HMRC National Advice Service
0300 200 3700
Movement of vehicles in the European Union
If a motor vehicle has been registered for your use in another Member State of the European Union, no United Kingdom tax or duty is payable to bring it to the United Kingdom for your personal use. There are therefore no special diplomatic or consular tax and duty reliefs for such vehicles. However, if there is any restriction on the sale of the vehicle, for example, if you bought it free of tax or duty under diplomatic privilege or for export, you should check your obligations with the tax authorities of the member-state that applied the restriction.
Purchase from a person not registered for VAT
If you buy a vehicle registered in the United Kingdom from a person not registered or registrable for VAT, no VAT is payable. There are therefore no special diplomatic or consular arrangements for VAT on such vehicles.
Import reliefs
Anyone importing a vehicle in to Member States of the European Union should consider whether to claim relief from import tax and duty:
- on the grounds that the vehicle was previously registered in the European Union (returned goods relief)
- on the grounds that the vehicle will be in the European Union for less than 6 months (a temporary importation)
Transfer of Residence relief cannot be claimed in addition, or as an alternative, to Diplomatic Privilege, unless a diplomat is planning to make the UK their permanent home after their posting.
You can find further details about these reliefs and how to claim them, in HMRC Public Notice 3, available from their National Advice Service.
Diplomatic & Consular tax and duty reliefs
Subject to certain conditions, motor vehicles may be:
- imported free of tax and duty from outside the European Union
- bought free of tax and duty from a customs warehouse in the United Kingdom
- bought VAT-free from any other source in the United Kingdom, provided they were assembled in a country that is in the European Economic Area
- bought VAT-free from another European Union member-state.
No diplomatic or consular VAT relief is available on the purchase in the United Kingdom of a motor vehicle that was assembled in a country that is outside the European Economic Area, unless the vehicle is bought from a customs warehouse.
The European Economic Area comprises: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
The vehicle must be imported or bought for registration in the name of a diplomatic mission, a consulate, a diplomatic agent, a consular officer, or a member of the administrative and technical staff of a mission in the first 6 months of that member’s posting.
Vehicles that have been relieved of United Kingdom tax or duty on the grounds of diplomatic privilege may not be sold, hired, lent, given away or otherwise disposed of except as explained in the sale of vehicles page.
Some international organisations enjoy similar privileges: please contact Protocol Directorate for further advice.