Bringing a car from a foreign country

The car owner can bring a car from outside the European Union for up to 6 months without paying any fees, the so-called Green corridor.

Resettlement property exceeding the period of 6 months

Resettlement property means items intended for personal use of persons in question or necessary to satisfy the needs of their households.

It is possible to be exempted from the duty if you provide a customs office in Poland with customs request (SAD 3) for an approval to release goods for circulation without obligation to pay the duty.
The decision regarding exemption of goods from the duty will be at any one time made by a customs authority to which the item and the documents pertaining thereto are presented.

Restrictions regarding personal property to be exempted from the duty:

• the property remained in the possession of and was used by the person in question in his/her previous place of residence for at least 6 months before the date after which the person ceased to live in a third country which he/she left;
• the property belongs to a person who stayed in a third country for at least 12 months;
• the property is intended for the same use in a new place of residence;
• the property cannot be in any way alienated within 12 months following the day on which the property was allowed to be released for circulation in Poland.

In order to bring a car as resettlement property for the period exceeding 6 months the owner must:

1. subject the car to the transit customs procedure in the first Polish customs office (the one located at the border with a third country). A request to instigate the transit procedure may be made only electronically via the community NCTS system. The transit procedure should be completed in the customs office in which a customs request for an approval to release goods for circulation without obligation to pay the duty will be filed.
2. provide the said customs office with the following or apply to refer the case – transit procedure – to other customs offices located on the territory of Poland:

• SAD customs request,
• transaction document (invoice, sale agreement),
• vehicle documents issued in the country of origin (e.g. vehicle information package, certificate of title if the vehicle is imported from USA),
• other documents connected with the purchase of the vehicle which are in possession of the importer and which certify that the car was used for personal purposes for at least 6 months before the importer moved to Poland (vehicle registration card).

In practice, you can solicit the services of a customs agency operating on the border which, among other things, can send your request electronically.

In the case of transit a guarantee is required. It is equal to the duty and tax amount = duty + excise tax + VAT and is returned after the transit operation completes. If the transit operation is handled by a customs agency, then that customs agency will use its comprehensive guarantee. In any other case a person returning to the country will have to deposit cash in the border customs office to meet the guarantee requirement.