Tax and Import
How Long You May Drive Your Own Car Abroad
Six months in any twelve is the limit for a non EU registered car in the Union. Lend it to a friend once and the relief can fall away regardless of how long it has been there.
Taking a car abroad for a season is a customs question, not a driving one. A vehicle registered outside the European Union may be used inside it for a limited period, and the standard window is six months in any twelve. Exceed it and import duty and taxes become payable on a car that was only ever visiting.
The three conditions
Temporary importation of a private vehicle is relieved from duty and taxes provided all of the following hold. Each is a condition rather than a guideline, and failing any one of them can end the relief.
- Residence. The person using the vehicle must have their normal residence outside the country of temporary use. The relief exists for visitors and it is defined by where the driver lives rather than by where the car is registered.
- Private use only. The vehicle must be used on an exclusively private basis. Any commercial use puts it outside the relief.
- No disposal, hire or lending. The vehicle may not be sold, hired out or lent in the country of temporary importation. Handing the keys to a local friend for an afternoon is the condition most easily broken without anyone realising a rule exists.
The third condition catches more owners than the time limit does, because the time limit is a date on a calendar and the lending rule is a moment.
How the six months are counted
The window is six months within any twelve month period, which is a rolling measure rather than a per visit allowance. Three visits of two months each use the whole entitlement as surely as one visit of six.
| Pattern | Months used | Remaining in the twelve month window |
|---|---|---|
| One continuous stay | 6 | 0 |
| Three visits of two months | 6 | 0 |
| Two summers of three months | 6 | 0 |
| Winter storage abroad, four months | 4 | 2 |
The fourth row is the one that trips up owners of cars in this class specifically. A car left in a warm country over winter is being temporarily imported for the whole period it is there, whether or not anybody drives it. Storage consumes the entitlement.
Who gets longer
Two groups are treated differently. Students and people from outside the Union carrying out professional duties may use a vehicle for private purposes until the end of their stay without duty or taxes. Cross border commuters resident outside the Union whose place of employment is inside it may enter and leave regularly with their vehicles.
Both exceptions are defined by circumstances rather than by the car, and both require the underlying facts to be genuine and evidenced.
What happens if the limit is passed
The relief falls away and the vehicle is treated as imported, which means the ordinary charges apply. On a car brought in from a third country without a preferential agreement, customs duty on passenger cars is 10 per cent of customs value, and import VAT is then charged on customs value plus duty at the destination member state's standard rate, which the VAT Directive floors at 15 per cent.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Customs value | 200,000 |
| Duty at 10 per cent | 20,000 |
| VAT base, value plus duty | 220,000 |
| Import VAT at 19 per cent | 41,800 |
| Total charges | 61,800 |
That is 30.9 per cent of the car's value, triggered by a date. It is the single most expensive administrative error available to an owner who takes a car abroad, and the whole of it is avoidable by counting months.
Questions readers ask
How long can I drive a foreign registered car in another country?
For a vehicle registered outside the European Union, the standard limit is six months in any twelve month period. It is a rolling window rather than a fresh allowance for each visit.
Does storage count towards the time?
Yes. A car left abroad is temporarily imported for the whole period it is there, whether or not it is driven. Four months of winter storage uses four of the six months.
Can I lend the car to someone while it is there?
No. The vehicle may not be sold, hired out or lent in the country of temporary importation, and this condition is broken far more easily than the time limit.
Who can stay longer than six months?
Students and people from outside the Union carrying out professional duties may use a vehicle privately until the end of their stay. Cross border commuters resident outside the Union but working inside it may enter and leave regularly.
What does an overstay cost?
The relief ends and ordinary import charges apply: 10 per cent duty on customs value from a third country without a preferential agreement, then import VAT on value plus duty. On a 200,000 car at a 19 per cent rate that is 20,000 plus 41,800, so 61,800, which is 30.9 per cent of the car.
Does the relief depend on the car or on me?
On you. It hangs on the user having normal residence outside the country of temporary use, and on the vehicle being used exclusively privately.
Sources
- German customs, temporary importation of a vehicle not registered in the EU, for the six month limit, the private use condition, the prohibition on disposal, hire and lending and the exceptions for students, professionals and cross border commuters.
- EUR-Lex, tax free allowances for temporary importation of certain means of transport, for the residence requirement and the exemption from taxes for private use.
- European Commission, the Combined Nomenclature, for the 10 per cent duty on passenger cars that applies once the relief ends.