The military anger of the Russian Federation brought a lot of harm to our people. Fleeing from hostilities, people left everything in order to escape and continue to live. Many of our citizens, fleeing the war, left their own cars right on the road, often when leaving hot spots, the Russian military fired at civilian cars. In this regard, many in Ukraine were left without cars.
That is why the government made changes to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts to improve legislation for the period of martial law. In particular, the so-called zero customs clearance has been introduced when buying a car abroad. This innovation is due to the fact that many Ukrainians lost their vehicles due to the war, and the budget for which they could purchase a new car is usually limited. Therefore, for the period of martial law, the government removed the tax burden from Ukrainians when importing cars into Ukraine from abroad. What does it mean?
Earlier, before 04/01/2022 (it was from this day that the above changes began to take effect), when buying and importing a car into Ukraine, the owner had to clear it through customs, that is, pay all taxes and register the vehicle in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine. Now for the period of martial law (today – until 05:30 am on May 25, 2022, but can be extended by the Decree of the President of Ukraine), if you purchase a car abroad, in particular on the territory of the European Union, and no later than register it in Ukraine in 10 days, according to Art. 69.24 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, you are exempt from paying value added tax and excise tax. And according to Art. 911 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, you are also exempt from paying import duties.
It should be noted that the procedure for importing a vehicle is simple, but before buying and transporting a car to the territory of Ukraine, I advise you to familiarize yourself with such nuances.
- Who can import a car under “zero customs clearance ” and can it be any vehicle?
According to Art. 69.24 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, are exempted from taxation by value added tax, excise tax on import operations by individuals into the customs territory of Ukraine:
passenger cars;
bodies for cars, trailers and semi-trailers;
motorcycles;
vehicles designed to carry 10 people or more;
vehicles for the carriage of goods in the customs regime of imports.
“Zero customs clearance ” applies to all cars imported into the territory of our state both for personal needs and for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, such benefits do not apply when importing a car from Russia, since, according to Art. 69.25 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, exemption from taxation does not apply to operations on the import into the customs territory of Ukraine under the customs regime of import of goods originating from a country recognized by the occupying state and / or the aggressor state in relation to Ukraine by law or imported from the territory of the occupying state (aggressor) or the occupied territory of Ukraine, defined as such by law.
I also note that, in accordance with Art. 69.23 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, are exempted from taxation with value added tax of operations for the importation of goods into the customs territory of Ukraine in the customs regime of import by business entities registered as single tax payers of groups 1, 2 and 3, except for individuals and legal entities who have chosen a single tax rate of 3% income.
It is also important to remember that travel outside Ukraine is limited for men aged 18 to 60, so before you travel, find out if you can legally cross the border. At the same time, no limit has been set yet on how many cars a person can bring “at a discount”.
Please note that buses converted from vehicles intended to perform other functions are not allowed for state registration, with the exception of such buses registered before April 1, 2008. Also, buses produced on the basis of vehicle chassis that were in operation. State registration and dismantled vehicles are not allowed (except for the cases of their culling as a whole). Dismantled vehicles are those that lack one or more components of the identification number (body, chassis, frame, engine).
It is also important to remember that the car meets the Euro-2 environmental standard (if the car has already been in use) or Euro=5 (if the car is new).
- Import procedure and required documents
First of all, you need to take:
biometric passport;
driver’s license;
internal passport of Ukraine in the form of a booklet or id – card;
certificate of assignment of RNOKPP.
Also, please note that now 10 thousand euros can be transported to the EU countries without declaring per person, so take care to put money on the card account. In case of exceeding the limit, you can take another person with you to share the budget for buying a car with him or declare funds.
Abroad, when importing a car into Ukraine, you need to collect the following documents:
a contract of sale or other document under which the vehicle was transferred to you (contract of donation, exchange);
vehicle registration certificate, i.e. registration certificate;
certificate of deregistration of the car;
certificate of technical inspection;
certificate of conformity (not required if the vehicle registration certificate (registration certificate) indicates the environmental standard to which it complies);
export declaration.
I note that the list of documents may differ depending on the country from which you import the car, so in each case you should study this issue in detail.
Customs clearance of the car will take place directly at the checkpoint at the state border crossing. During its crossing, the vehicle will be declared in the import mode, while customs payments will not be paid.
After that, you must contact the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and register the car in accordance with applicable law. This requires the following documents:
vehicle registration certificate obtained at the regional customs;
customs declaration;
vehicle registration certificate (registration certificate);
certificate of conformity for registration;
transit numbers.
- Is there really nothing to pay?
Many people mistakenly believe that “zero customs clearance ” means generally free import of a car into the territory of Ukraine. However, it is not. It will be necessary to pay services for registering a vehicle at the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as a tax to the Pension Fund, which varies from 3% to 5% of the cost of a car without VAT:
up to UAH 409,365 – 3% of the cost;
409 365.01–719 490 UAH – 4% of the cost;
more than 719 490 UAH – 5% of the cost.
Upon completion of the entire import procedure, the owner must receive a vehicle registration certificate and Ukrainian license plates.
Thus, analyzing the innovations outlined, the benefits and savings are obvious. In particular, in connection with the hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, the purchase of cars has become more complicated due to inactive demand and inappropriate offers, so buying a car in the EU and bringing it to Ukraine is an excellent option that will save about 25-30% of funds