Customs, NoVA & import VAT

A car arriving from a third country meets three separate charges before it can be registered: 10 % customs duty, 20 % import VAT, and NoVA. Together they routinely add 40–60 % to a US window price, and NoVA alone can exceed the value of the car.

What gets charged

Duty is 10 % of the customs value — the purchase price plus freight and insurance to the EU border. Import VAT is 20 % of that total including the duty. Neither is negotiable and neither is where the surprises live.

NoVA is. It is calculated from the car's CO₂ figure: the rate is (CO₂ − 91) ÷ 5 percent for 2026, capped at 80 %, plus €80 for every gram above 155 g/km, less a flat €350. A 279 g/km V8 therefore carries both a 38 % rate and a five-figure surcharge.

If the car has no European CO₂ figure, NoVA is assessed on a substitute of engine power × 2. On a 335 kW car that means 670 g/km instead of 279 — the difference is more than €55,000. Getting a CO₂ value onto the paperwork is the most valuable thing we do.

What we do

• Calculate all three before you commit, itemised, in writing
• Establish the CO₂ basis and, where possible, get a real figure onto the approval instead of the substitute
• File the customs declaration and the NoVA return in your name
• Hand over the complete file — declaration, assessment, proof of payment — with the car

What it costs

Included in a full import. Booked separately for a car you have shipped yourself: from €890 plus the duties themselves, which are always passed through at cost.

Common questions