Glossary

Car import glossary

The terms you meet when buying a car at a US, Canadian, Japanese or UK auction and bringing it into the EU – explained in a sentence or two.

CIF / customs value

Cost, Insurance and Freight: the price of the car plus auction fees, transport, freight and insurance up to the EU border. It is the customs value on which duty is charged.

TARIC and HS code

The EU customs tariff. The vehicle's code sets the duty: 8703 passenger cars 10%, 8704 pickups and vans 10–22%, 8711 motorcycles 6–8%, 9705 collector's vehicles 0%.

Clean title

A US or Canadian ownership document with no record of a total loss. The car can be registered without extra inspections of its accident history.

Salvage title

A title given after the insurer declared the car a total loss. It can be imported and registered in the EU after repair and a technical inspection; non-repairable titles usually cannot.

Auction buyer's fee

What Copart, IAAI or USS add to the hammer price: a sliding buyer fee, internet bid fee, gate and environmental fees. They are part of the customs value.

Import VAT

VAT charged by the country where the car is cleared through customs, on the customs value plus duty. For a used car the VAT paid there is final, even if the car is registered in another EU country.

Registration tax / excise

A one-off tax of the country of registration: excise in Poland, BPM in the Netherlands, the malus in France, NoVA in Austria. Germany, Czechia and Sweden have none.

Customs procedure 4200

Clearance in one EU country with VAT exempt there and paid in the destination country by reverse charge. Only for VAT-registered companies.

Customs exchange rate

The rate customs uses for the whole month to convert the invoice into euros or złoty – set from the rates of the penultimate Wednesday of the previous month, not today's rate.

Ro-Ro or container

Ro-Ro: the car is driven onto the ship – cheaper, but it must run. Container: the car is loaded into a container, often shared with 2–4 others – safer and also for non-runners.

CoC and individual approval

The Certificate of Conformity proves the car meets EU type approval. US cars have none, so they need an individual approval or a technical inspection with lighting and speedometer changes.

Collector's vehicle (CN 9705)

A car over 30 years old, in original condition and no longer produced. Duty is 0% and VAT is reduced in many countries – only if customs accept the classification.