Reimporting a car

Moe_The_Bartender

I have a Honda CRV first registered in the UK in 2007 which I exported to Greece in 2011. I will be bring it back to the UK next month and it will not leave the UK again. It is taxed until 31st December,  MOT'd until 23rd August and insured until the 30th September in Greece. I have another car in the UK and intend to dispose of the Honda fairly quickly. I will need to deregister the car in Greece before the MOT expires.

According to the DVLA website, I must notify HMRC as soon as the car returns to the UK but don’t understand why I would need to do this. There are thousands of foreign registered vehicles on UK roads which as I understand it can legally remain here for six months. For all the DVLA know, I may just be a visitor who will be taking the car out of the country again. I must be missing something here but I am not sure what it is.

Can anyone tell me what I need to do, if anything?

AdrianC

Moe_The_Bartender said:

According to the DVLA website, I must notify HMRC as soon as the car returns to the UK but don’t understand why I would need to do this. There are thousands of foreign registered vehicles on UK roads which as I understand it can legally remain here for six months.

Yes, they are temporary imports, while you are considering a permanent import.

Temporary imports do not require re-registering onto UK plates, and can be used by non-residents so long as they are legal in the home country.
Permanent imports do require UK registering.
UK residents cannot drive foreign-registered vehicles in the UK except in very limited circumstances.

When your Honda left the UK, I presume you notified DVLA of the permanent export with the V5C/4 blue slip? Then you used the rest of the V5C to register it in Greece?
So it has been removed from the UK registration record.
Put the plate into https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ - does it say "Export marker: Yes"?

When you bring it back, you need to get a NOVA from HMRC within 14 days to confirm there's no VAT and duty (there won't be - it was paid when it was new, and not reclaimed on export). Then you need to go through the V55/5 registration process.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-a-used-vehicle-for-the-first-time-v555
No, it's not "for the first time" in its life, but it is the first time since it was deregistered here...

greyteam1959

Surely you would better selling the car in Greece than bringing it back to the UK ??
The costs are going to far outweigh the value of the vehicle.

Moe_The_Bartender

I need to bring the car back as I have a wife, two dogs and a load of stuff to bring back. And there’s no market here for a UK spec car.

jimbo6977

The main problem you will have is that if you are British you are not allowed to drive a foreign-registered vehicle in the UK.
So once at Dover / Folkestone / Harwich / wherever, you are in the strict legal sense a bit stuck. If your wife is Greek or either of you holds another passport, this would probably help.

Moe_The_Bartender

My wife and I hold Greek licences. What law says I can’t drive my car in the UK.

AdrianC

Moe_The_Bartender said:

My wife and I hold Greek licences. What law says I can’t drive my car in the UK.

Nothing to do with your country of licence.

EVERYTHING to do with your country of RESIDENCE. If you are UK resident, you cannot drive a temporarily-imported foreign-registered car legally. It must be UK registered.

BTW, once it's deregistered in Greece, you can't drive it legally anywhere until it's UK registered, either. Drive it back, then do the Greek end of the paperwork.

Grey_Critic

It will also need an MOT as the Greek one will not be valid here in the UK

Moe_The_Bartender

AdrianC said:

Moe_The_Bartender said:

My wife and I hold Greek licences. What law says I can’t drive my car in the UK.

Nothing to do with your country of licence.

EVERYTHING to do with your country of RESIDENCE. If you are UK resident, you cannot drive a temporarily-imported foreign-registered car legally. It must be UK registered.

BTW, once it's deregistered in Greece, you can't drive it legally anywhere until it's UK registered, either. Drive it back, then do the Greek end of the paperwork.

Thanks, Adrian, but I think your first response answered my question. The point about residence is correct but I had to prove residence in Greece in order to get a Greek licence. I could not legally retain a UK licence if I was not living there. 

AdrianC

Yes, you could. You can be resident in the UK and hold any country's licence - up to a year for most of the world, until 70 or expiry for EU licences (still).