Tax Avoidance

[WildBill2566]

I have over time bought quite a few spares from Guernsey, and I had a bit of a seminal moment.

Anyone know why I wouldnt be able to buy a new HD from Guernsey and avoid VAT.

I know there will be a reason, but then again one never knows;)

[BaZa®]

I reckon because you would have to have a permanent address there to register the bike. Then if you did have you could use it over here on their plates and their islands insurance.

So what do you do if you pull over a Polish/Guernsey/French/Spanish/ reg plate car/bike?

[WildBill2566]

I assume then that as soon as I re-registered it over here I would be hit by the tax again

[Chiefy]

Yep, as soon as you try to register the bike the VRO or whatever it's called now will need to see import docs and reciept from C&E.

I'm sure there's also a time limit for foreign plated vehicles before you have to re-reg it but I'm not sure how long it is.

When I bought my truck back from Dubai the local VRO gave me 24hours to get the plates changed!

[eezyrider123]

Daft as it sounds the C.I.'s are not in the EU.I have a place in France and use the ex-pat forums a lot for info.The gendarmes are constantly impounding Jersey/Guernsey plated vehicles left at the ferryports while the drivers are visiting abroad.They do not have the same reciprocal agreements with France and therefore the C.I. plated vehicles are allowed in a short time.
Therefore you would probably have the same procedure as importing from USA.

[Big_john]

Originally Posted by Chiefy

Yep, as soon as you try to register the bike the VRO or whatever it's called now will need to see import docs and reciept from C&E.

I'm sure there's also a time limit for foreign plated vehicles before you have to re-reg it but I'm not sure how long it is.

When I bought my truck back from Dubai the local VRO gave me 24hours to get the plates changed!

In Spain you get six months to get a vehicle re registered, you need an export doc from the country of origin and for example if it is coming from the U.K. you will need the ferry ticket for that vehicle.

Big_john Spain

[banquo]

Originally Posted by WildBill2566

Anyone know why I wouldnt be able to buy a new HD from Guernsey and avoid VAT. ;)

You put the answer in your post title: tax avoidance....
It is not legal for you to purchase anything more expensive than (from memory) £17 from the Channel islands without paying VAT. If you look at GH-D's small print, they tell you that, and the deal is that if you get caught, then they will stump up for the VAT. That's fine, when you're buying a few parts for up to a few hundred quid, but the consequences of a whole motorcycle would be far higher, and of course they wouldn't take that risk. On top of that, they get away (mostly) without getting picked up, by sending out anonymous looking boxes to their customers, but you couldn't hope to ship an entire motorcycle without Mr Customs Man taking an interest. Then, as everyone says, you have to get it registered, and show your invoice, and demonstrate that you have paid VAT on the imported goods. Guernsey is VAT-free, but all that means is that you don't pay VAT if you live there: it does not extend to purchases made from there, otherwise the whole island would be full of emporiums selling everything from cars to plasma TVs....

[WildBill2566]

I knew it was wishful thinking. Oh well.

Still there is always the Johnny Cash method of vehicle aquisition

[banquo]

Just make sure they don't send you the frame one piece at a time!
I remember back in the sixties (yes, it is possible ;) ) somebody working out how much it would cost to buy a Morris Minor completely from spare parts, and it was about 5 times the price of the car!
Mind you, I also remember when heaters in cars were an optional extra, and 5 star 103 octane petrol was 5/2d a gallon....

One good wheeze might be to have two or three bikes and run them all off the same registration number. Wonder how long it would take them to notice that.....
I can't believe I just said that...

[kevscrivener]

Originally Posted by banquo

One good wheeze might be to have two or three bikes and run them all off the same registration number. Wonder how long it would take them to notice that.....

I confess to having, at one time, three Honda CD 175's of which only one was taxed and tested, but they all ran. When the "legal" one died one day, i swapped the plates over to one of the others for a couple of weeks till I got it fixed.

Ohhh, the shame of it all........