VAT & Duty

[Brownie in Bahrain]

Im relocating to UK from Bahrain. I’m bringing my horse. Speaking to friends who’ve shipped their horses last year they paid Duty and VAT on the value of the horse. I’ve been told if i complete a TOR (transfer of residence) with HMRC i will not need to pay these taxes. I just wondered if anyone has experience of this?

 

[Shinx]

I believe that's true with the TOR. You're not purchasing horses and importing them to the UK, but rather bringing your existing horses with you when you move. I would suggest phoning HMRC and getting the full details to ensure it's done correctly. The transport company you use for your horses should also have more info, they deal with both situations all the time.

 

[Maxidoodle]

Yes, I have a lot of knowledge as had to apply for TOR recently to return back to the UK from Europe with my British born ponies. The TOR details are all on the gov.uk website. It really isn’t worth ringing them, as they’ll simply direct you to the website. If you are bringing any household goods whatsoever, their details need to be submitted, as per the explanation on the website, they need exact details of everything (they give example of “teaspoons = 16” and it really is that amount of detail needed. I submitted a five page A3 spreadsheet containing everything we were bringing back and it was all approved in a matter of weeks. Your horses need to have blood tests for coggins, if they are not stud book registered. You have to submit full copies of your horses passports too and receipts for purchase of them, I didn’t have receipts for two of mine (owned them for many years), I just typed out and signed a declaration stating how long I had owned them (and obviously it could be checked against the passport details).

The transporters won’t help you, it’s absolutely nothing to do with them, you have to apply for the TOR personally and you simply provide the transporters with a copy of your TOR relief that you get from HMRC.

Hope this helps.

 

[Brownie in Bahrain]

Yes, I have a lot of knowledge as had to apply for TOR recently to return back to the UK from Europe with my British born ponies. The TOR details are all on the gov.uk website. It really isn’t worth ringing them, as they’ll simply direct you to the website. If you are bringing any household goods whatsoever, their details need to be submitted, as per the explanation on the website, they need exact details of everything (they give example of “teaspoons = 16” and it really is that amount of detail needed. I submitted a five page A3 spreadsheet containing everything we were bringing back and it was all approved in a matter of weeks. Your horses need to have blood tests for coggins, if they are not stud book registered. You have to submit full copies of your horses passports too and receipts for purchase of them, I didn’t have receipts for two of mine (owned them for many years), I just typed out and signed a declaration stating how long I had owned them (and obviously it could be checked against the passport details).

The transporters won’t help you, it’s absolutely nothing to do with them, you have to apply for the TOR personally and you simply provide the transporters with a copy of your TOR relief that you get from HMRC.

Hope this helps.

I can’t quite get my head round that level of detail!!
Did you pay the taxes & claim back? I’ve not been told about the coggins test so will check that out.
Thank you

 

[Maxidoodle]

I can’t quite get my head round that level of detail!!
Did you pay the taxes & claim back? I’ve not been told about the coggins test so will check that out.
Thank you

There’s a huge amount of work to detail everything, my advice would be travel to the UK as light as you can, saves you a lot of work Listing everything.

No, as long as your paperwork is ok and the TOR once issued, it covers you for your taxes. The paperwork for any horses that aren’t stud book registered is a lot and you need to also check the country you are in, as they may have their own rules (like happened to me when I moved, they had us jumping through ridiculous hoops like having to have one our elderly ponies PTS and driving a 3hr round trip to go and collect special watermarked paper for the vet to print out the paperwork on the day, as apparently the ministry vets aren’t authorised to carry it with them), a lot of sh*t makes no sense (like the coggins test for one of ours as she wasn’t stud book registered, yet the other two, who lived in a herd with her, as they were stud book registered, didn’t need it ). You’ve just got to accept that there’s a lot of stuff to do and rules to follow but it can be done.

 

[Brownie in Bahrain]

That’s great info, thank you. I’m up for the challenge!!
Sorry about your elderly pony

 

[Caski]

Who are you using to bring your ponies back? My first thought of a helpful company would be Pedens for international expertise. Worth a look at the website for you?

 

[Brownie in Bahrain]

Who are you using to bring your ponies back? My first thought of a helpful company would be Pedens for international expertise. Worth a look at the website for you?

I looked at Pedens first but the cost was astronomical! Im using LG Bloodstock who have a lot of experience shipping in this region. They’ve found me a 3rd sharer for the pallet, I’m very impressed so far, let’s hope it continues. I tried Equitrans who didn’t have much interest in finding a sharer & BBA Shipping who just weren’t the best at communicating. Very frustrating, just want him out of here before summer.

 

[Maxidoodle]

That’s great info, thank you. I’m up for the challenge!!
Sorry about your elderly pony

Thank you. If you want a recommendation for an international transporter, Parkers International are excellent, they transported my 4 out to Scandinavia and brought my 3 back. They were fantastic on both occasions and really went above and beyond both times, their attention to detail and care was exemplary, even soaked hay.

 

[Brownie in Bahrain]

Thank you. If you want a recommendation for an international transporter, Parkers International are excellent, they transported my 4 out to Scandinavia and brought my 3 back. They were fantastic on both occasions and really went above and beyond both times, their attention to detail and care was exemplary, even soaked hay.

I’ll check them out if anything goes t**ts up with LG. Thank you