useful when there were lots of UK IT contractors in Switzerland.

Crapaud62

OK just to clarify a few points.

Yes, you can do it, but it depends on your assumed intention at the point that the car leaves Jersey.

As I said, if you intend to keep the car for 12 months AND you owned it for the previous 6 months then it is exempt. BUT, Mr Tax man is a cunning fellow AND will see through the obvious scams.

One obvious loophole, is to become a Jersey resident for the 6 month period. I have a large garage and I'm sure I could fit several muppet scooby owners in there for six months if the price is right!

Sid

PS Which Jersey importers did you speak to? We have our fair share of Arthur Daley's over here as well!


Sid

[This message has been edited by Crapaud62 (edited 21 August 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Crapaud62 (edited 22 August 2001).]

carl

Intending to keep the car for 12 months is a rule with <B>all</B> personal imports, although if you sold it before 12 months and could prove that you'd had a change in circumstances I think you'd be OK. In fact, unless you take the **** by importing one a week or something, it would be very hard to prove you <I>didn't</I> intend to keep it for 12 months, e.g. "I bought it and didn't like it, so I sold it".

D Noble

You've got to ask yourself how much money you want to save. to expect an extra 2k discount on an already cheap import is just plain greedy!!

my car was imported last year, and when it was put through my companies books the vat was mistakenly claimed back,now we could have kept stum,but we decided to inform C & E who thanked us very much and gave us a bill for intrest owed on the vat for the past year!!!

Has anyone made their 5 door into a van???.......

regards
dave

wrx

Thanks for all the info. I have an imported scooby at the moment, cost me £15000 last year but it would have been nice to save another £2500. Greedy? no, just that I can spend more on toys for it. I might try and give it a go when the STI7 is available in Holland. I think as long as I set up a PO Box in Jersey and am just doing it as a one off not every week I may get away with it.

Crapaud62
I can't remember where the garage was but it was last week and they had a black wrx & a red uk model with leather. He's prices were to high though the black wrx looked as though it had a hard lfe and he tried to sell me an EVO 7 fo £28000, over here they are £27000 with no wait, and he'd have got them tax free.

Sounds like a good offer of giving you some beer money for letting someone register their car saying they lived at yours for six months. The car could still be driven in the UK for those six months as you are alowed to travel where you want. Obviously you couldn,t really do this as the tax man would catch on to your adresse. I may mail you some time in the future for a chat.

So when I brought my car from Holland I had to pay the vat and get a reciept. If I go straight from Holland to UK to Jersey, do I send the cheque to the vat office in the UK? if so how can I claim it back to my friends house or PO Box in Jersey as it is vat free.

And secondly in the UK I had to register the car with the DVLA, so in Jersey who would I send all the documents to (or is it the DVLA over there aswell)?

I know this will be alot of paperwork but I reckon when the STI 7 is available in Holland and with the vat saved it'll be around £21000.

Stevew001

VAT is subject to the value of the car.
The receipt is proof of purchase.
If the cost on the receipt is not a true representation of the market value the VAT man will judge this for themselves.....and you pay the full hit!
Your job is simple.....prove to the VAT man the car is not worth what the market rate is........and that your receipt IS the price you paid.
This may sound like I'm talking in riddles...but what do we do in the UK to prove a car is road worthy?...
I can hear the cogs turning from here...

tom g

quick reply

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Thats not true about the age if it is older than 10 years then nothing to pay

Stevew001

I rang them when I wanted to import a car myself..
It's a minefield but this is what I understand it to be.
I believe the 10 year old rule is just for EU cars....
Over 30 years old from the channel islands (not EU) is not subject to VAT.
50 years old outside of the EU such as USA no VAT
The exceptions are vehicles of historic value.....this includes items such as a tank used in the second world war...no VAT.
Customs/Import duty (as well as VAT) is not required from countries IN the EU.
Outside the EU...such as USA you have to pay an import duty as well.
Be careful on any costs associated with the delivery/transport of the vehicle....this is added to the VAT as well.
If you drive it in to this country yourself you save on this.

DAN@ADRIAN FLUX

Hi.
If you need any help with insurance for a vehicle on a chassis number then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.

salsa-king

in 19yrs from the original thread started... that's some no claims built up lol

Russell38

What a plum

Brun

....and like a fly round ****

albob

Desperate Dan ??

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

I used Adrian Flux for years to insure my Scooby but they became uncompetitive so I switched.