Moving from South Africa to the UK, whether you are coming home or arriving for the first time, the car can feel like an expensive gamble. Will it be taxed, will it need work, and how long will you be without it? From South Africa the answers tend to be kind. The car is right-hand drive, the crossing is a regular one, and there are two different ways it might come in tax free.
The shipping route itself is covered in our guide to shipping a car from South Africa. This page is about fitting the car into the move.
- Usual port
- Cape Town
- Shipping time
- 4 to 6 weeks
- Guide shipping price
- From £1,975
- Tax if you are moving
- Often nil
Two routes to no tax
Most people moving home qualify for Transfer of Residence, the HMRC relief for people moving their home to the UK. Some have a second option: if the car started life in the UK and went out to South Africa, it may come back tax free as a returning UK car, under what GOV.UK calls Returned Goods Relief. Work out which applies before anything else, because it changes the paperwork.
| Feature | Transfer of Residence | Returning UK car |
|---|---|---|
| Who it suits | Anyone moving their home to the UK | A UK car you took out with you |
| Key conditions | 12 months living abroad, 6 months owning the car | Original UK purchase invoice and old V5C |
| Time limit | Car arrives within 12 months of your move | Normally back within 3 years of export |
| Apply | HMRC form ToR1, before the car ships | Tell us on the quote form it was UK registered |
If neither fits, a car from South Africa pays 20% import VAT and 10% duty on its value plus the shipping. A car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty. Our guides to Transfer of Residence and bringing a UK car back home go into each route.
Find the old UK paperwork now. If your car was first registered here, the original purchase invoice and V5C are what make a tax-free return possible. They are much easier to find before the house is packed than after.
Transfer of Residence in practice
You need to have lived outside the UK for at least 12 months in a row, owned and used the car for at least 6 months, and be moving here to live for at least the next 12 months. The car has to arrive within 12 months of your move.
You apply to HMRC online with form ToR1, before the car ships, and HMRC gives you a reference. We put it on the customs declaration to clear the car tax free. Our customers get guides to help with the form.
Your ToR evidence
0 of 6 done
Keep one bill running in your name until you have applied, and use exactly the same name on every document. If the car is going ahead of you, the form asks whether your goods will be shipped before you move, and the answer is yes.
Before you leave South Africa
You do not need to drive the car to the docks. We can arrange the inland trucking from your address to the port, so it can be collected from Johannesburg, Pretoria or anywhere else. Most cars leave from Cape Town, and Durban, Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), East London and Richards Bay are options too.
The South African side
0 of 8 done
The 6-month rule is the one that catches people. A car bought shortly before the move will not qualify for ToR and pays tax at the normal rates, so buy early or buy here. Our guide to preparing your car for shipping covers the rest of the prep.
How the weeks fall
The crossing itself is around 15 to 25 days. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for the shipping stage once loading, sailing schedules and the trip to our site are added. Customs at each end can take from a few days to a week or more.
-
Months before
Choose the tax route
ToR or a returning UK car. Then get a quote and fix a collection date.
-
Before it ships
ToR reference
Apply on form ToR1 and send us the reference, if ToR is your route.
-
Collection
Trucking and loading
We arrange trucking to the port, usually Cape Town, where the car goes into a shared container.
-
4 to 6 weeks
Shipping
Around 15 to 25 days at sea, then the container comes to our site.
-
On arrival
Customs and NOVA
Our own in-house agents make the customs entry and tell HMRC the car has arrived.
-
At our site
Changes, test, plates
Usually a rear fog light and an mph speedo, an IVA or MOT, then DVLA registration within 10 working days of a pass.
Little to change
South Africa drives on the left, so the car is right-hand drive and the headlights already dip the right way. The usual changes are a rear fog light, the most common job, and a speedometer in mph on cars under 10 years old.
A car under 10 years old takes an IVA test, and one between 10 and 40 years old an MOT. A car over 40 needs no MOT, so it can be delivered straight to your UK address. Shipping a Car is part of My Car Import, and we run one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain, so the car is changed and tested on one site.
The first months in the UK
If the car lands before you have somewhere to put it, it can wait. We can store it at our premises in Castle Donington until it is registered and you are ready to collect it, or we deliver it.
Until it is registered, taxed and insured, the car cannot be used on a public road, apart from driving to a pre-booked test. GOV.UK says you can be prosecuted otherwise. Have insurance ready for the day it is registered, and our guide to insuring an imported car will help.
If the car came in under ToR, one rule runs for 12 months after your move. It cannot be sold, lent, hired out or used as security, or the VAT and duty can become payable.
What it costs
As a guide, built from a year of real jobs, shipping a car from South Africa starts from around £1,975. That is shipping only. It excludes registration, other services, import tax and any remedial work. The import tax calculator gives a rough tax figure if neither relief fits, and shipping costs compares routes.
Questions people ask
Do I pay import tax when moving from South Africa to the UK with my car?
Not if you qualify for Transfer of Residence, or if the car was originally a UK car and you have its UK purchase invoice and old V5C. Otherwise it is usually 20% VAT and 10% duty on the value plus shipping.
My car was bought in the UK and taken to South Africa. Can it come back tax free?
It may. A car that was originally from the UK can come back tax free with its original UK purchase invoice and the old V5C logbook. GOV.UK normally wants it back within 3 years of export, so check the dates, and if it has been longer, look at Transfer of Residence instead.
How long does it take to ship a car from South Africa?
Around 4 to 6 weeks for the shipping stage, of which about 15 to 25 days is at sea. Customs, changes, testing and registration follow.
Do I have to take the car to Cape Town myself?
No. We can arrange the inland trucking from your address to the port.
What if the car arrives before I have a UK address?
We can store it at our premises in Castle Donington until it is registered and you are ready for it.
Got your dates? Send us the car and the moving date on the quote form and we will work out the right route for it.
