Hello all,

I know there's a lot of inrofmation on this subject. I've done some research but as it's very complicated I was hoping someone who's done it could help me.

I am a British citizen who bought a new motorcycle in Florida, and registered it in my name to a Florida address. I'm now tentatively thinking about shipping it back home to the UK.

I've got a couple of quotes from USA shipping companies (approx 1000 dollars).

My question is really about registering the bike in the UK. It looks like I have to pay VAT. Is that 20% of the value of the bike? If so this makes it very expensive and I will probably sell it in California instead.

Are there any other hidden fees? It's very difficult to find port collection fee information but I think it will be about £150.

Anyways it's all very confusing so any help anyone can give would be greatly appriciated

Cheers

Ben, here's some info I got from the very helpful Kathy last year that might help you decide

Hello Colin,

To bring a new(ish) motorcycle in to the UK incurs VAT at the standard rate (currently 20%), as well as import duty at the following rates (based on the engine size of the motorcycle):

250cc or smaller 8% duty
251cc or higher 6% duty

The import duty and VAT are based on the value of the bike as per the bill of sale (or invoice) that you will receive when you buy the bike, as well as a very small percentage of the freight costs. A copy of the bill of sale is presented to customs in the UK and they calculate the import duty and VAT due from this.

The current exchange rate of US dollar to GB £ is about 1.6:1, so if you buy a 650cc motorcycle valued at US $6,000 you would pay approximately GB £975 in import duty and VAT. Obviously this is subject to exchange rate fluctuations etc.

Ball figures (based on current rates)

Seafreight from Los Angeles to the UK: GB £775 per motorcycle.
The bikes would usually come back to Felixstowe, and this price includes customs formalities in the USA, seafreight to the UK and customs formalities in the UK. You can then collect the bikes from the port, or we can arrange onward delivery to an address of your choice if you would prefer.

Transit insurance is not included, and we can organise this for 2% of (the value of the bikes + the cost of the freight) for the return journey.

I hope this helps, any other questions please let me know.

All the best,

Kathy Wood
Moto Freight Ltd
kathy@motofreight.com
T +44 (0)845 2417055
M +44 (0)7730221201
International Motorcycle Shipping and Transport - Moto Freight

Thanks very much, that's helpful.

Sadly the VAT makes it too expensive to ship the bikes home so we'll have to sell them, sad times!

If anyone wants to buy 2 Kawasaki Ninja 300 ABS SE in California let me know!

Thank you very much,Helpful info