For past many years, Japanese vehicles are dominating hearts of millions with their style, elegance, built, high on quality and safe to drive. Japan is the main source for vehicles. Every year, Japan witness manufacturing of many vehicles integrated with latest technology. Along with new vehicles, used vehicles from Japan are also exported in large amount. Almost all countries across the world import Japanese used vehicles.
Cyprus, an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea also imports large numbers of used vehicles from Japan. Importing a Japanese used car to Cyprus for long-term use is quite complicated process as it can take more than a year to complete. Thus, many used vehicle importers choose to hire an agent to assist with the formalities.
Documents required for importing used cars:
- Registration certificate (indicating that the vehicle’s first registration was in Japan).
- Invoice or sales contract, if the vehicle is not registered to the person importing and registering the vehicle.
The following certificates are compulsory to get issued by the respective organizations while importing used car in Cyprus for a long term:-
- Certificate confirming the car’s CO2 emissions, issued by District Vehicle Examination Center of the Road Transport Department (R.T.D.) after submitting the documents stated above by the owner who acquires the vehicle according to the procedure of the Department of Customs paying all appropriate taxes.
- Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) certificate from SVA Testing Center which requires all paperwork to be correct and the vehicle to be in proper working condition in accordance to the Single Vehicle Approval manual.
- Road Worthiness Certificate from an authorized Private Vehicle Examination Center.
Upon successful completion of above procedures, the owner submits all above documents to one of the Motor Car Registry offices of R.T.D. for registration of the vehicle.
Registration tax and road tax are calculated based on the vehicle’s engine cubic capacity and CO2 emissions. According to current legislation, cars imported from Japan, must be less than 5 years old at the time of arrival in Cyprus in order to be eligible for registration, unless any of the following conditions is met:
- The owner has been residing permanently in another country and he or she is moving permanently to Cyprus. In this case:-
- Only one such vehicle may be registered to an individual.
- Only the registered owner, spouse and children are eligible to drive the vehicle.
- The vehicle cannot be transferred to any other person within the first 3 years from the vehicle’s first registration in Cyprus.
- The application for the vehicle’s registration must be submitted within 1 year from the owner’s arrival in Cyprus for permanent settlement.
- The vehicle is eligible for registration as a vintage vehicle according to the following criteria:-
- The vehicle is over 25 years of age from its first registration or purchase in any country.
- The vehicle is approved by FIVA (Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens) authorized representatives and holds a relevant valid certificate and a declaration that the vehicle’s specifications are in compliance with the International Technical Code for vintage vehicles.
RELEIF:
Used vehicles can be imported from Japan under RELIEF from duties and taxes. Relief is the customs procedure according to which used vehicles can be imported with partial or total relief from duties and taxes, notwithstanding their tariff classification, provided they are imported in Cyprus under certain conditions and for specific purposes.
Relief is granted for various reasons as mentioned below:
- If you are resident in a third country and you have decided to transfer your normal residence to Cyprus, under certain conditions you are entitled to transfer your motor vehicle, so that you may not to be deprived of your vehicle until you make an application for relief and receive an answer, you may be allowed to drive it temporarily under Form C.104O. You may submit your application for relief to any Customs Office or to Customs Headquarters.
If you get a positive answer, then complete form SAD. You may use the services of a clearing agent. Produce your SAD form at any Regional Customs Office, accompanied by Form C.104O, which will be kept by Customs. You will have to pay no import and excise duties and VAT. Customs will issue Form C72A and a copy will be given to you. The vehicle must be then produced, together with Form C72A and other documents relating to your vehicle, to the Inland Transport Department for inspection and registration purposes.
If you get a negative answer from Customs because you do not meet the criteria for being granted a relief for the vehicle, you have the following options:- To pay the import and excise duties and VAT.
- To place it in a customs warehouse.
- To send it to another member state of the EU or
- To export it to a third country.
- Under the conditions laid down below, used vehicle importers are entitled to relief from excise duty if they are citizen of Cyprus with four or more dependent children and have not received any subsidy from the State for the purchase of vehicle.
A child is considered dependent if that child is:- Below the age of 18
- Over 18 years old and is a student of secondary or tertiary education in Cyprus or abroad
- Over 18 years old and is in the National Guard doing his service.
- Of any age and unmarried and invalid and who has not exercised his/her right to apply for a duty-free vehicle or has not been given financial assistance by the State to purchase a vehicle.
- Importers are entitled to apply for relief from excise duty on new or used passenger motor vehicles, which can transport from eleven to twelve persons including the driver. Instead of claiming relief however, one may apply to the Ministry of Finance for a special subsidy for the purchase of motor vehicle.
Relief is granted on a claim for relief made by the importer personally (there is no specific form). The claim must be submitted to the Relief Section of Customs Headquarters in Nicosia and be accompanied by the following evidence:- Marriage certificate
- Your children’s birth certificates.
- Documentary evidence for dependent children over 18 years old.
- "Association of Families of over three children" membership card.
- Cypriot driving license. Note: Relief is granted for one vehicle only. The replacement of one excise free vehicle with another excise free vehicle is not allowed.
Excise Duties and Taxes: All motor vehicles, when imported to Cyprus both new and used are subjected to Import duties and taxes: - Saloon type vehicles, such as sedan, cabrio, estate, hatchback, coupe, etc.
- Jeep-type off-road vehicles (4Χ4).
- Vehicles with two rows of seats, known as double cabin cars with Gross Vehicle Weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes;
- Vans having a gross weight not exceeding 2032 kg and a net cargo volume not exceeding 2 cubic meters;
- Motorcycles with an engine capacity not exceeding 600 cc., no excise duty is chargeable.
- "Go kart" type motor vehicles, used only in closed and/or confined spaces, for entertainment purposes.
- Amphibious motor vehicles, with a gross weight not exceeding 1000 kg, with three rows of wheels and all-wheel-drive, which are used for recreational or commercial purposes and which can carry two to four persons.
- "Hovercraft" type motor vehicles that are designed to run both on water and soil.
- Mobile campers of CN 8703.
- Old vehicles as defined in the Motor Vehicle and Traffic Law of 1972 as amended.
- 4-wheel vehicles, which have the appearance of a motorcycle and cannot be registered for circulation on public roads.
- Vehicle Category:- Motor vehicles classified under T.H. 8703 21 – 8703 90 (excluding ambulances and hearses as well as pick-up type vehicles with two rows of seats known as double cabins) and Van type motor vehicles classified under T.H. 8704 with a Gross Vehicle Weight not exceeding 2032 kg and a net cargo area not exceeding 2 cubic meters.
- cc- 0-1650cc
CO2 Emission- For vehicles with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (combined cycle) less or equal to 120 grams per kilometer (gr/km)
Excise Duty- Zero (exempted)
- cc- 1651-2250cc
CO2 Emission- For vehicles with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (combined cycle) exceeding 120 gr/km but not exceeding 150 gr/km.
Excise Duty- 34.12 US$ per gr/km of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over 120 gr/km.
- cc- 2251-3000cc
CO2 Emission- For vehicles with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (combined cycle) exceeding 150 gr/km but not exceeding 180 gr/km
Excise Duty-1023.74 US$ + 68.26 US$ per gr/km of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over 150 gr/km
- cc- above 3000cc
CO2 Emission- For vehicles with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (combined cycle) exceeding 180 gr/km.
Excise Duty- 3071.21 US$ + 546.07 US$ per gr/km of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over 180 gr/km.
- cc- 0-1650cc
- Vehicle Category:- Motor vehicles classified under T.H. 8703 & 8704 with two rows of seats, known as “double cabin”, with a maximum Gross Vehicle Weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.
Excise Duty-0.35 US$ per c.c.
- Vehicle Category:- other vehicles
(A) motor vehicles of the “go-kart” type exclusively used in closed and/or enclosed areas for amusement purposes.
(B) Amphibious motor vehicles, of a gross weight not exceeding 1000kg, having three rows of wheels, six-wheel drive, used for amusement or professional purposes and which can transport two to four persons.
(C) Motor vehicles of the “hovercraft” type designed to travel both on water and on land.
(D) Motorized caravans of CN Code 8703.
(E) old vehicles as specified in the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Law of 1972 as amended and
(F) vehicles with four wheels, having the appearance of a motor cycle and which are not registered for the purposes to be driven on public roads. Provided that vehicles powered by electric engines used for the transport of persons are zero rated.
Vehicles not included in the above categories, such as trucks (pick-ups), buses, vehicles carrying more than nine persons including the driver, vans other than the above, passenger vehicles powered by an electric motor, etc., are not subject to excise duty.
In order to pay the duties and taxes, you will have to complete an SAD form or employ a clearing agent for the same. In addition to the SAD you will have to produce to Customs the evidence required for the calculation of the vehicle’s customs value, i.e. the purchase price plus freight charges and insurance (if any) up to the port or airport in Cyprus. For this purpose you are requested to produce the purchase invoice, bill of lading or airway bill, or receipt for payment of the freight charges and insurance policy (if you have insured it). In addition you have to produce evidence of the vehicle’s engine capacity, if it is not shown on the invoice.
For the vehicles shown below, the import duty is differentiated according to the category, weight, engine capacity and ranges between 10% and 22%. Also the excise Duty rate mentioned is levied on the import of used vehicles after 9th September 2013. For cars listed under category A below, the Excise Duty is calculated on the basis of the mass of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (combined cycle) of each vehicle. For cars listed under category B below, the Excise Duty is calculated on the basis of each vehicle’s engine capacity.
Excise Duty:-
The following vehicles are charged with excise duties at the rate of 15% AD VALOREM
For used cars the total excise duty payable is reduced in accordance with the reduction rates as fixed in a Notice issued by the Director of Customs. To determine the reduction rates, the Director takes into consideration objective criteria, such as the age of the car, the kilometers it has travelled, its general condition, fuel type, its make and body type.
Apart from the reductions of the excise duty due to normal wear and tear of the car, for used vehicles which have been proved to cover a distance beyond the average kilometers (15000 km per year for cars fitted with petrol engines and 18000 km per year for cars fitted with diesel engines), the duty will be further reduced proportionally by a factor 0.20% per 500 km travelled beyond the average. The said reduction will not exceed 20% of the remaining balance of duty after the differentiations for normal wear and tear.
Registration:
After the payment of relevant duties and taxes the vehicle must be registered before it can be licensed for road tax purposes. According to the existing Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic legislation, a private motor vehicle can be registered in Cyprus provided its age prior to its importation is less than 5 years old, this counted from the date the vehicle was registered as new in Japan or, if the vehicle was not registered, from the date this was bought for the first time as new.
A registration fee is payable on registering a car in Cyprus and a road tax is payable annually or for a six months period. Both charges vary according to the vehicle’s weight and type of fuel consumed (petrol or diesel).
In the Republic of Cyprus, all vehicles over four years old are subject to a Department of Road Transport (DoRT) test for mechanical safety as well as emissions levels. This test must be passed every two years. The test checks emissions, brakes, suspension, steering, lights and tires among other things. It is computerized and generally takes less than an hour. Motorcycles are not subject to this test.
In order to register a vehicle in Cyprus, it must first pass the DoRT test. Once a vehicle is registered in Cyprus, owners do not receive notification from the Department of Road Transport (DoRT) when the vehicle is due for a test. Vehicle owners are responsible for ensuring the vehicle's inspection is up to date. An appointment can be made at an authorized testing station, at which time the vehicle registration document (log book) must be presented and the testing fee paid. Results of the test are electronically transmitted to the DoRT. Once a test is completed successfully the vehicle testing station issues the certificate.
Importation of right hand drive vehicles are allowed in Cyprus. However left-hand drive vehicles may also be imported if the applicant has owned the vehicle for at least 180 days before the vehicle's arrival in Cyprus and if the applicant has not lived in Cyprus for more than five years before arrival. The major ports for importing Japanese used cars are Limassol port and Larnaca port.
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