Rotary, but from afar and not as expected

[FloridaMike]

This one is a little off the wall, but since the engine IS a rotary (but not a gasoline one), I beg your collective indulgence to ask here . . .Friend of mine had a chance to drive a Tesla Electric car (see, it IS a rotary engine, right?) and he wants one, oh man does he want one, holy mackerel does he want one. He's a UK citizen with dual nationality (the other one is not US, which would simplify things greatly)."The Plan" so far is to buy the car here in the US, register it to a company in the US, and then ship it over to the UK so he can drive it there.So we have a US-owned and US-domiciled and US license plated vehicle (with US insurance, which DOES cover operation overseas) being driven in the UK.My questions are then:1) At what point does the car have to leave the UK? (How long can a car be maintained as a non-UK registered "visitor/tourist" status?)2) At what point - if at all - does VAT become due? (The car won't be bought in the UK or sold in the UK, just operated there.)3) The car has the steering wheel on the "other" side, has US-spec lights, and has a miles/km speedometer (so at least that part isn't a problem). How long can the car be a "tourist" without conversion to UK specification, or is that not an issue?4) Will his UK employment status (he works in the UK/he doesn't work in the UK) make any difference? (In Florida, if you are working here, you need to buy a Florida license plate. He can't buy a UK plate because the car isn't UK-regs compliant and it HAS to be there as a "tourist".)What we may do is ship it "home" and sell it (or sell it out of the UK) after six months, then buy another one and ship the new one to the UK. The market is very strong for these cars and low mileage used cars sell for as much as new ones! We'll "rotate" vehicles to re-start the "tourist" clock, and the biggest expense will be shipping.Your thoughts are appreciated! If I've missed anything significant, please let me know.Best Regards.FloridaMike

[kanonkopdrinker]

My questions are then:1) At what point does the car have to leave the UK? (How long can a car be maintained as a non-UK registered "visitor/tourist" status?)From memory Mike, he can drive it as a visitor for up to 6 months2) At what point - if at all - does VAT become due? (The car won't be bought in the UK or sold in the UK, just operated there.)As soon as the 6 months expire, it must either be exported - or import duty paid and the car registered with UK plates.3) The car has the steering wheel on the "other" side, has US-spec lights, and has a miles/km speedometer (so at least that part isn't a problem). How long can the car be a "tourist" without conversion to UK specification, or is that not an issue?Being LHD should not be a problem; just make sure the lights dip the correct way.4) Will his UK employment status (he works in the UK/he doesn't work in the UK) make any difference? (In Florida, if you are working here, you need to buy a Florida license plate. He can't buy a UK plate because the car isn't UK-regs compliant and it HAS to be there as a "tourist".)As soon as he takes up employment, he would cease to be a 'tourist' and the tax and registration falls due. He would aslo require a UK (or EU) Driving Licence, often by exchanging his current US? licence.I believe this is still correct, but I have been out of the police for over 8 years now and things may well have changed a bit since then.Good luck, David

[Joe]

Hello Mike, I dont blame you friend for wanting one these cars they are very nice. I got to see one in very close detail two years ago in a German Wankel museum when I attended the Wankel Treffen in Neckarsulm. The car had been out for a run but we unfortunately just missed it. Autovision is in a small town called Altussheim near Baden-Werttemberg down South and well worth a visit. Import tax at 10% and VAT at 20% would be due after the 6 months and this has to be paid before a registeration number will be issued. A new department has recently been formed to deal with such events called NOVA and from my experience very unhelpful. Regards, Joe.