Moving to South Africa

Can I bring my car or motorbike?

As far as your car or motor bike is concerned, if you’re a first-time migrant to South Africa, you can import one motor vehicle per family free of duty. First, before the vehicle is shipped to South Africa, you must get a letter of authority (LOA) issued by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). This LOA has to be submitted to customs at the time of clearance. You will also require an import permit issued by the department of trade and industry. Duties and VAT on importing a vehicle are calculated upon the value accepted by customs plus 10%, which is called the customs value. Duty is then charged at 58% of this customs value. To calculate the VAT, this duty amount is added to the customs value, then 14% VAT is applied to the combined customs value and duty.

To avoid paying duty and VAT on your car, you will need to prove to South African Customs that when you departed from South Africa you had no intention of ever returning. That will include proving that you closed all bank accounts in South Africa and retained no property in South Africa. Also you will need to prove that you owned a home and obtained permanent status in your country of origin. It’s also worth noting that no left hand drive vehicles purchased after January 1st 2000 will be allowed entry.

• Importing Cars into South Africa – www.regulatory.co.za or www.sabs.co.za
• South African Department of Trade and Industry - www.thedti.gov.za
• South African Customs - www.sars.gov.za

All information on this website is given for guidance only, and although we believe it to be correct at the time of writing, we do not accept any liability for errors, omissions, inaccuracies or misinterpretation. All charges, regulations and procedures are liable to change without notice.

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