LHD now that we have left the EU

[Jonny TVR]

I wonder what impact leaving the EU will have on LHD supercars registered in the UK. One of the appeals of LHD is the ability to sell to a wider market than just the UK but when the EU buyer has to pay VAT and import duty is this still going to be the case? assuming this is the case of course. Just a thought ..

[matlotus]

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. If the LHD car was originally EU ( but not UK) with supporting docs and is now in the UK, I don’t see that taking it back to the EU would generate a whole load of extra taxes. As an original EU car it would have had its taxes paid at point of origin?

If it’s not originally an EU car then maybe so.

[Bispal]

Loads of problems selling LHD UK cars to the EU. 4 years ago i tried to sell my LHD F335. You need a certificate of conformity which Ferrari charge thousands for (Vespa charge 80 euros by comparison). And then there is a sort of MOT that is needed in France and Germany that adds a lot more, plus taxes. I had 3 EU based inquiries who all researched and each one said the costs were approx 10k euros which made it uneconomical and not worth the effort unless you were 15k euros at least cheaper than the cars were in the rest of the EU. No idea how Brexit impacts but i cant see it being any easier?

[jtremlett]

I agree, I think it was always a bit of a myth that you could sell a LHD car to a much wider market. All the things related to distance selling come into play for a start including that it is more difficult for a potential foreign buyer to verify history or even to view the car. So it only works when the exchange rate has made UK prices favourable and the reverse when importing.

That said, some cars, such as F40s, have always traded internationally and I'm sure will continue to do so without much difference.

I don't believe any extra duty will be payable on reimporting an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU and, I may be wrong, but I don't think you would need a certificate of conformity to re-import and an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU, although you would if it were ex-Japan or US or Middle East.

[matlotus]

The frustrating thing about an EU Certificate of Confirmity is it’s always available for free at point of purchase, you just have to ask. Unfortunately no-one thinks about it at that point and then the manufacturers have you by the short and curlies to charge what they want.

I lived in France for 8 years. Their Contrôle Technique (MOT) is not that much different in price to ours and lasts for 2 years. To import a car to France as long as you have the C of C the only other cost is the registration cost for the number plate. Unfortunately this is related to CO2 levels so could be a few thousand for a supercar. However this was always the case before Brexit, ie no change so in answer to original question, can’t see Brexit making any difference. You have to go to local tax office and make a declaration that the local taxes (VAT etc) were paid at point of purchase (assuming an original EU car) as well but again, Brexit doesn’t change this.

Of course there are other difficulties selling cars abroad, but coming back to original question, for a car that was originally sold in EU, there is nothing in Brexit that changes the process (well as far as France goes, I’ve never lived in other EU countries).

[cayman-black]

If the car is not new and done over 6k miles i doubt much will change.

[SSO]

jtremlett said:

I agree, I think it was always a bit of a myth that you could sell a LHD car to a much wider market. All the things related to distance selling come into play for a start including that it is more difficult for a potential foreign buyer to verify history or even to view the car. So it only works when the exchange rate has made UK prices favourable and the reverse when importing.

That said, some cars, such as F40s, have always traded internationally and I'm sure will continue to do so without much difference.

I don't believe any extra duty will be payable on reimporting an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU and, I may be wrong, but I don't think you would need a certificate of conformity to re-import and an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU, although you would if it were ex-Japan or US or Middle East.

Would it make any difference if the car was exported to the UK after the UK left the EU?

[Larry5.2]

The change that Brexit brings in is that a UK car is no longer part of the EU market, therefore import and VAT charges will have to be paid before a car is imported to the EU country. Before brexit, those charges were waived as it it was inter-EU.

[jtremlett]

SSO said:

jtremlett said:

I agree, I think it was always a bit of a myth that you could sell a LHD car to a much wider market. All the things related to distance selling come into play for a start including that it is more difficult for a potential foreign buyer to verify history or even to view the car. So it only works when the exchange rate has made UK prices favourable and the reverse when importing.

That said, some cars, such as F40s, have always traded internationally and I'm sure will continue to do so without much difference.

I don't believe any extra duty will be payable on reimporting an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU and, I may be wrong, but I don't think you would need a certificate of conformity to re-import and an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU, although you would if it were ex-Japan or US or Middle East.

Would it make any difference if the car was exported to the UK after the UK left the EU?

I make no claims to legal expertise but my understanding is that duties are only payable once. So, therefore, a car sold new in the EU now (with duty paid), then imported to the UK and later exported back to the EU would not attract additional EU duty because it had already been paid when the car was originally sold.

[matlotus]

Exactly

[Cheib]

jtremlett said:

SSO said:

jtremlett said:

I agree, I think it was always a bit of a myth that you could sell a LHD car to a much wider market. All the things related to distance selling come into play for a start including that it is more difficult for a potential foreign buyer to verify history or even to view the car. So it only works when the exchange rate has made UK prices favourable and the reverse when importing.

That said, some cars, such as F40s, have always traded internationally and I'm sure will continue to do so without much difference.

I don't believe any extra duty will be payable on reimporting an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU and, I may be wrong, but I don't think you would need a certificate of conformity to re-import and an ex-EU vehicle back to the EU, although you would if it were ex-Japan or US or Middle East.

Would it make any difference if the car was exported to the UK after the UK left the EU?

I make no claims to legal expertise but my understanding is that duties are only payable once. So, therefore, a car sold new in the EU now (with duty paid), then imported to the UK and later exported back to the EU would not attract additional EU duty because it had already been paid when the car was originally sold.

I don’t think that’s the case. I was looking at LHD Porsche’s in the US last year....a car originally sold in Europe that has found its way to the US would have attracted a 5% charge for re-importing to the UK which was clearly part of the EU at the time.

[darreni]

Here in Guernsey, if you have a car that was originally from the UK & VAT paid, & you sell it back into the UK after 3 years, the VAT & duty can be charged again - even though its already been paid.

Could be the same with the EU?

[SSO]

darreni said:

Here in Guernsey, if you have a car that was originally from the UK & VAT paid, & you sell it back into the UK after 3 years, the VAT & duty can be charged again - even though its already been paid.

Could be the same with the EU?

I would think so.