Bring a car from another EU country and there is no import duty, and no VAT either provided the car counts as used. Bring one from the UK, the United States or Japan and the starting point is 10% import duty on the landed value, then 19% VAT on top. Two things remove those charges. Proof that the vehicle originates in the UK or the EU takes the duty to zero under the post-Brexit trade agreement, and transfer of residence relief removes duty and VAT together if you are genuinely moving here and have owned the car for at least six months. Excise duty no longer enters the sum at all.
Excise duty on cars was abolished in 2019
Guides written before 2019 quote a separate excise charge calculated on CO2 emissions. It is gone. The excise legislation on motor vehicles was amended by Law 39(I)/2019, published in the Official Gazette No. 4693, and since 22 March 2019 no excise duty is imposed on any motor vehicle transported or imported into Cyprus.
That leaves three possible costs: import duty (third countries only), VAT, and the Road Transport Department's registration fee of €150.
Coming from another EU member state
Goods in free circulation in the EU move without further customs duty, but you have to prove the car qualifies. Customs will accept a T2L or T2LF document, or the number plates together with the original registration certificate issued by the previous member state. You submit those with an application for verification of the customs status of Union goods. Fail to produce them and the importation is classed as arriving from a third country, with duty and VAT to match.
Once status is verified, clearance must be completed at any District Customs Office within 10 working days. For a used passenger car, Customs also wants the original foreign registration certificate and a CO2 emissions certificate issued by the Road Transport Department on form TOM 119A.
VAT is where people get caught. Only a "new means of transport" is taxable on arrival from another member state, and a car counts as used only if it satisfies both conditions: more than six months have passed since its first registration, and it has covered more than 6,000 kilometres. A three-month-old car with 4,000 kilometres on the clock is new for this purpose and attracts Cypriot VAT at 19%, even though VAT was already paid abroad. The rate and its exceptions are set out in our guide to VAT in Cyprus.
There is a concession for people relocating. Where a car moves from another member state as part of a transfer of normal residence and fails the six-month test, no Cypriot VAT arises so long as you can prove VAT was paid in the state of origin. The purchase invoice showing the VAT amount is the usual evidence.
Coming from the UK or another third country
Every vehicle imported from outside the EU, new or used, is liable to import duty and VAT. The duty rates come from the EU's common tariff:
| Vehicle | Import duty |
|---|---|
| Passenger cars, new or used | 10% |
| Commercial vehicles | 10% to 22% |
| Motorcycles up to 250cc | 8% |
| Motorcycles over 250cc | 6% |
Duty is calculated on the customs value, meaning the purchase price plus transport and insurance to the port of entry. VAT at 19% is then charged on the customs value plus the duty, so it compounds.
For UK cars, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides zero tariffs on goods originating in either party. To claim it you need a statement on origin drawn up by the exporter or the manufacturer, or you rely on "importer's knowledge" and produce the evidence yourself. The rule for motor vehicles in Annex 3 of the agreement is value-based, so what matters is where the car was made and what proportion of its value is non-originating, not where it was last registered. A car assembled in Britain can qualify. A Japanese-built car that spent five years on a British driveway generally will not, and the 10% applies.
Clearance runs on a SAD form supported by the purchase invoice, the bill of lading or air waybill, and receipts for freight and insurance. A used car needs the original registration certificate from the country of export; a new one needs the EC Certificate of Conformity.
Transfer of residence relief
If you are moving your normal residence to Cyprus from outside the EU, you can bring one private car free of import duty and VAT. The conditions are strict and Customs applies them literally:
- 1You must hold a valid driving licence, and the relief covers one vehicle per person.
- 2You must have owned and used the car at your former home for at least the six months before you ceased to be resident there.
- 3You must have had your normal residence outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months before the move.
- 4The car must enter free circulation within 12 months of you establishing residence in the EU. It can arrive up to six months earlier, but then you commit to completing the move within six months and lodge a security with the Director of Customs.
The six-month use test is the one that sinks applications. Customs requires proof that you and the car were in the same country at the same time. Periods when you were away, when the vehicle had already been handed to the shipping company, or when its road tax or insurance had been cancelled do not count towards the six months.
After clearance there is a lock-in. Property admitted duty-free cannot be lent, pledged, hired out or transferred until 12 months have passed from customs clearance, and then only with the approval of the Director of Customs and Excise. Sell inside that window and the duty and VAT you avoided become payable.
In practice you complete form Απ. 2 with your evidence, clear the car on a SAD accompanied by form C.104O, and Customs issues form C72A, which goes to the Road Transport Department with the vehicle for inspection and registration. If the claim is refused you can pay the duty and VAT, warehouse the car, send it to another member state, or export it.
Getting it on Cyprus plates
Customs clearance is half the job. The Road Transport Department registers the vehicle, and the registration fee is €150.
For a used car imported from the EU it asks for form TOM 6A signed by a technician at a district vehicle inspection office, form TEL 72A from Customs where required, the purchase invoice or packing list bearing two stamps of €1.71, a roadworthiness certificate from an authorised test centre, a CO2 emissions certificate (form TOM 119, applied for on form 118), the foreign registration certificate with a Press and Information Office translation if it is not in Greek or English, and insurance. Left-hand-drive vehicles need Single Vehicle Approval on form TOM 139B. Cyprus drives on the left, so a British or Japanese car is the easy case here and a continental European one is the awkward one, which is the reverse of what most people assume. Our guide to driving in Cyprus covers licences and annual road tax.
Two warnings. The Customs Department says the Road Transport Department applies restrictions to registering vehicles imported from outside the EU, and advises importers to ask before shipping whether a particular car can be registered here at all. A car stranded at Limassol port earns storage charges while you argue. And the first circulation licence runs only to the following June or December; leave one unrenewed for a year and 70 days and the registration is cancelled, with the arrears converting into a civil debt.
Classic cars are treated separately: over 30 years old, with a FIVA certificate on top of the usual used-vehicle paperwork.
If you are only visiting
A person whose normal residence is outside the EU can bring a private car in temporarily without duty or tax for up to six months in a year, consecutive or not, using form C.104O, which stays in the vehicle. It must be for your own private use and cannot be lent, sold, pledged or rented while it is here. Students and people posted here for a fixed-duration task get longer, and someone awaiting a decision on relief may usually keep using the car for up to a month.
Run the numbers before booking the shipper
Take a car with a customs value of €20,000 after freight and insurance, imported from the UK without proof of origin. Duty is €2,000 and VAT is 19% of €22,000, or €4,180, so €6,180 before shipping and registration. With a valid statement on origin the duty goes and VAT drops to €3,800. With transfer of residence relief, both go.
Against that, a car bought locally already carries Cyprus plates, a current roadworthiness certificate and a tax record you can check before paying. Shipping earns its cost on a car you already own and mean to keep, rarely on one you were going to replace anyway. If a move is on the cards, read this alongside our checklist on moving to Cyprus from the UK.
Had a relief claim refused, or a car sitting at the port? Browse the directory for a lawyer who handles customs and administrative challenges, or start with a litigation and disputes firm in Limassol. Figures and rules here reflect the position in August 2026; confirm the current position with Customs, the Road Transport Department or a qualified Cyprus lawyer before you ship.