flats, garages, classic cars

[DMC]

When the new car tax came the age depreciation calculated from the equivalent new car was used which that is some higher mathematics

Yes, that's how they worked in my case, and came up with a ludicrous answer. They wanted something like 152% of the price of a new Mazda MX5.

[Pursuivant]

Mind me asking what was it you was bringing in and when?

I know I paid for my p.o.s. 1987 Daewoo the 10K as taxes they wanted from my sister as she'd violated the 2-year residence rule... a similar 10-year old car cost about 6-8 K (rusted out and 300K on the clock). But see now that was before you could "import a car" really - unless it was 25+ old.

[Muddy Zuk]

but i suppose if you have owned the 'tang for over two years and it has been registered to you and insured and you can prove this then you can bring it in tax free,

[Pursuivant]

Which is if you register it when you are supposed to. If you go prancing about I-am-from-EU-my-arse-is-gold then after you loose your waivers and decide to stay after all, the big tax-office bear will come munch on your ass and take a dump into your car... though if after a year you can't afford the 200 as tax then not much use in staying innit? People with new-ish cars are in the biggest trap in that case - Mustang Billy is 50/60 covered either way.

[DMC]

Mind me asking what was it you was bringing in and when?

It was a Triumph Gt6. Bringing it in in the early 90s - can't remember exactly.

[DMC]

but i suppose if you have owned the 'tang for over two years and it has been registered to you and insured and you can prove this then you can bring it in tax free,

I hadn't used the car for a year before I brought it here. Mr Customs Official said it did not fullfill the requirement to have been in use abroad for the 12 months before coming here so I should pay tax, even though I had owned the car for 12 years. I did appeal and eventually won my case, but for months my car was sat, snow-covered, on the dockside.
Of course, that was just a starter for 10. The next hurdle was getting it registered. It failed the technical inspection on emissions, even though they did not test the emissions. They said that when the car never went through a manufacturer's emissions test because such tests did not exist when the car was new. Therefore they expected me to get VTT to do such a test. Of course, that would cost more than the car was worth. I just gave up and took the car back to UK.

[Karhunkoski]

By the way, is your Mustang lowered? You mention that you intend visiting your friends' summer cottages. Be aware that to reach some of these you may have to drive down forest tracks, many are strewn with rocks. It could scrape the bottom