Vehicle Registration - Arrived as tourist, decided to work and stay

Terry, it is only pointless if you plan to sell the car within a short period of time and given the price of cars in Malta maybe not even then. Personally when we move the car comes and will be kept long term, so it's a huge benefit having an exemption.

Dan

Depends what you mean by short and long - term.

A friend of mine recently sold her 12 year old car after being on the island for 6 years. She had to pay the exempted tax of around 1000 € which was about the amount she got for car!

Cheers
Ricky

so its not really an exemption is it - its just a delayed tax on your car...  the one youve paid taxes on already

The way I understand it, this exemption is meant for foreigners coming to Malta for a certain period of time who take their car with them for that time, and then leave Malta again (with their car). Something like a special treat for "guest workers"... In that case, I think it does make perfect sense, or rather, it helps save a lot of money compared to the system in other countries. In Austria, for example, vehicle registration tax is due (without any exemptions, except for electric cars) whenever a car is first registered in (i.e. first brought/ imported to) Austria. So, even if you only bring your car to Austria for a few months, and then decide to move back to your home country, you will have paid a lot of money to the Austrian tax office.

I am certainly not trying to defend the car registration tax (neither in Malta, nor in Austria, nor elsewhere) because, well who likes paying taxes ... However, I do understand the argument that you need to pay the tax once you sell the car, as in fact selling the car means you have imported it, while using it yourself is possible without having to pay tax in Malta (as Toon has pointed out: you have paid taxes on it already, in the country you brought it from.)

And as for the case of a friend of Ricky's: it's certainly not acceptable to pay the same amount in taxes as the car's actually worth, but other places are no better... I once thought about buying a used (about 10 yr old) car in Germany and bringing it to Austria - the registration tax would have been about twice the price the seller asked for the car...

BTW: Thanks for the interesting posts, as this whole topic is indeed something I'm looking into, apart from many other things.

bernie_iris_fabian_david wrote:

The way I understand it, this exemption is meant for foreigners coming to Malta for a certain period of time who take their car with them for that time, and then leave Malta again (with their car). Something like a special treat for "guest workers"... In that case, I think it does make perfect sense, or rather, it helps save a lot of money compared to the system in other countries. In Austria, for example, vehicle registration tax is due (without any exemptions, except for electric cars) whenever a car is first registered in (i.e. first brought/ imported to) Austria. So, even if you only bring your car to Austria for a few months, and then decide to move back to your home country, you will have paid a lot of money to the Austrian tax office.

I am certainly not trying to defend the car registration tax (neither in Malta, nor in Austria, nor elsewhere) because, well who likes paying taxes ... However, I do understand the argument that you need to pay the tax once you sell the car, as in fact selling the car means you have imported it, while using it yourself is possible without having to pay tax in Malta (as Toon has pointed out: you have paid taxes on it already, in the country you brought it from.)

And as for the case of a friend of Ricky's: it's certainly not acceptable to pay the same amount in taxes as the car's actually worth, but other places are no better... I once thought about buying a used (about 10 yr old) car in Germany and bringing it to Austria - the registration tax would have been about twice the price the seller asked for the car...

BTW: Thanks for the interesting posts, as this whole topic is indeed something I'm looking into, apart from many other things.

The guest worker exemption is a different thing and is not meant for people who move to become residents.
A registration tax should be to cover any admin fees when  a vehicle is imported, in Malta it was introduced when the EU deemed the import tax illegal.!
Terry

The registration tax in Malta was never deemed illegal by the EU and many other EU countries apply taxes on cars too.

The questionable point in Malta was the fact that they were charging VAT ( tax) on the registration tax ! That is taxes on taxes and this was ruled to be wrong.

Now the VAT charge on the registration tax is being refunded for the past years.

Cheers
Ricky

Well, since Malta is an island they know when it was brought in via the ferry.....

Why not simply buy a cheap car here and sell it when you leave? Look on Maltapark.com. There are many for sale.

hi Buddy you might alos find this useful to know.....
I  can only give you the benefit of my own personal experience . I brought my car in March which I had shared with my daughter for two years with me and although I had been driving it for two yrs the log book was still in her name and I only changed it  a month before arriving. To keep the car here was 1,773 euro in Vat and by the time I had paid for the plates, admin , Jevic, car insurance tax and everything else it was going to cost over E 2,500 . It wasnt worth iit.
I had a meeting with one of the main guys at Transport Malta.

Here is what I was officially permitted to do and was legal and all above board
Drive the car for 6 mths as a 'tourist'  and to do this you must keep your GB sticker on the car. You actually get allowed 7 mths but the car must go off the island by that point.

You can not become a resident and file for an ID card in that time as once you file for residency you must register the car. Without the Id card you can still apply for your social security number, tax and banking  regardless but it becomes a faf without an employment contract.

If you are coming for employment then all you need is proof of your employment contract and go to the offices with every bit of paperwork, keep the car taxed and insured in the Uk at all times, and give them your employment contract and 35 euros, they will give you a temporary permit for your car for 1 year ( by that point you have achieved 1 yr and 7 mths with the car in the country)
At the end of the 7mths I didnt have any proof that my car had come into Malta on the ferry as we had discarded the tickets ( your meant to keep them) even though I had proof of this digitally it wasnt enough for them so they suggested I take the car off the island for a few days , go visit Sicily and re enter, keep the documents of entry and return with all paperwork and money for permit. Done within 3 hrs.

If you want to ship it over or return it then I would highly recommend you use a company based here and in England called Trotters Independent traders Malta. They offer a really good price to import / export your car for you with as little fuss as possible. For mine it was £650.

To get European insurance in Uk for 365 days of the year... Asdas 5* policys are the only ones that will cover you. For me it was less than £300 for the year on fully comp on an 09 plate including breakdown in europe.

The only issue I have come up against is the Mot as this has to be done in the uk so it will be due next year before the permit expires .....Im still trying to figure out if theres a way round that one!

It really isnt as hard as people make out it is. I have to say though  once you make that road trip with the car , your here to stay because its not something I would want to do again. Good luck with the journey!

Here's a little bit of info i was told by a Maltese business man. Apparently the EU is currently looking into the 'import tax' the Maltese are charging for cars brought into Malta from other European countries as what they are doing is apparently against the law. Why? Because tax has already been paid on the car when it was purchased!!
I would imagine if it get's turned over they will have to pay some people back.....ooer!

wow! Now that really does throw cats amongst pigeons.
thanks for the info, Jeannie

Micat22 wrote:

Here's a little bit of info i was told by a Maltese business man. Apparently the EU is currently looking into the 'import tax' the Maltese are charging for cars brought into Malta from other European countries as what they are doing is apparently against the law. Why? Because tax has already been paid on the car when it was purchased!!
I would imagine if it get's turned over they will have to pay some people back.....ooer!

And if you think the Maltese Government will take any notice of the EU ruling I think you will find that it will be totally ignored!

Ray

It might take time but it cannot be ignored; otherwise it will be quite dear to them.

FMGL wrote:

It might take time but it cannot be ignored; otherwise it will be quite dear to them.

You obviously know very little about Malta!!!!

FMGL wrote:

It might take time but it cannot be ignored; otherwise it will be quite dear to them.

It will be no different than EU regulations which banned shooting and trapping from 2007, which is totally ignored in Malta, amongst many other laws.
'Legal' and 'Malta' are not normally seen in the same sentence!

Ray

So you think.
However, I do know about European law and its enforcement as well as how much it costs not to comply with EUCJ decisions.
As I was writing, it is only a question of time, not if.
Cheers

FMGL wrote:

So you think.
However, I do know about European law and its enforcement as well as how much it costs not to comply with EUCJ decisions.
As I was writing, it is only a question of time, not if.
Cheers

You still have alot to learn about Malta!