THE CUSTOMS department is seeking sought to clarify the rules regarding the importation of cars into Cyprus from other EU member states, after a series of complaints that the regulations were too confusing and steeped in bureaucracy.
Goods in free circulation in the EU move from one member state to another without payment of further customs import duty. To be exempt from paying further import duty in Cyprus, proof of community status of the goods must be provided. However, certain goods, including motor vehicles, are subject to excise duty, even if they arrive from another member state of the EU.
Senior customs official Nicos Mavroudes said yesterday: “An EU resident who wants to import his or her car into Cyprus must prove that they will be living here and must state what they will be doing here.”
A vehicle is considered used if it has done more than 6,000 km and at the date of its transfer to Cyprus is more than six months old, calculated from the date of its registration for the first time in any country.
Used cars are not liable to VAT, but are charged excise duty (see table).
An amount of 15 per cent of the excise duty due is deducted, if the vehicle is less than one year old at the time of its transfer to Cyprus.
Twenty per cent of the duty due is deducted if the vehicle is between one and three years old at the time of transfer.
But if the vehicle is more than five years old when it comes to Cyprus, an additional amount of 25 per cent of the excise duty due is imposed, as a disincentive to importing older, more polluting vehicles. This additional amount is not payable in the case of vehicles imported by overseas Cypriots who return to live on the island.
Brand new vehicles, which at the time of their arrival in the Republic have no number plates of another member state, are liable to VAT in addition to the excise duty payable. The value for VAT calculation is the sum of the purchase price plus the transportation costs and insurance up to the point of entry in the Republic, plus the excise duty.
On collection of the excise duty and VAT (if the latter is payable), the vehicle must be then taken to the Inland Transport Department for inspection and registration.
Mavroudes explained that second-generation Cypriots – i.e. those born to Cypriot fathers abroad – are entitled to up to £3,000 off the excise duty while first-generation Cypriots who have been living abroad for more than 10 years are entitled to up to £7,000 off.”
Asked whether it was not discrimination that people exporting Cyprus-registered cars to another EU country did not have to pay excise duty, Mavroudes said: “Most EU countries do not have regulations regarding excise duty for motor vehicles. It depends on the law in the specific country.”
Peter Hughes, a Briton who has recently moved to the island and is currently in the process of registering his car here, told the Sunday Mail that he was far from impressed by the behaviour of customs officials.
“After waiting to be seen at Nicosia customs for three hours, due to the overcrowding, I was then sat down right next to somebody else and asked sensitive financial information. The person next to me could hear everything and I really wasn’t happy about my personal information being heard by complete strangers. What about data protection? I was given no guarantees about privacy.
“In addition, I was asked for a ridiculous amount of documentation which was completely unnecessary, in order to prove that I had been living in the UK. I had to produce my birth certificate, passports, school, medical, employment and taxation records. And still they wanted more. Any person with an ounce of common sense could see that I had been living in the UK, for God’s sake.”
Mavroudes, however, explained that the documentation was necessary, “in order to prove beyond doubt the authenticity of somebody’s application.”
How excise duty is calculated
Categories per cc
Categories of vehicles
A
B
C
Saloon and 4X4
Double cabin
Van
£ per cc
£ per cc
£ per cc
0–1450
0.50
0.50
0.10
1450 –1650
0.85
0.50
0.25
1650–2050
2.70
0.50
0.75
2050–2250
2.85
0.50
0.75
2250–2650
5.50
0.50
0.75
2650 +
8.00
0.50
1.00
’I felt like pulling my hair out’
TAKING a trip to Customs to see the situation at first hand, the signs were not good, even before going inside, as all parking spaces outside the building were taken.
Once inside, a look around saw people taking tickets before sitting down and waiting for their number to be called out.
A glum-faced man described the ordeal he had been forced to endure.
Briton Jimmy Stavrinides, who has recently moved to the island from the UK, said he had first applied for excise duty relief a month ago.
“The first time I came here, it wasn’t too bad actually,” he said. “I waited for around 20 minutes before being called to see somebody and she explained to me what documents I needed to provide.
“After getting together the necessary documentation, I returned two weeks later. This time though, I had to wait for over two hours before being seen. When I finally went in to see the woman I dealt with on the previous occasion, I was left fuming by her lack of professionalism.
“She was on the phone as I sat down opposite her and I realised it was a personal call. Instead of getting off the blower to attend to me, she carried on her conversation, oblivious to the fact that I had been left frustrated by my two-hour wait to see her. I couldn’t believe my ears as she discussed with a relative what outfit she should wear at a forthcoming party.
“When she finally got off the phone 15 minutes later, she took a look at the documents and informed me that I was still missing some tax forms and that I should contact the Inland Revenue. I felt like screaming and pulling my hair out, to put it mildly.
“This is my third visit here and I am praying that it will be my last.”
Another man was also far from impressed. Yiannis Antoniou said he had bought a duty free BMW but couldn’t pick it up yet as it was not cleared by Customs.
“I came here on Thursday but they made me come back the following day,” he said. “Before I pick up my new car, my old car with British number plates has to go back into the bonded warehouse. So I placed it into bonded storage early Thursday morning in Larnaca and then had to take a taxi to come to Nicosia Customs as I was left with no car. I arrived at around 12.30pm but was told that the computer system had not yet updated, meaning my old car didn’t appear on the system as having been placed into bonded.
“The bottom line was that I was left without a car for another day, which is a huge inconvenience. Sometimes I really wonder how Cyprus can call itself an EU country when government services prove themselves to be completely incompetent.”
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