chandi

We had a reply from DIT and they definately use the date you acquired the vehicle. So in my case they said I can apply anytime from the 17/03/2013 onwards. Does anyone know of any other reasons they might refuse approval as I am going to leave my car in the uk pending approval.

In spite of the vehicle not being officially registered in your name yet?? Would you mind quoting the reply if it was an email?

I am quoting what i was told here:

Q. For the purpose of satisfying the minimal length of ownership ofthe vehicle, does ownership begin from the date of purchase (wherethe date of registration is two weeks later), as shown on the dealer'sinvoice?

A. The 12 months will start from date of registration.

 

It sounds as though you are on good footing with your application if they have asked for additional time and you are able to meet that request so you should get it through. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Yes, that is true for my wife's car, since we had it for almost 2yrs. Just submitted the application for that last week. The issue is with my car, and will let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the tips and info.

Keep in mind that most people are not moving to Australia on the exact day they have owned a vehicle for 12 months so it's not a really common scenario and it could raise an eyebrow and cause them to look into the paperwork a little harder. When you are cutting things this close it's always a good idea to call or email the DIT to give details of your specific situation and get advice from them to avoid any surprises.

I did check with DIT some time back and they are the ones who said overseas travel time needs to be compensated for. (However,

I was referring to my wife's case which was a 3month+ absence due to labour). When I mentioned their brochure "Importing Vehicles to Australia"(VSB10) has an example of an applicant who qualifies for the permit "in spite of infrequent use", I was told to mention that when

I apply! (which means I won't get a clarification before that)

Anyway, I emailed them today and asked how it works in my case. Let's see what they have to say.

I have not heard of anyone needing to stay longer to make up for time spent out of the UK unless it was more than a fair amount of time spend abroad and/or not considered to be a normal vacation.

The problem with this observation is, like you have pointed out, most people don't cut things this close, and thus they have some extra time to compensate for a few short trips. Hence, they will never know.

Traveling is not a real issue as long as its reasonable holiday or work travel and you can provide information to that effect, as long as it appears that you live and work in the UK and don't fly around the world more than anyone else would. So ducking over to France for a weekend would be no trouble, but going for a month could alter their decision on your application.

Obviously if you are cutting it fine on the 12 month qualifying period then they will be looking at your application more closely than most so it's always best to include a detailed cover letter and any other details of frequent or prolonged travel out of the UK during the qualifying period (letters from your employer if travel was for work, even photos to prove that your 3 weeks in Italy was a family holiday!)

 

 

Hi, thanks a lot for the elaborate reply. Just need to confirm: when you say "no trouble", do you mean they wouldn't ask for compensation with extra time (in the UK in your example)? I have done two trips, 7days(to Melb for visa activation) and 12days(baby born overseas) each...It would mean a lot if i didn't need to. But again, we'll only know for sure by applying and then it would be too late?

Hello Jo,

 

You must have owned the car and lived overseas with it for at least 12 months, so on 17/03/2013 you will qualify. You can't submit your application until the 12 month qualifying time, and you can submit your application up to 6 months after arrival in Australia so as long as you leave the UK after the 12 months then you will have time to get the application submitted after you arrive in Australia - as long as you have someone who can look after the car in the UK after you leave.

 

I hope this clarifies the situation and gives you the good news you wanted.

 

Best wishes,

 

Craig

Hi! I know this is what DIT will tell you if you ask them, but hypothetically, would it not be possible for Jo to apply, say, one month before he qualifies, anticipating the processing (waiting) time? Or would they actually need the passport copies taken after the end of the "qualifying period"?

In this kind of borderline case, it is pretty risky to move before they give the ok coz there is no coming back.

Factors that might affect the ultimate decision :

1. International travel that wasn't compensated for (Jo> yes, they ask for that(*), which means no more travel for you

till you relocate if you need to stick with the given schedule!)

2. Date of purchase is earlier than the date of registration, and the date of purchase was used for calculating the

qualifying period by the client (but DIT would start counting from the date of registration (?))

* This has affected my plans a lot, and I am pretty pissed off coz they never mentioned compensation.

I am drafting a letter of objection right now about this, and would love to have more signatures on it.

Jo> Please PM/email me and lets talk about it.

^^^Correct, just put current UK value, they'll re-value it here anyway.

Is that so ALL the time? At least for SEVs, I heard they don't revalue unless the invoice is at an unreasonably low price??

So in a nutshell, if i buy a new car i will get hammered for tax and duties, just not worth the extra costs.....................................

 

If i take my current car, due to satisfying the qualifying period, it would be more cost effective, but i will still pay taxes and import duties.

 

 

 

 

Hi there, it's not just a tax issue, you just won't be "qualified" to import anything other than what you've owned for more than 12 months, Period.

Exception: Vehicles on the list below may be imported under a special license.

http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/sevs/sevsindex.htm

 

For personal imports these days, Customs will ALWAYS request an independent valuation. It's the fairest method for all concerned. For what it's worth, an independent valuation generally comes in a good deal below the market value - if they didn't they'd never get any work

 

Aha! I guess I'd have to do some research on these 'experts' when the time comes. Thanks again for enlightening me in time!

 

Note in example one that the owner had owned the car for 18 months? They don't say it on the site, but they basically add the time spent abroad on to the 12 month qualifying period. So in the case of the US pilot, he would've needed to be back in the US for 12 months in total since he purchased the car before he was eligible to bring the car over.

 

 

Yeah, I totally get that. That's why I am not going to bet much on that. However, if one wishes to challenge them (I don't think I am), I believe there is considerable legal ground, as this is a hypothetical example meant for enlightening importers and thus should have been unambiguous.

ie. they should have explicitly stated the pilot was in the US for a total of 12 months.

"Infrequent use" doesn't suggest 12/18 AND "despite" implies they don't even care how infrequent.

btw, US immigration doesn't stamp the passport at departure last time I checked. 'wonder how they get around that.

Personal imports will almost certainly be revalued once they arrive in Australia. The method for calculating customs value is fairly convoluted, but it's generally a good deal lower than the market value.

 

 

This is another tricky one. On the one hand, customs.gov.au says "transaction value" (purchase price) is the first priority in determining the value of goods. Howvever, it is apparently not used when "The importer cannot demonstrate that the purchase took place for the sole purpose of exporting the road vehicle to Australia, an example to illustrate this is when the exported road vehicle has been used overseas prior to making the decision to export it to Australia".

While this is generally reasonable, time usually devalues vehicles, thus using a purchase price from an year earlier only makes it unfair by the importer. If the importer does not mind this, replacing this value with an even higher one sounds a bit absurd. I checked this with a friend who did a personal import from Japan 3-4yrs ago, who says he used a 5yr old invoice at the time. No questions asked.

Is customs getting harder to deal with recently too? Common sense says a very low invoice might raise some eyebrows. I'd hope a reasonable invoice would pass safely and we wouldn't have to pay for an 'expert' (and almost certainly higher) appraisal.

http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/ValuationImportedRoadVehicles.pdf

Hey Iron Chef, Thanks a lot for the quick replies!

Ok, I'm having to make a few assumptions about your circumstances, but here goes...

 

1. I'm very sure about it - if your wife is away from the car for 3 months, that time will not be part of her 12-month qualifying period. She must be in the same country as the car and provide evidence that she has been driving around in it.

 

 

This (quite unforeseen) issue pretty much ruins the plan for us, so I rang DIT to find out more. Firstly, you were spot on about it, but when I insisted that there web explanations/examples do not necessarily suggest so (*), thay asked me to quote that in my application. (I wouldn't be placing any bets on that working out right though)

Alternatively, we could switch cars when we apply (no problem as long as we have a marriage certificate), and my wife could claim 12 months for the Z4 we had from last year. This is probably what I would do, but would still love to have them go easy on short visits overseas as I may be away for 2-3wks when our baby comes (perfectly reasonable excuse imho!).

Must say that DIT seemed an ok place to call and discuss your situation, and they're much amiable than, say, centrelink! Of course, not a substitute for insider info from Iron Chef though.

(*)

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/importing_vehicles/general/EligibilityCriteria_2.aspx#five

Ex1: The applicant qualifies under the Personal Imports Scheme to import the car into Australia, despite the infrequent use of the vehicle in the U.S.

hi i too am very confused. have completed the import approval application form, and am struggling to get the required documents.

we have been granted our visa, have got our house up for sale now, but unfortunately no interested buyer yet. we havent handed in our notice on our jobs yet as not looking to go till our house has sold. when we do finally get over there we will be staying with my family until we get ourselves sorted with house, jobs etc.

i have had a shipping company come and give me a quote. not enrolled my daughter in school yet, not set up bank accounts/medicare or anything else on the list.

 

i have copied the visa grant notice (does this give u any points). also copies of insurance documents, receipts for work done on car. we have had the car for 2 and a half yrs. registration document, copy of quote from shipping company, copy of brochure of my house for sale, driving licence, passport.

 

can anyone please help me and tell me is there any point applying for this import approval at this time, i wanted to get this damm thing out of the way so i could concentrate on all the other things i have to do before we emigrate.

many thanks nicola

 

ps. kristian if you are reading this, we want you to do the paperwork side of things for us, just in the middle of getting various quotes for shipping. gonna send the car on RORO. well thats if i can pass the points.

Hi, I fully understand your situation. The only way out if you need to apply now is:

1.Apply for a bank account online and try to get a TFN (25 each)

2. get at least one of the 50 point docs.

If your house doesn't sell soon, a rental contract from someone in Oz is the best shot in my opinion, even family should be fine (but please check with DIT beforehand)

Visa grant letter doesn't seem to count. The problem is that this scheme is not specifically intended for migrants.

Hi Iron Chef,

Great thread and I learnt a lot from it. 'figured I'd ask your opinion as you seem to have experience importing from JP as well.

I have owned a Z4 for a year now and recently purchased a Merc E500 and registered in wife's name, both in Japan. We plan to move as soon as the Merc's done its one year, and are planning to import both vehicles. The Z4 should be fine, but there are a few complications with the Merc.

1. My wife is going to be out of Japan for ~3months when she is to deliver at home in Thailand this winter. I believed this was acceptable as long as her residency was deemed to be in Japan. However, I saw your comment somewhere in the thread to the effect that absences have to be compensated with time from previous year. The DIT explanations do not necessarily suggest so. Are you sure about this?

2. My wife drives with an international drivers license in Japan, which would cease to be valid if she were not to go to Thailand. However, if she were to stay outside Japan for 3 months, she could use a new intl license for another year upon return, under Japanese law. Thus, technically she would be able to drive while she is in Japan. Would DIT understand this?

3. We prefer to move as early as possible in May2012 due to other involvements. Disregarding #1, would the Merc be eligible for import if we deregister exactly one year from the date it was bought, but 11 days short of the registration date? (After all, the condition is 1year ownership)

However, it wasn't registered to anyone at the time of purchase, meaning it wasn't "roadworthy" at the time, even thought this is not obvious from the reg. docs.

4. Last, but not least, what's your take on these two cars' market in Aussie?

I've done my homework, and given that I bought them dirt cheap, I plan to make some profit. Frankly, the price difference is too good to be true, so it would be really nice to know if there are any unforeseen glitches in importing German cars from Japan...

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

SUMMARY

 

Australian Dollar to UK Pound 0.6493

UK Value of Car £12,500

AUS Street Value $29,000

AUS Customs Valuation of Car @65% $18,850

 

 

 

I wonder what kind of valuation method was used here.

Was the UK invoice not available..? and where did 65% spring out from?

Any ideas anyone?

Hi Iron Chief

 

We too are in a dilema whether to import our car. Its a 2003 Porsche 911 Turbo with 45k miles. We paid 34k for it 6 months ago but we are not likely to hit aussie shores for another 12 months. Is it worth paying all the import tax (as we don't seem to be able to get a rough estimate of how much tax it will cost once landed) or should we think about selling it in the UK? Any thoughts??

 

Thanks

 

John

PS I like the GTR 34 track car you have on your site & could be tempted with similar if you can find one when we land :-)

Hi, I think its definitely worth it (provided its right hand drive!).

I was looking for a 2003 996, but couldn't find a RH here in Japan.

Please check the customs site for tax details:

http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4371.asp

You's have topay roughly 15.5% on the CIF value.

However, if the after tax value > AUD57,466 at the exchange rate when you are importing, a luxury car tax of 33% would be payabale on the amount exceeding 57k.

^^They do show a bit of leniency with registration when it's husband/wife situations like this.

 

When should I apply for import approval? As soon as you've met the criteria for importing, or as soon as you have your visa. DON'T make the mistake of waiting until you're about to come over to Australia! Our government has a long history of making running changes to legislation without letting anyone know.

 

On the DIT website you'll see something written about 17 working day turnaround times - this is rubbish, expect up to 5 or 6 weeks. The section that processes applications is terminally (and in my opinion deliberately) understaffed, and you see that the 17 day processing time doesn't include peak periods, and they always manage to find a reason for slower processing (at the moment, it's the strong AUD v USD making everyone buy US cars...)

Thanks a lot for the info, Iron Chef. I am particularly interested in applying early. While DIT says one could apply before leaving, it doesn't specify how long before the date of arrival in Oz is allowed. Could I apply one year in advance (just after the car purchase) if I can get the 100 points worth of documents to prove intention to move?

Also, they ask for the date of arriving in Australia. Would I have a problem if the actual date of arrival is different by a few days?