VATNINMT5300 - Purchasing a new means of transport in an EU member state and bringing it to Northern Ireland: acquisitions by unregistered persons

Acquirers of motorised land vehicles are required to notify the acquisition of vehicles to HMRC using the Notification of Vehicle Arrival (NOVA) system.

Acquisitions of ships and aircraft must still be notified using the VAT 415. Please note the notification period is 14 days, the same as for the NOVA system.

General

NOVA will determine whether any VAT is due on the acquired land vehicle and will notify the acquirer as well as providing details on how to pay the VAT.

In all other cases HMRC does not require payment with notification; rather it will issue a written demand notifying the amount of VAT due, with 30 days allowed to pay that demand.

Such transactions are dealt with by the PTU and will not normally involve any business centre action unless the level of acquisitions is such as to indicate a liability to register for VAT. Further information on this is given in Section 3 of Notice 728 New means of transport.

The tax is due on acquisition whether or not the vehicle is registered or intended to be used on the public roads in the UK. This was decided in the tribunal case of Martyn Ferguson Jones (VTD17512). Mr Jones purchased a car in Germany and drove it to the UK on temporary German plates; the vehicle was left with a garage in the UK to sell on his behalf, which it was, to a buyer in Hong Kong to where it was exported. The vehicle was never registered and never ‘used’ in the UK.