Shipping a car from Andorra, Monaco or Liechtenstein to the UK

Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein are small, and that is usually where the worry starts. None of them is in the EU, each has its own arrangement with its neighbours, and it is hard to find a straight answer on what that means for a car coming to the UK.

The transport is the easy part. All three are a few days' drive from the Channel. The detail worth understanding is customs, because each one is treated differently, and that can change what you pay in duty.

Route

By road, or road and sea

Price

Priced per job

Transit time

Usually 1 to 4 weeks door to door

Steering

Left-hand drive

Import tax

20% VAT, duty depends on the car

Three countries, three customs set-ups

The thread running through all three is that duty follows where a car was made, not where it was bought or registered. A trade arrangement only helps if the car itself qualifies, with proof of origin to show it.

Andorra

Cars from Andorra come out of the Pyrenees by road, north through France to the Channel. Sea transport, or a mix of road and sea, is also possible. By road the journey takes several days, and snow, road closures and holiday traffic in the mountains can add to that, so winter collections need a little more slack.

On customs, the government lists Andorra as part of the EU Customs Union. Under the UK's agreement with the EU, industrial goods originating in Andorra, which includes vehicles, are treated as if they came from the EU. Few cars are built in Andorra, though, so the real question is usually where your particular car was made. For the paperwork, have the registration papers, the bill of sale and a Certificate of Conformity if you have one.

Monaco

Monaco has no guide of its own on the My Car Import site, but we collect from there like anywhere else in the south of France. Our route runs north through France by way of Lyon to the Channel.

According to the Government of Monaco, Monaco and France form a customs union, the French Customs Code applies there, and Monaco is included in the European customs territory even though it is not an EU member. VAT in Monaco is charged on the same basis as in France. In practice that makes a car from Monaco look a lot like a car from France at the border, and our guide to shipping a car from France covers that route in more depth. We confirm the duty position for your car on the quote.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein is landlocked between Switzerland and Austria, so cars come out by road. Customs is handled in house by our own team.

Liechtenstein shares a customs union with Switzerland. The government lists two UK agreements that cover it: the UK-Switzerland-Liechtenstein Trade Agreement, and the free trade agreement between the UK, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The same rules of origin point applies, and our guide to shipping a car from Switzerland goes into it further.

Import tax

Import VAT is 20%, worked out on the price you paid plus the cost of transport. A recent valuation is used if the purchase invoice is more than 3 months old.

My Car Import's standard rate for a car from outside the EU adds 10% duty. For any of these three countries, a car that can be shown to originate under one of the UK's trade agreements, including the one with the EU, may come in without duty. We work out which case applies to your car and confirm it on your quote. Until we have, budget for the 10%. A car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty, and our worked tax examples show the sums in pounds.

Moving to the UK

If you have lived outside the UK for more than 12 months and owned the car for more than 6, Transfer of Residence means no import tax or duty at all. Apply to HMRC before the car ships. A car that was UK-registered before may come back tax free with its UK purchase invoice and old V5C.

Customs and NOVA

We clear the car through UK customs ourselves as HMRC CDS authorised agents. HMRC needs to be told within 14 days that the car has arrived, through the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA), and the DVLA will not register the car without it. We submit it as part of clearance.

Making it UK road legal

Cars from all three are left-hand drive and set up for driving on the right. The usual changes are headlights adjusted or replaced for driving on the left, a speedometer reading in mph and a rear fog light where needed. We do the work on our own site, and our guide to speedometer and headlight conversions explains how.

Testing and registration

• Under 10 years old: an IVA test, or the Certificate of Conformity route where the car qualifies
• Over 10 years old: an MOT, with changes generally coming down to the rear fog light
• Over 40 years old: no MOT needed, and the car can be delivered before registration

We run one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain and test on site every week. Our Certificate of Conformity guide explains when a CoC helps. Once the car is ready, our dealer-level DVLA account lets us register imported cars within 10 working days.

What it costs

We do not publish a guide price for any of the three, because European routes are priced per job. Distance, the season, open or enclosed transport and what the car needs at this end all make a difference. Our guide to what affects the cost of shipping a car explains the moving parts, and shipping a high-value car covers the extra care some of these cars deserve.

Questions people ask

Send us the car's details on the quote form and we will confirm the duty position along with the price.