Customs clearance of cars from Germany to Russia 2021 - how much it costs, how to buy and drive a car, calculator

Russian dealers today offer their customers a variety of cars from various manufacturers, including well-known German models - Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Opel. But the nuances of Russian legislation regulating the import of foreign-made cars, as well as economic feasibility, force German suppliers to fill Russian dealer networks with only a small part of cars from the existing model ranges.

This category includes budget models , the demand for which is very high, or expensive exclusives that provide a large margin. At the same time, most of the German cars in the middle price segment with a huge number of trim levels and equipment, with various tunings, are inaccessible to Russian car enthusiasts.

You can get out of this situation by buying the desired model (used or new) in Germany and bringing it to Russia. It should be noted that Russians love used German cars. This can most likely be explained by the fact that Germany has excellent roads, high-level service, “German build quality,” and a high culture of car use.

For a domestic car enthusiast who has decided to purchase a German car in this way, it is necessary to know how to clear a car from Germany through customs and how much it will cost.

Legislative regulation

The process of customs clearance of cars from Germany in Russia is regulated by the following legislative acts:

Customs Code of the Russian Federation (a document that sets out all the fundamental principles and is the main one).
Federal Law “On Customs Tariffs” (No. 5003-1) dated May 21, 1993
Resolution on the amount of recycling fee (No. 870 dated August 30, 2012).
Resolution on the application of uniform rates of customs duties (No. 718 of November 29, 2003).
Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, art. 16.10 On the responsibility of car owners for improper customs clearance.

There is also an order of the Federal Customs Service on the rules for posting a security deposit (dated February 21, 2012, No. 12).

At the same time, it is important to know that it is possible to import only those cars that comply with the Euro-5 environmental class, and a private person has the right to import no more than 1 vehicle unit per year (a preferential customs tariff may be applied).

The price of customs clearance is calculated individually (you can also use a special customs clearance calculator in advance).

Current rules

Important! The preliminary step before traveling to Europe to buy a car is to deposit customs duties into a deposit account.

Their amount is calculated approximately based on the planned purchase. The amount of duties is affected by the technical characteristics and cost of the car. To calculate payments, you can use online calculators, which are available on various resources on the Internet. Brokerage companies also provide similar services. After making a deposit, the car owner receives a guarantee certificate and a receipt. When importing a car, the exact amount of customs payments will be calculated. If they turn out to be more than the deposit, the driver will be required to pay additional money. If the deposit amount is excessive, the difference will be returned to the sender's account. After passing the inspection and paying customs duties, a temporary import certificate will be issued. The document is issued to the person who crosses the border by car. Information about it is entered into the database.

What documents are needed to import a car from Germany to the Russian Federation?

At the border, all documents related to the purchase and sale of a car will be checked. Therefore, even before purchasing, you need to consider what you will be asked to present:

declaration for the export of cars (Ausfuhrerklaerung), which contains the contacts and details of the seller (the document can be obtained in electronic format, the main thing is that it contains the correct information);
purchase and sale agreement (Kaufvertrag), which must contain information about the country of the transaction (Germany).
the buyer must take care in advance to obtain transit license plates for the car, a transit permit, as well as international clearance;
the seller (German side) issues a technical passport for the car indicating: the age of the car, information about the previous owner, maintenance, Euro-5 environmental class and identification number (VIN).

When the specified documentation is in hand, driving a car from Germany to Russia is relatively simple - at the border, the new owner of the vehicle just needs to draw up a customs declaration, attaching all the listed accompanying documents to it.

Documentation

For customs clearance, the buyer will need the following documents:

Ausfuhranmeldung is an export declaration form 0733, which must be completed by the car seller. You need the original and two copies of such a document.
Customs clearance of goods will cost about 2,000 euros.
Car purchase agreement.
Insurance document and numbers for transit.
German vehicle passport, which indicates the names of the previous owners of the car.
Environmental permit.
Conclusion of technical inspection.
Certificate of deregistration of the vehicle.

Cost of customs clearance of a vehicle

When importing a car, the price of its customs clearance is determined. It consists of:

The amount of customs duty. Depends on the age of the car, engine size, type of transport, year of manufacture, price. According to current legislation, it is most profitable to import vehicles aged from 3 to 5 years, with an engine capacity of 1000 to 1500 cubic meters. cm.
Recycling fee. It is paid if the car is imported exclusively for personal use, and averages 2000-3000 rubles.
Customs clearance fee. Its size depends on the price at which the vehicle was purchased. If the cost is not documented, customs officers set it based on average market prices.
Excise duty. The amount of excise tax depends on the engine power of the vehicle. However, individuals who import vehicles under 3 years of age are not required to pay it. At the same time, all legal entities must pay excise tax.

Table for calculating customs duties

Used cars from 3 to 5 years		Used cars over 5 years old
Engine volume, cm3	Rate per 1 cm3 in euros	Engine volume, cm3	Rate per 1 cm3 in euros
up to 1000	1,5	up to 1000	3
from 1000 to 1500	1,7	from 1000 to 1500	3,2
from 1500 to 1800	2,5	from 1500 to 1800	3,5
from 1800 to 2300	2,7	from 1800 to 2300	4,8
from 2300 to 3000	3	from 2300 to 3000	5
more than 3000	3,6	more than 3000	5,7

You can most accurately calculate the cost of importing a car into the Russian Federation by using a special calculator.

Basic requirements of legislative acts of the Russian Federation on customs clearance of cars

The laws of the Russian Federation and other countries of the Customs Union contain a set of basic requirements and provisions governing the process of customs clearance of vehicles imported from abroad:

Both legal entities and individuals can import cars and trucks into the country and clear customs.
The cost of customs clearance for each imported car is calculated individually and depends on the following data: status of the importer (individual or legal entity), purpose of importing the vehicle (personal or commercial use), price of the car, year of manufacture, engine size and power, environmental class, availability of special equipment and some others.
The country of manufacture of the car does not affect the size of the uniform customs rates. The exception is cars manufactured in Russia.
Customs payments can be made in rubles or in the currencies of other countries.
For all cars passing through the border of the Russian Federation, a declaration must be drawn up, which is submitted to the customs authorities of the Russian Federation for the subsequent calculation of all necessary payments.
Customs clearance of cars with an environmental class below € 5 is prohibited.
For his own needs, an individual can transport only one car per year across the border.
In the Russian Federation there is a unified procedure for customs clearance of a vehicle. It does not depend on the method of crossing the border of the Russian Federation by this vehicle (under its own power, by water, by air, by rail or by road).

Procedure for importing a car from Germany

Even before you go abroad to pick up your car, you need to take care of a customs deposit - a special account to which funds are transferred to ensure payment of all customs fees. It will not be possible to top up this account directly on the way back or at the checkpoint. You will need to enter or leave the country again. In addition, the account must have enough funds for customs clearance of the car, otherwise the car owner will face the problem of being unable to complete the procedure. The size of the required deposit depends on the model, age and class of the car.

The deposit is paid to the customs office or to the customs account. In this case, a receipt is issued, and a guarantee certificate is issued within two days. It should be borne in mind that the deposit is not refundable (so you will still have to buy the car), but if there is an overpayment, it is returned to the owner’s account upon request.

To successfully pass border control you must provide:

completed car declaration;
accompanying documents for transport (I have already talked about them above);
technical passport of the vehicle.

First, the vehicle owner is asked to fill out a declaration, indicating current information about the car. The document is assigned a unique registration number.

Customs officers check the primary information from the declaration. If everything is in order, permission is given to continue the procedure. If questions arise, the car owner will be asked to provide additional transport documents.

A technical inspection of the vehicle is carried out, during which it is checked whether the actual characteristics of the vehicle correspond to those stated in the declaration. The document is certified by seals.

The customs inspector determines the amount of all payments that will need to be made.

The cost of customs clearance of a car from Germany to Russia is precisely determined at the border control.

After this, the transport is registered in the name of a specific legal entity or individual, and the current information is entered into the database.

The owner of the car is issued a receipt for payment, as well as an import certificate and vehicle passport.

Customs clearance procedure

To begin the process of customs clearance of a vehicle, you must provide the customs service with a completed declaration for the imported vehicle, a technical passport of the vehicle and a full package of accompanying and transport documents . The customs clearance procedure consists of several stages:

Filling out a declaration with reliable data about the car and entering it in a special journal under a unique registration number;
Check by a customs inspector of the documents provided and their compliance with the data of the submitted declaration. Based on this check, the inspector makes a decision on whether to continue the registration process or whether the applicant needs to provide additional documents;
Carrying out a technical inspection of the vehicle to ensure its full compliance with the declaration. Signing by the inspector of the verified declaration and affixing his personal seal to it;
Calculation by the inspector of the necessary customs duties and transfer of all documents and calculated payments to the payments department and then to other departments for final registration of the car to an individual (or legal entity) and entering data about the owner and vehicle into a common computer database. At the same stage, the necessary control checks are carried out (the total number of vehicles transported by this person across the border, the availability of information about this vehicle in the search databases, etc.), and a customs receipt order for payment is issued;
Issuance of a vehicle import certificate and vehicle passport to the owner. The second copy of the certificate remains at customs.

Video: Customs clearance - what, how and how much

Features of exporting cars from Germany

The cost of customs clearance of a vehicle in Russia does not depend on the country of manufacture of the car and can be calculated in advance. But the costs of delivering a car to the Russian border and processing documents in the country of export can vary significantly. In order not to violate national laws and not to spend extra money on fines and operations to correct errors, Russians must adhere to certain rules when buying cars in Germany.

The first is to obtain an electronic export declaration (Ausfuhrerklaerung) from the car seller and carry out the procedure for “customs clearance” of the car, indicating the registration of the company selling the vehicle. These documents are presented to German customs.

The second is the execution of a purchase and sale agreement (Kaufvertrag), in which Germany must be indicated as the subject of the transaction.

Third , filling out the technical passport of the vehicle from the German side. It must contain information about the VIN code, year of manufacture, previous owner of the vehicle, the results of the last technical inspection and the environmental class of the vehicle.

Fourth – obtaining a transit permit with the issuance of transit numbers and opening international admission. This usually requires that the car meets an environmental class of at least €4 and has insurance.

Fifth , obtaining a special document LWB (Liner Way Bill), which will be required to confirm that the vehicle belongs to the person who will pick it up at the destination, if the vehicle is transported by sea and without the personal presence of the new owner.

Sixth , compiling a list of valuables in the car at the time of its transfer to the carrier company.

Important: Along with the original documents, you should always provide copies of these documents certified by a notary to the customs authorities.

The customs clearance procedure for a car is not a very difficult task.
Given the desire and time, almost anyone can undergo this procedure painlessly. If you simply do not have the strength and patience to read boring paragraphs of laws and regulations, and communication with customs inspectors only causes drowsiness, it is better to entrust the registration of an imported car to professionals in this matter - customs brokers. For a very reasonable fee, they will take on the “hardships” of communicating with government agencies and quickly prepare the necessary documents. All you have to do is compare the amounts of customs duties declared by them with the amounts given by the online calculator, and make the necessary payments. Subscribe to our Telegram channel https://t.me/pravoauto to stay updated on new fines and other changes in automobile legislation.

Features of exporting cars from Germany

If you need to drive a car from Germany to Russia, you need to take into account that prices for customs clearance do not depend on the country of the vehicle manufacturer. Nuances await the buyer in the registration procedure itself:

The technical passport must be issued by the German side.
If you want to buy a car from Germany to Russia to order, you need to issue an additional LWB document, which will confirm that the vehicle belongs to a specific person.
The car will definitely need insurance, because without it it will be impossible to carry out transit. Also, the requirements for obtaining a transit permit include the environmental class of the car (must be at least 4).
The procedure for clearing a car through customs must be followed, with a mark about the company that sells the vehicle.
An export declaration must be submitted electronically to German customs (taken from the previous owner of the vehicle).

The requirements listed above apply only to those who want to know how to clear a car from Germany to Russia through customs on their own. The procedure for importing into the Russian Federation is almost always the same, and nuances exist only when exporting vehicles from specific countries.

Algorithm of actions

To clear customs a car imported from Germany, you must perform the following steps:

Once at the Russian border, we hand over the completed declaration to customs. The data specified in the document is entered into the journal, assigning a unique number to the entry.
The next stage is document verification. The data specified in the declaration is verified with the accompanying documentation for the vehicle. If during the inspection the inspector finds inaccuracies or errors, the application will be rejected. The same thing happens when the documentation package is incomplete.
Passing a technical inspection. It is very important that the actual condition of the vehicle corresponds to the information indicated in the papers.
If the check is successful, the customs officer signs and stamps the declaration.
The amount of taxes is calculated. After payment, documents are sent to departments that enter information into a common database. A control check is carried out here.

When the check is completed, the car owner receives a certificate for the right to import the car and a title.

Management of non-customs cleared vehicles

Legal ways to import a car into the territory of the Russian Federation without customs clearance exist, but they are very limited:

Temporary import of transport for personal use by a foreign citizen. In this case, the car can be used in Russia for no more than 1 year. This vehicle may be subject to confiscation due to traffic violations.
If the transport is imported from the territory of Belarus or Kazakhstan. In this case, the agreement signed between Russia and these countries comes into force, which cancels the customs clearance procedure.
If the car was imported from the CIS. At the same time, it is possible not to clear a car through customs only if the vehicle has been on the territory of the Russian Federation for no more than 6 months. The rule applies to Russian citizens importing cars from the territories of neighboring states.

You need to know that according to the law, the vehicle owner has only a day to begin the customs clearance procedure for the car. Of course, you can use the temporary import procedure with payment of only customs duties, but in this case you will only be able to travel safely for six months. I do not recommend using gray and criminal import schemes through intermediaries. Even if customs does not have time to react, the car can easily be checked against the database. At the same time, legally driving a car from Germany and clearing it through customs in Russia is not that expensive if you calculate everything in advance.

How can you save money?

If it was not possible to completely avoid paying duties, then you can use tips on saving on customs clearance of a vehicle:

try to register a car in the name of a relative who is a disabled veteran. The law granting the right to duty-free import was repealed back in 1995, but this does not make it impossible to consider each case on an individual basis. It is worth preparing to participate in court hearings and prove your right to duty-free import;
Also, the right to duty-free import is given to disabled people who are unable to move independently. However, they can only enter a car that is intended for this category of citizens (with manual control or other special devices);
use Tax Free Check. In this case, it will be possible to return the VAT amount when leaving the country where the car was purchased;
buy a car at an autohaus in Germany. If the warranty period for the car has already expired and the owner has not issued a new warranty, then a significant discount is given upon purchase;
buy a car over 30 years old. It belongs to the category of rare items and is subject to other duties during customs clearance.

Responsibility for violating the rules of import from abroad

In some cases, the car may be confiscated. The following sanctions are often also applied:

from 500 to 2500 rubles – for violation of deadlines for payment of duties for individuals;
from 1000 to 2000 rubles – for violating the ban or restrictions on the import of vehicles;
from 1,500 to 2,500 rubles – for violating the terms of import of temporarily imported cars;
from 1000 to 2500 rubles – for violating the deadlines for submitting information and declarations.

Forced labor and imprisonment for a period of 2 to 5 years are possible if evasion of customs duties on a large and especially large scale has been recorded. A fine of 100-500 thousand to 300-500 thousand rubles may also be imposed.

In order not to lose a round sum in the form of a fine, clear the “German” through customs according to the law

Ways to buy a car in Kaliningrad

There are several ways to buy and drive a car from Kaliningrad, each of which may differ in how exactly the vehicle will get to its destination. So, there are two ways to deliver a vehicle from Kaliningrad to Russia:

The method consists in the fact that either the owner himself or the one who assists in the purchase of the car will drive it to the required point in the Russian Federation under its own power . In this case, you will not need to contact any modes of transport in order to partially cover the path, but on the other hand, it will be necessary to cross state borders, traveling outside the Russian Federation;
Transport the vehicle using a ferry service connecting directly Kaliningrad, from which the car will travel, with St. Petersburg - thus completely eliminating the need for the vehicle to cross the borders of other states. This scheme is less preferable, especially for those people who purchase inexpensive vehicles, since the cost of transporting a car is relatively high and makes sense only if the price of the car in relation to it is an order of magnitude higher. The cost of transporting a car by ferry is approximately 17,000 rubles for a place for a car and the price of a cabin; for an accompanying person it varies from 4,500-9,000 rubles. Please note that transporting a car from Kaliningrad is only possible in the summer and the ferry schedule is unstable.

Is it possible to import a car from Germany without paying duties?

The following persons can bring a car to Russia without paying customs duties:

Foreign citizens who enter the country in their own personal car.
Citizens of the Russian Federation with dual citizenship.
Citizens permanently residing abroad and registered with the consulate.
Citizens of the Russian Federation who have a residence permit in another country.

For one year, persons from the listed categories have the right to use personal vehicles on the territory of the Russian Federation without customs clearance or with partial payment of all fees and duties.

Also, in accordance with current legislation, a car received as an inheritance is not subject to customs duties. This method of importation is used, but today this scheme is often used by scammers. The result is closer attention from customs authorities.

It is possible to import a vehicle under the relocation program (to do this, you need to be a participant in the program and have the appropriate certificate). You are allowed to import one vehicle per family, but the car must be owned for at least a year before the move.

Is it better to buy at a salon or bring it yourself?

Once the decision about the origin of the car has been made, all that remains is to decide on the place of purchase. This can be done either in a showroom that sells cars from Europe, or you can go pick it up in person.

When purchasing in a store, the buyer will bear all the costs associated with transportation and customs, but at the same time he will also pay the profit pledged by the seller . What will affect the condition of the wallet.

That's not all. The choice of cars abroad is much more diverse than in Russia, which allows you to choose a car according to different parameters, these are:

Vehicle equipment.
Range of internal combustion engines.
Internal and external tuning.

If you independently carry out all the steps to purchase a vehicle abroad, you have the opportunity not only to participate in the process of choosing a car, but also to enjoy the pleasant impressions of traveling around Europe.

Requirements for vehicles imported into the country

Before purchasing a car abroad and then importing it into Russia, you need to take into account important conditions, without which you will not be able to clear your purchase through customs and receive a title:

Since January 1, 2016, the Russian border has been closed to vehicles that do not meet the requirements of the EURO-5 environmental standard. It regulates the permissible content of harmful emissions in engine exhaust gases. EURO-5 was introduced on the territory of EU countries in 2008, so you will not be able to introduce and operate cars on the roads of the Russian Federation.
Since January 1, 2017, a new obstacle has arisen on the path of used vehicles on the border of the Russian Federation - all cars produced in Russia and imported into its territory from other countries must be equipped with the ERA-GLONASS system. It is a panic button that allows you to quickly contact emergency services in the event of an accident and provide your coordinates.

conclusions

Purchasing a used car is always associated with risk, even if the transaction is made in EU countries. No one can guarantee that the car you are purchasing is not listed as stolen. The fact of theft may be discovered during the border crossing or later. In this case, your purchase will be confiscated, even if you have already cleared it through customs.

Floods often occur in Europe, so there is a high probability of buying a “drowned man”. The temporary import option is only suitable for very expensive cars. In the case of budget models, the costs of obtaining a residence permit will not be worth it.