Taking a UK Car to Cyprus: Relief, Duty and Registration

The Customs and Excise Department says “Relief from import duties and VAT is granted for personal property of private individuals who transfer their normal residence in the Republic from a third country.” It adds “Relief is granted for only one private use motor vehicle per person concerned, who must be a holder of a valid driving license.” In English: a private car, for each person who holds a valid driving licence.

The car must have been used before you left: it “has been in the possession of and used by the person concerned at his former normal place of residence for at least the last six months”, in English owned and used at your old home for at least the last six months. Days when it was handed to a shipper, or its road tax or insurance had ended, do not count: the page lists periods when the vehicle “could not be used by the person concerned due to being handed over to the transport company, or because the vehicle’s road tax / insurance certificate had been terminated”.

The Customs page says “you will have to complete form SAD (Single Declaration Document) and produce it at any Customs Office, accompanied by Form C.104O, which will be kept by Customs.” Then: “You will not have to pay import duties and VAT.” “Customs will issue Form C72A and a copy will be given to you.” The next line sends the car on: the vehicle is produced “to the Department of Road Transport for inspection and registration purposes.”

Proof for the car, listed on the page, is the registration document, the insurance certificate, the sales invoice or receipt and the arrival papers. If Customs says you do not qualify, the page lists four options: to pay the import duties and VAT, to place it in a customs warehouse, to send it to another EU member state or to export it to a third country.

The Customs page on vehicles from the United Kingdom says “The standard import duty rate for passenger cars (i.e. motor vehicles designed primarily for the transport of persons), either new or used is 10%.” The duty base is stated too: “The import duty is calculated on the customs value, which includes the sum of the purchase cost plus the cost of transport and insurance (C.I.F. value = Cost + Insurance + Freight).” VAT follows: “upon importation, motor vehicles are subject to the standard VAT rate which is currently 19% and it is calculated on the taxable value which consists of the sum of the customs value and the import duty”.

There is a zero rate for UK-origin cars, but only with proof. The page says “for motor vehicles originating in one party of the Agreement and exported to the other, preferential tariff treatment is granted, that is, zero import duties are paid.” It then requires “In order to benefit from the preferential tariff treatment, a proof of origin must be presented during importation”, and the origin rule is “the rule for motor vehicles is based on value”, a value-based rule. A car that fails it pays the standard rate: “Motor vehicles that do not comply with the specific rules of origin are subject to the general duty rate applicable to any third country”.

As an illustration only, with an invented customs value of 10,000 euros, the 10% duty would be 1,000 euros and the 19% VAT on 11,000 euros would be 2,090 euros, 3,090 euros in all. The page gives no worked example and no cost for shipping, which is part of the customs value.

The SBA Customs and Immigration page lists among its tasks “Duty and Tax-Free schemes for Vehicles and Goods”, and its forms page has “Temporary authority to drive a duty free vehicle”. Its notice on tax-free goods says “It is important to remember that the Sovereign Base Areas are treated as within the EU for customs purposes.” Entitlement runs to people who “are posted or attached to British Forces Cyprus for more than 6 months”.

At the end of a tour, tax-free goods may go to the UK without UK charges if you “have owned and used the goods in Cyprus for at least 28 days” and “retain the goods for a minimum of six months”. On arrival, the Akrotiri passenger leaflet says “All passengers who are permanently posted as a member of British Forces Cyprus may import their personal effects free of tax and duties as part of their posting.”

The notice prints 10/08/2016 and its file name begins 20160729, and we have not checked it for later changes. The scheme page for vehicles was not read, so what applies to a posted person’s own car is not yet confirmed. We did not read the forces’ own relocation guidance.