Importing a motorbike from Germany
Discussion
I'm thinking of buying s bike in Germany and importing it to the UK.
Bike in question is a BMW K1, first registered in Germany in June 1992, so 28 years old.
I've had a look at the DVLA website and it seems
[a] that there's no VAT to pay because VAT will have been paid in an EU country - Germany - and the vehicle has been in use for more than 6 months, and it has covered more than 6,000 km - in fact 47,000 km
and
[b] it doesn't need type approval because it's more than 10 years old.
Has anyone gone through this process? And, if so, what advice could you give me.
TIA.
Bike in question is a BMW K1, first registered in Germany in June 1992, so 28 years old.
I've had a look at the DVLA website and it seems
[a] that there's no VAT to pay because VAT will have been paid in an EU country - Germany - and the vehicle has been in use for more than 6 months, and it has covered more than 6,000 km - in fact 47,000 km
and
[b] it doesn't need type approval because it's more than 10 years old.
Has anyone gone through this process? And, if so, what advice could you give me.
TIA.
It's still the same at the moment, of course.
You will also need the German log book to prove it's age. You can get by without it and a dating letter from an approved source, a bill of sale and a letter explaining this.
The DVLA can be quite random without the previous foreign log book. But still clearly not picky enough given that we are Europe's gateway to registering stolen cars / bikes. Everywhere else requires the original log book / export papers, or you're stuffed.
You will also need the German log book to prove it's age. You can get by without it and a dating letter from an approved source, a bill of sale and a letter explaining this.
The DVLA can be quite random without the previous foreign log book. But still clearly not picky enough given that we are Europe's gateway to registering stolen cars / bikes. Everywhere else requires the original log book / export papers, or you're stuffed.
I recently imported a 6 year old motorcycle from Germany... below is the process i followed
1. Get the vehicle MOT'd
2. Certificate of conformity (not sure if you require this due to age of vehicle)
3. Get a letter from a garage saying the motorcycle has been converted for use in UK (headlight & Speedometer). Make sure you use the wording from the VCA website stating the changes made to the motorcycle. Note: a valid MOT certificate
4. Send the letter off to VCA and get a VCA certificate
5. Get the motorcycle insured (get it insured on VIN)
6. Fill in a V55/5 form and send the following supporting docs
1. Fee for registration + tax (6 or 12 months)
2. MOT certificate
3. Original registration document ( german registration doc is made up of 2 parts)
4. VCA certificate
5. Insurance covering letter
6. Certificate of conformity
DVLA normally take 10-15 days to review and send you a letter to say motorcycle will be issued with a V5
V5 takes a further 3-4 weeks to arrive
1. Get the vehicle MOT'd
2. Certificate of conformity (not sure if you require this due to age of vehicle)
3. Get a letter from a garage saying the motorcycle has been converted for use in UK (headlight & Speedometer). Make sure you use the wording from the VCA website stating the changes made to the motorcycle. Note: a valid MOT certificate
4. Send the letter off to VCA and get a VCA certificate
5. Get the motorcycle insured (get it insured on VIN)
6. Fill in a V55/5 form and send the following supporting docs
1. Fee for registration + tax (6 or 12 months)
2. MOT certificate
3. Original registration document ( german registration doc is made up of 2 parts)
4. VCA certificate
5. Insurance covering letter
6. Certificate of conformity
DVLA normally take 10-15 days to review and send you a letter to say motorcycle will be issued with a V5
V5 takes a further 3-4 weeks to arrive
Edmor said:
I recently imported a 6 year old motorcycle from Germany... below is the process i followed
1. Get the vehicle MOT'd
2. Certificate of conformity (not sure if you require this due to age of vehicle)
3. Get a letter from a garage saying the motorcycle has been converted for use in UK (headlight & Speedometer). Make sure you use the wording from the VCA website stating the changes made to the motorcycle. Note: a valid MOT certificate
4. Send the letter off to VCA and get a VCA certificate
5. Get the motorcycle insured (get it insured on VIN)
6. Fill in a V55/5 form and send the following supporting docs
1. Fee for registration + tax (6 or 12 months)
2. MOT certificate
3. Original registration document ( german registration doc is made up of 2 parts)
4. VCA certificate
5. Insurance covering letter
6. Certificate of conformity
DVLA normally take 10-15 days to review and send you a letter to say motorcycle will be issued with a V5
V5 takes a further 3-4 weeks to arrive
That's extremely helpful and thanks for the other replies as well!1. Get the vehicle MOT'd
2. Certificate of conformity (not sure if you require this due to age of vehicle)
3. Get a letter from a garage saying the motorcycle has been converted for use in UK (headlight & Speedometer). Make sure you use the wording from the VCA website stating the changes made to the motorcycle. Note: a valid MOT certificate
4. Send the letter off to VCA and get a VCA certificate
5. Get the motorcycle insured (get it insured on VIN)
6. Fill in a V55/5 form and send the following supporting docs
1. Fee for registration + tax (6 or 12 months)
2. MOT certificate
3. Original registration document ( german registration doc is made up of 2 parts)
4. VCA certificate
5. Insurance covering letter
6. Certificate of conformity
DVLA normally take 10-15 days to review and send you a letter to say motorcycle will be issued with a V5
V5 takes a further 3-4 weeks to arrive
https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/...
Have a read at the link. It tells you all you need to know.
Have a read at the link. It tells you all you need to know.
V8RX7 said:
When we were part on the EU it was as simple as an MOT, filling in a form and a fee (£80 ?)
I'm unsure if it's still the same in the transition period
Still the same - and unlikely to change even after transition as it's exactly how it works bringing in 10+ year old stuff from Japan, too.I'm unsure if it's still the same in the transition period
Edmor said:
I recently imported a 6 year old motorcycle from Germany... below is the process i followed
1. Get the vehicle MOT'd
2. Certificate of conformity (not sure if you require this due to age of vehicle)
3. Get a letter from a garage saying the motorcycle has been converted for use in UK (headlight & Speedometer). Make sure you use the wording from the VCA website stating the changes made to the motorcycle. Note: a valid MOT certificate
4. Send the letter off to VCA and get a VCA certificate
5. Get the motorcycle insured (get it insured on VIN)
6. Fill in a V55/5 form and send the following supporting docs
1. Fee for registration + tax (6 or 12 months)
2. MOT certificate
3. Original registration document ( german registration doc is made up of 2 parts)
4. VCA certificate
5. Insurance covering letter
6. Certificate of conformity
DVLA normally take 10-15 days to review and send you a letter to say motorcycle will be issued with a V5
V5 takes a further 3-4 weeks to arrive
I imported a bike from Italy, followed a similar procedure to the above except didn't get any letter regarding converting speedo and headlight, just an MOT.1. Get the vehicle MOT'd
2. Certificate of conformity (not sure if you require this due to age of vehicle)
3. Get a letter from a garage saying the motorcycle has been converted for use in UK (headlight & Speedometer). Make sure you use the wording from the VCA website stating the changes made to the motorcycle. Note: a valid MOT certificate
4. Send the letter off to VCA and get a VCA certificate
5. Get the motorcycle insured (get it insured on VIN)
6. Fill in a V55/5 form and send the following supporting docs
1. Fee for registration + tax (6 or 12 months)
2. MOT certificate
3. Original registration document ( german registration doc is made up of 2 parts)
4. VCA certificate
5. Insurance covering letter
6. Certificate of conformity
DVLA normally take 10-15 days to review and send you a letter to say motorcycle will be issued with a V5
V5 takes a further 3-4 weeks to arrive
Don't forget the NOVA form, which is to asses if any tax/VAT is due (unsurprisingly this seemed to be the most important part!) in my case no tax was due but you can't proceed without this.
Also, I didn't need a certificate of conformity but I believe was not required due to the age (old bike) and my V5 arrived in about a week.
All in I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
Hi there,
You need to de-register the bike in Germany. Get the EU CoC document if it's from 2002 onwards.
You can register it in the UK with the V55 form, an MOT and a NOVA declaration you can do online. You don't need insurance to register in the UK mainland.
Check with HMRC if you are migrating here. I believe there are allowances.
Cheers.
You need to de-register the bike in Germany. Get the EU CoC document if it's from 2002 onwards.
You can register it in the UK with the V55 form, an MOT and a NOVA declaration you can do online. You don't need insurance to register in the UK mainland.
Check with HMRC if you are migrating here. I believe there are allowances.
Cheers.
crowned said:
Hi all,
Got a question. I am moving from Germany to England. What do I need to do beforehand in Germany in order to export the bike?
The steps earlier in the thread all seem to relate to the English side of things.
Thanks !
Last year I exported a bike to Andorra rather than the UK but the principle is the same - you are exporting the bike out of the EEC. The German vendor organised various bits of paper including visits to the local registration office and the German customs. New temporary plates were put on the bike and I got a form from the local German customs office which I presented to the customs office on the Andorran border with France. The French customs scanned the document and the bike was then officially exported from the EU. Got a question. I am moving from Germany to England. What do I need to do beforehand in Germany in order to export the bike?
The steps earlier in the thread all seem to relate to the English side of things.
Thanks !
The UK end of things is as set in an earlier thread.
Edited by zzrman on Tuesday 27th July 15:41
Bennetts have a guide but you're in for a potentially hefty Tax Bill as its under 30 years old ...
https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-vie...
The NOVA declaration is the key piece as until thats done you can't get the documentation to get it registered.
What you need to do in Germany you'll need to discover separately as i suspect they need notifying of its export, same way DVLA would going the other way.
https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-vie...
The NOVA declaration is the key piece as until thats done you can't get the documentation to get it registered.
What you need to do in Germany you'll need to discover separately as i suspect they need notifying of its export, same way DVLA would going the other way.
dibblecorse said:
What you need to do in Germany you'll need to discover separately as i suspect they need notifying of its export, same way DVLA would going the other way.
As indicated in my earlier post you will need to go your local registration office and the German Customs so that you can officially export the bike out of the EU.I know this thread was started some time ago, but the import rules have changed in the last couple of years due to Brexit EU trade rule changes.
I've imported 4 bikes from Germany over the past three years or so.
It used to be the case that you applied to HMRC for the NOVA paperwork yourself.
You would fill out the relevant HMRC form, e-mail it to HMRC who would then send you an invoice for any import duties / VAT to be paid then, once paid, they would issue the NOVA.
This typically took around 3-4 days.
However, about a year after we formally left the EU, the rules changed.
You now have to go through an import company who will deal with HMRC on your behalf by preparing an MRN document. (At extra expense of course).
It is not easy to find a suitable company from the info HMRC send out as it's just a spreadsheet with a list of hundreds of company names on it.
(After some considerable effort and time, I found one that is easy to deal with - First European Logistics (1st-european.com) . Phone them and ask for Imogen Smith. The last time I used them earlier this year the charge was £80 to do the work).
If the vehicle is LESS than 30 years old and from the EU, you will pay 20% VAT - no import duties.
If the vehicle is MORE than 30 years old and from the EU, you will pay 5% VAT - no import duties.
However, PLEASE NOTE: To get the 5% VAT rate, the import Commodity Code is NOT in vehicles, but ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES. (30 year plus old vehicles are considered collectables by HMRC). This took myself and the import company about a week and a half to find out as HMRC have little information available on this.
For information, the Commodity Code for vehicles over 30 years old is 97051000 (Collections and collectors pieces of archaeological, ethnographic or historical interest Other).
You will need a copy of the sales receipt to allow HMRC to calculate the VAT payable. (In Germany, this usually lists the buyer's and seller's names and addresses, description of the vehicle - usually listing VIN number rather than a registration number - price paid and the date. Even from a private seller, this is normally the way it's done).
You can then either pay the VAT directly yourself, or get the import company to pay it for you. (There may be a small charge for this).
(I don't know if there is also import duty payable on imports from Non-EU countries e.g. USA).
You will also need the travel information for the importation to complete this process.
For example, the ferry route (e.g. Calais to Dover), date of travel, name of the ferry operator and the name of the actual ferry you travelled on. Also the country (and possibly town) the vehicle came from.
Hopefully, HMRC will then issue the NOVA paperwork.
This now takes around 2-4 weeks to complete which rather makes a mockery of the legal requirement to let HMRC know of a vehicle import within 14 days of it's import.
Next, the DVLA (yippee).
If, as I did, you get the bike from Germany, the seller should have the 'Fahrzeugbrief' (Registration Document) and this should show the vehicle has been de-registered. NOTE: Make sure it is de-registered before exporting it!
If the last registration has occurred within the last few years, the registration document is now known as a 'Zulassungsbescheinigung' and comes in two parts - Teil I (part 1) is a small, wallet sized document and Teil II (Part 2) is an A4 sized document. (The Teil I is the bit you are required to carry in the vehicle in Germany).
The DVLA require BOTH parts when you apply to register the vehicle. (Or an explanation of why you only have one part).
If you don't have a registration document, you'll need a DATING CERTIFICATE. This needs to come from the manufacturer, or a DVLA approved source such as the owner's club.
If the vehicle is over 40 (Forty) years old you don't need an MoT. (Fill out form v112 - declaration of exemption from MoT and insert the VIN instead of the registration number).
In mainland UK, you don't need an insurance certificate. (However, you do in Northern Ireland).
Vehicles can be registered as HISTORIC on April 1st on the year following their 40th 'birthday' e.g. vehicles first registered anytime in 1983 can be registered as HISTORIC from April 1st 2024. If first registered in 1984 (as my last imported bike was), it may be MoT exempt (40 years plus) but has to be registered as BICYCLE in the taxation class until April 1st 2025 and is NOT VED exempt - you'll have to pay the VED at whatever the current rate is.
The DVLA don't always know their own rules. The registration application was rejected as they claimed I had sent a cheque for too much as I included the VED plus first registration fee, but they believed it should have been in the Historic taxation class. They returned all the paperwork and I sent it back with a new cheque for just the first registration fee. They then e-mailed me to say I was correct in the first place and it did not yet qualify as Historic (although it was just over 40 years old) and therefore for 'free' tax, so I had to send them the VED payment again. Muppets!!!!!
Hopefully, after all this, the DVLA will send you a V5C with an age related number (hence the need for the old registration document or dating certificate).
If you have no registration document and, for whatever reason, you cannot obtain a dating certificate, (e.g. no approved owner's club and manufacturer is no longer in existence) it is still possible to get the vehicle registered, but on a 'Q' plate.
Sorry if this is a bit long winded, but if it saves someone the hassle I've had recently, it may well be worth it.
I've imported 4 bikes from Germany over the past three years or so.
It used to be the case that you applied to HMRC for the NOVA paperwork yourself.
You would fill out the relevant HMRC form, e-mail it to HMRC who would then send you an invoice for any import duties / VAT to be paid then, once paid, they would issue the NOVA.
This typically took around 3-4 days.
However, about a year after we formally left the EU, the rules changed.
You now have to go through an import company who will deal with HMRC on your behalf by preparing an MRN document. (At extra expense of course).
It is not easy to find a suitable company from the info HMRC send out as it's just a spreadsheet with a list of hundreds of company names on it.
(After some considerable effort and time, I found one that is easy to deal with - First European Logistics (1st-european.com) . Phone them and ask for Imogen Smith. The last time I used them earlier this year the charge was £80 to do the work).
If the vehicle is LESS than 30 years old and from the EU, you will pay 20% VAT - no import duties.
If the vehicle is MORE than 30 years old and from the EU, you will pay 5% VAT - no import duties.
However, PLEASE NOTE: To get the 5% VAT rate, the import Commodity Code is NOT in vehicles, but ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES. (30 year plus old vehicles are considered collectables by HMRC). This took myself and the import company about a week and a half to find out as HMRC have little information available on this.
For information, the Commodity Code for vehicles over 30 years old is 97051000 (Collections and collectors pieces of archaeological, ethnographic or historical interest Other).
You will need a copy of the sales receipt to allow HMRC to calculate the VAT payable. (In Germany, this usually lists the buyer's and seller's names and addresses, description of the vehicle - usually listing VIN number rather than a registration number - price paid and the date. Even from a private seller, this is normally the way it's done).
You can then either pay the VAT directly yourself, or get the import company to pay it for you. (There may be a small charge for this).
(I don't know if there is also import duty payable on imports from Non-EU countries e.g. USA).
You will also need the travel information for the importation to complete this process.
For example, the ferry route (e.g. Calais to Dover), date of travel, name of the ferry operator and the name of the actual ferry you travelled on. Also the country (and possibly town) the vehicle came from.
Hopefully, HMRC will then issue the NOVA paperwork.
This now takes around 2-4 weeks to complete which rather makes a mockery of the legal requirement to let HMRC know of a vehicle import within 14 days of it's import.
Next, the DVLA (yippee).
If, as I did, you get the bike from Germany, the seller should have the 'Fahrzeugbrief' (Registration Document) and this should show the vehicle has been de-registered. NOTE: Make sure it is de-registered before exporting it!
If the last registration has occurred within the last few years, the registration document is now known as a 'Zulassungsbescheinigung' and comes in two parts - Teil I (part 1) is a small, wallet sized document and Teil II (Part 2) is an A4 sized document. (The Teil I is the bit you are required to carry in the vehicle in Germany).
The DVLA require BOTH parts when you apply to register the vehicle. (Or an explanation of why you only have one part).
If you don't have a registration document, you'll need a DATING CERTIFICATE. This needs to come from the manufacturer, or a DVLA approved source such as the owner's club.
If the vehicle is over 40 (Forty) years old you don't need an MoT. (Fill out form v112 - declaration of exemption from MoT and insert the VIN instead of the registration number).
In mainland UK, you don't need an insurance certificate. (However, you do in Northern Ireland).
Vehicles can be registered as HISTORIC on April 1st on the year following their 40th 'birthday' e.g. vehicles first registered anytime in 1983 can be registered as HISTORIC from April 1st 2024. If first registered in 1984 (as my last imported bike was), it may be MoT exempt (40 years plus) but has to be registered as BICYCLE in the taxation class until April 1st 2025 and is NOT VED exempt - you'll have to pay the VED at whatever the current rate is.
The DVLA don't always know their own rules. The registration application was rejected as they claimed I had sent a cheque for too much as I included the VED plus first registration fee, but they believed it should have been in the Historic taxation class. They returned all the paperwork and I sent it back with a new cheque for just the first registration fee. They then e-mailed me to say I was correct in the first place and it did not yet qualify as Historic (although it was just over 40 years old) and therefore for 'free' tax, so I had to send them the VED payment again. Muppets!!!!!
Hopefully, after all this, the DVLA will send you a V5C with an age related number (hence the need for the old registration document or dating certificate).
If you have no registration document and, for whatever reason, you cannot obtain a dating certificate, (e.g. no approved owner's club and manufacturer is no longer in existence) it is still possible to get the vehicle registered, but on a 'Q' plate.
Sorry if this is a bit long winded, but if it saves someone the hassle I've had recently, it may well be worth it.
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