Bringing my car from UK to Malta
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Hi People, I am moving to Malta soon and I would like to bring my car. I like my car and also I would like move by car because we could bring more things with us as well and also my dog.
I have done some research and I found the prices for cars in Malta very high. And I am thinking if the tax was about 3,000.00 is OK. Because if I sell my car here in UK I will also lost money, because the car stores want to pay really less than I paid for it when I bought 8 months ago.
So, I would like to know if:
- I made the calc to know what will be the tax and seems it will be 3,300. But I'm not sure....
Says: Registration Value: 6,826.00
and in the end says: Registration Tax: 3,300.00
Is only the registration tax I need to pay??
- After a while, I will want sell the car in Malta. This is going to be easier? If the cars costs more in Malta, maybe I can sell it for more than I would sell here in UK? (If yes maybe is a good point to think)
- There are another things that I need to know about that?
Thank you all for the help, I really liked this forum
---> Really sorry my little English.
I am a Brazilian, half Italian, living in the UK and planing move to Malta next summer with my husband and daughter, we love Scotland but we miss the sun :-)
Welcome,
You only pay the registration fee plus a small administration charge when you register your car.
You can sell the car anytime after you have registered it in Malta and it will be worth more than the UK price.
don't forget to pre notify the animal health unit in Malta of your dogs arrival.
Terry
HI anapaveo
we are also bringing our car from UK to Malta when we move- driving over too.
As I understand it you can avoid paying the Vehicle registration tax provided you have owned the car for at least 24 months before you re-register it (have lots of paperwork proving your UK residence (bills bank accounts etc) and you can drive it in Malta for up to 6 months as an EU citizen before you need to reregister it (provided you haven't already become Maltese resident).
If you time it right you could save the best part of that tax.....
Be careful as the exemption is given only if you can prove that you have owned the vehicle outside of Malta for at least 24 months PRIOR to you starting the registration process.
If you wait the six months in Malta before you start the process you may be refused.
Terry
If you try to sell a car from the UK here some Maltese think it will be in bad condition. I heard this from a couple of colleagues at work - their opinion was that the wet UK weather would mean the car had more rust and corrosion!! (Not taking into consideration the salt & humidity on cars here though)
We bought our car when we moved here and claimed the tax rebate - the process took about 2/3 months & it cost almost €500 in registration fees, admin costs etc. It was a shock it was so much as no paperwork or website prepared us for that much!
And be careful if you use Maltese car insurance before it's registered - we were told we would not have actually been covered should anything happen - thankfully we were registered just before our UK insurance expired! Read the small print!
Hello everybody, I like this forum and it information. I have many questions the main one at the moment is. can we bring in more than one car?
my wife has a small 10 year old car she has owned from new. I have a 10 years old vw campervan that I have owned from new and a small scooter owned from new 5 years...I also have a classic car that I have owned 1 year.
My understanding is I can bring the camper in without paying tax, my wife can bring her car in again no tax. I think the scooter will be classed as another vehicle so tax due and because I am bring the campervan in, in my name, the classic car 44 years old will need to be taxed.
please can someone tell me if I have this right?
Thanks
Terry
You can bring in one vehicle under the exemption rule (owned for more than 2 years outside of Malta".
The rest you will have to pay the registration fee on arrival.
No limit to the amount of vehicles you can register once you are a resident.
Terry
terryvanman wrote:Hello everybody, I like this forum and it information. I have many questions the main one at the moment is. can we bring in more than one car?
my wife has a small 10 year old car she has owned from new. I have a 10 years old vw campervan that I have owned from new and a small scooter owned from new 5 years...I also have a classic car that I have owned 1 year.
My understanding is I can bring the camper in without paying tax, my wife can bring her car in again no tax. I think the scooter will be classed as another vehicle so tax due and because I am bring the campervan in, in my name, the classic car 44 years old will need to be taxed.
please can someone tell me if I have this right?
Thanks
Terry
Not 100% sure but as I understand it you can bring in a classic/vintage car or motorbike over 50 years old free of a registration tax/fee but the car has to follow strict guidelines on closeness to original specifications. I believe the tax/fee is reduced on cars between 30 and 50 years old.
This link will give you the info.Â
(You need to get to pages 12/13 before the document says this!)
Not certain that this is in addition to one normal car already registered though. Best to check with Transport Malta.
Ray
Thanks Ray, you have been very helpful. Now all I've got to do is get the jam jars down to Malta.
T
How does it work if I buy a used car today in the UK and ship it to Malta? Will I just pay the small admin fees plus registration tax? Or will I have to pay VAT as well? And CIF duty? I can't find any rules about that online, it's quite confusing. Some websites are saying you should own the car for more than 6 months to avoid VAT.
Any recommendation?
Anyone with an experience about importing a recently purchased used car?
Thanks
MaxLondon wrote:How does it work if I buy a used car today in the UK and ship it to Malta? Will I just pay the small admin fees plus registration tax? Or will I have to pay VAT as well? And CIF duty? I can't find any rules about that online, it's quite confusing. Some websites are saying you should own the car for more than 6 months to avoid VAT.
Any recommendation?
Anyone with an experience about importing a recently purchased used car?
Thanks
As far as I can see from TM's website it is how long since date of first registration that matters not how long since you bought it. The following is an extract:-
All category M vehicles, category L vehicles i.e. Motorcycles, ATV’s and Quad bikes and
category N vehicles (Goods Carrying Vehicles used for the carriage of goods)
which are registered but have not been supplied for more than 6 months after the date
of first entry into service or have not travelled more than 6,000 km will pay an 18 % VAT
on the Invoice value whilst Registration Tax will be levied on the RV (Registration Value)
as prescribed in the Online Valuation system,
So car over 6 months old and over 6000k = no vat
Car first registered less than 6 months ago or less than 6000k = Vat + Registration tax.
Ray
Thanks for your feedback Ray!
Ok so does that mean that anyone could basically import a car from the UK and only pay registration tax?
When talking about the 6 months things I was referring to this article: but I'm not about what they mean about "PERMANENT RESIDENCE SCHEME"...
Also I was wondering what's the maximum of cars you can import per year? There must be a limit where thereafter you'll have to become a dealer? Or does a dealer just get lower registrations tax fees? I didn't find anything about that topic online.
What do you think? Just don't want to have a bad surprise once the car reaches Malta and they will ask me more than expected
@MaxLondon I found TM very friendly and useful on the phone when I had similar questions.
@volcane - and what did they tell you? I would happy to know more about your experience
Just to clarify your status.
You have not taken up residence in Malta yet, have you?
Have you bought a car yet?
If you have is it more than six months old?
Are you thinking of moving here and setting up a business importing and selling cars?
Ray
Does anyone have a recommended shipping company that they have used in the past and remember how much it cost?
@Ray,
To answer your questions:
- You have not taken up residence in Malta yet, have you? Yes we did.
- Have you bought a car yet? No, I want to know how it works before doing so.
- If you have is it more than six months old? The car will be older than 6 months
- Are you thinking of moving here and setting up a business importing and selling cars? No, it's just a personal car that I would like to import, but was wondering if it would be to import one for my wife as well.
@Scott, you can try AutoShippers, I got a quoted £800 for a saloon car from Southampthon to Malta.
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