Importing a car from UK post Brexit

Visit the Transport Malta website to find more info. As a migrant you should qualify for a duty free import and only need to visit the licensing department to register yoiur car and obtain new plates.

Pre brexit it was only the fees you see here http://www.valuation.vehicleregistratio … hicle.aspx - but if you can prove you own the car > 2 years you can pass on these.  However you will then pay them if you sell the car later.

Now with Brexit I believe there might be additional customs duties and maybe VAT or something, I have only seen guidance covering a no-deal scenario not what is happening now

dennisp99 wrote:

I appreciate that there is a separate thread currently doing the rounds on importing a car but that relates to a left hand drive car from another EU country and I don't want to piggy back on that. 
I am hoping to get residency in the fairly near future but my wife won't get here on a permanent basis until the end of March.  We have been advised by Identity Malta that, although she would qualify for residency as my spouse, she won't get a card until after she has served her time and spent three months continuously residing in Malta.  We need to decide what to do about our UK-registered Mini Cooper, which is registered to my wife.
Aside from shipping costs, what other costs are involved?  A link to where I can find the info would be much appreciated.

Normally you do not apply for residency until you have been here for three months.

I arrived in Malta 1 November; applied to IMA for an appointment on 7 December; got a reply same day; that reply gave me an appointment date of 11 February.
It's important to have three months continuous residency in Malta (with not one day spent out of the country) before the date of your interview.  But there is nothing to stop you applying within that three month period for an appointment after the three months living here.

As I understand it there are three issues
1) Registration tax which is calculated according to a web based device on Transport Malta site-this can be avoided if you have owned the vehicle for 2 years.
2) An additional minimum tax to be paid again based on a table in the TM sitedepending on vehicle age.
3)Customs duty at 10% and VAT at 18% payable at customs and refunded after one year.

dennisp99 wrote:

I arrived in Malta 1 November; applied to IMA for an appointment on 7 December; got a reply same day; that reply gave me an appointment date of 11 February.
It's important to have three months continuous residency in Malta (with not one day spent out of the country) before the date of your interview.  But there is nothing to stop you applying within that three month period for an appointment after the three months living here.

You never used to have to make an appoinment.

dennisp99 wrote:

I appreciate that there is a separate thread currently doing the rounds on importing a car but that relates to a left hand drive car from another EU country and I don't want to piggy back on that. 
I am hoping to get residency in the fairly near future but my wife won't get here on a permanent basis until the end of March.  We have been advised by Identity Malta that, although she would qualify for residency as my spouse, she won't get a card until after she has served her time and spent three months continuously residing in Malta.  We need to decide what to do about our UK-registered Mini Cooper, which is registered to my wife.
Aside from shipping costs, what other costs are involved?  A link to where I can find the info would be much appreciated.

By the time you have paid all the shipping costs, registration charge and now additional post Brexit charges I would advise selling the car in the UK and buying another here. A lot less hassle and stress!

Can anyone explain the insurance issue please? Assuming car comes from UK  to Malta.Can you have UK insurance when you have moved  residence to Malta ie have no UK address while waiting for Maltese plates as I understand Maltese insurers will only insure cars with Maltese plates.

snape wrote:

Can anyone explain the insurance issue please? Assuming car comes from UK  to Malta.Can you have UK insurance when you have moved  residence to Malta ie have no UK address while waiting for Maltese plates as I understand Maltese insurers will only insure cars with Maltese plates.

This subject has been covered many times if you do a search on here you should find the answer you require.
Good luck

You will not get insurance in Malta without a EU drivers license. 

If you eventually sell the car in Malta, you must pay whatever you saved in registration tax when you first brought the car in, even if this amount is far greater than the value of the car.

It isn't really worth it.

But , if you have had the car in Malta for more than 2 years , you don't have topay this tax.. but I brought my car here when the UK was  still  still in the EU.

DP4 wrote:

But , if you have had the car in Malta for more than 2 years , you don't have topay this tax.. but I brought my car here when the UK was  still  still in the EU.

Are you serious?

You brought your car over 2 years ago and now you are questioning about.......?

.

DP4 wrote:

But , if you have had the car in Malta for more than 2 years , you don't have topay this tax.. but I brought my car here when the UK was  still  still in the EU.

If you had the car in the UK for 2 years before you brought it here then you do not have to pay the tax, if not, you pay! Whether the UK was in the EU still is immaterial.

Thank you FOxgIOv some people  JUST don't  get it!!??
Poor SimCityAt 🤣😅😆

So, if you can prove  you have owned the car in the UK for  a  minimum  of 2years  then you can be  exempt of the import tax. And if you can prove that you have owned the car  in Malta for a minimum  of 2 years you don't have to repay this exempt tax , if you sell the car.

The exemption from the registration tax is only if you have owned the car in UK for 2 years prior to coming to Malta.But then if you sell in Malta at any time you will have to pay that tax.The only way not to pay it once you have been exempted is to keep the car,scrap it or export it out of Malta.

DP4 wrote:

So, if you can prove  you have owned the car in the UK for  a  minimum  of 2years  then you can be  exempt of the import tax. And if you can prove that you have owned the car  in Malta for a minimum  of 2 years you don't have to repay this exempt tax , if you sell the car.

You are still obliged to pay the tax amount previously exempted if you sell the car in Malta no matter how long you have had it here.

This is the detail that many do not realize.  When you get the exemption you will get a letter with the amount exempted.  This is often more than half of the value of the car and often over 10 thousand.  Then if you keep it until its only worth less than a thousand, you still have to pay the original 10 thousand when you sell.  Re-exporting and re-registering it later is probably the best option so you should probably double the cost of shipping it when considering if it is worth it.  VAT and duty from Brexit only adds to the cost.

Is the 18% vat on the price of the car or the cutoms duty fee?

The 18% VAT is on the vehicle cost as is the customs duty I believe.

What a Rip off , I'm in the process to get my Motorcycle released from the customs , first the Maltese Agent in here Malta (Eurotrans ) €1075  , gave me the receipt with breakdown but all jargon and adding vat at the end on all the balance (surely there are non vatable items …..) then asking me to deal with everything relating to TM as a form VH05 need to be filled and taking to TM to sign and stamp to get my Bike released , no help here from the agent , once i figure what needed and how TM told to pay for the registration now to get the release from the customs  so paid them €1080 and took the form to customs , after that the customs calling the agent telling him that the amount that I bought the bike for is very low and they do their own evaluation as per the market in the UK then I should pay the 6% customs duty plus vat on their evaluation €1618 ( calculation is evalution price   6% duty then 18% on all the amount ) , now the agent calling me and telling that I still need to pay for the storage and customs rent ???? and I dont know what else , and I still need to take my bike once I get it to TM to have it inspected and pay for the licence and plate and inspection and admin fee , ah first thing is buying Maltese insurance and they wont give you the insurance it self but a confirmation with the UK registration on it so you can deal wit TM forms and paper work . What bother me is I can not chalenge all the extra charges everywhere in all the receipts and documents tha I see , anyone with the same experience and what can be done to claim back any of these rediculous expenses ?  Thanks

Even if you have owned the car or bike for over 2 years and are moving your residence to malta, the excise duty is still calculated based in their value and you don't have to to pay that until you sell.  When you eventually sell, even if 20 years from now the whole amount will have to be paid to transfer the title to the new owner.  The vat amount is also calculated and you have to pay that now but in one year they will give you that amount back.  The whole process is designed to make it so you are better off selling it before you come and buying another in malta.

Sofienek didn't you check on this before you decided to bring your
vehicle here?

Sofienek wrote:

What a Rip off , I'm in the process to get my Motorcycle released from the customs , first the Maltese Agent in here Malta (Eurotrans ) €1075  , gave me the receipt with breakdown but all jargon and adding vat at the end on all the balance (surely there are non vatable items …..) then asking me to deal with everything relating to TM as a form VH05 need to be filled and taking to TM to sign and stamp to get my Bike released , no help here from the agent , once i figure what needed and how TM told to pay for the registration now to get the release from the customs  so paid them €1080 and took the form to customs , after that the customs calling the agent telling him that the amount that I bought the bike for is very low and they do their own evaluation as per the market in the UK then I should pay the 6% customs duty plus vat on their evaluation €1618 ( calculation is evalution price   6% duty then 18% on all the amount ) , now the agent calling me and telling that I still need to pay for the storage and customs rent ???? and I dont know what else , and I still need to take my bike once I get it to TM to have it inspected and pay for the licence and plate and inspection and admin fee , ah first thing is buying Maltese insurance and they wont give you the insurance it self but a confirmation with the UK registration on it so you can deal wit TM forms and paper work . What bother me is I can not chalenge all the extra charges everywhere in all the receipts and documents tha I see , anyone with the same experience and what can be done to claim back any of these rediculous expenses ?  Thanks

Two questions, how long did you own the mororcycle before moving to Malta and what is the engine size. If you owned the bike more than two years before you do not need to pay the duty unless you sell it in Malta and there is also an exemption for motorcycles with a small engine size, I believe below 250cc.

Thanks fir your replies , I'm talking about a 950cc , unfortunately did not own it for 2 years but 3 months , I still work in London although I'm domiciled here for the last 7years , as the circumstances changed now and I'll be working from home here in Malta , I thought I'll upgrade my previous bike with a better one and bring it down to Malta , I was pressed by the time to ship the bike asap and everything in the UK (shipment )  gone smoothly and clearly , I asked the shipment company in the UK to try to get me what will be the expenses in Malta with their designated agent (Eurotrans ) and if the can help me to know the customs fees……. , despite various emails and chaser , no reply from Malta (of course) and that made me think that the Maltese agent wait until the bike reach Malta then all kind if fees will appear and that is what happened so far and still going on as now he wants money for a storage since the bike arrived to Malta and a certain customs rent ???? I already paid the customs fully hence why I'm asking if anyone had a similar experience for bringing a vehicle from UK to Malta  since January 2021 ? Because I feel that I've being ripped off and dint know how to chalenge the agent and the customs , from the side of TM all clear and black and white , it is just this agent (Eurotrans ) and the customs , can you beleive he is asking me to bring a crowbar to open my crate then ride back with my Bike to home while i paid €115 plus vat for delivery door to door .

Many TCNs report exactly the same frustrations brings vehicles here with ever increasing and opaque duties, fees and taxes and shoddy handlers.

Seems about same as every other story I heard. Not worth it for such a cheap bike

Even before Brexit it was always an expense to import cars and bikes. Unless it was a classic item, it really isn't worth the trouble.

SimCityAT wrote:

Even before Brexit it was always an expense to import cars and bikes. Unless it was a classic item, it really isn't worth the trouble.

With the righ situation it was worth it, I imported a 6 month old car and comparing to a like for like here that was for sale from the agents it worked 5k less, even with all the fees and hassle. And mine was slightly higher spec - though useless features like heated steering wheel

But yeah, mostly you're right, had to be very careful to do the sums - now its impossible to do the sums since its such a opaque area of what you'll be charged etc

Thanks , moral of the story , if you want a motorcycle a day trip to Sicily and get your self a bike as Bikes don't have right hand or left hand drive and customs wont see a penny from your hard earned money.

@volcane hi can you tell me if you used any agent please

It's likely cheaper to sell it in UK and buy one in Malta. I imported from Netherlands to UK and I found it cost me more to import and insure afterwards. Check the costs carefully.