The short version
- Age: under five years. Counted from the date of first registration in Japan to the day the car arrives at a Cyprus port. The exception is a classic over 30 years old, with conditions of its own.
- Right-hand drive is fine. Cyprus drives on the left; a Japanese car is registered as it is.
- Duty 0% for a Japanese-built car, under the EU–Japan agreement. For everything else, 10%.
- VAT 19% — on the value of the car with freight and insurance (CIF), plus duty where there is any.
- No excise tax. It was abolished for all cars on 22 March 2019.
- Road tax is annual and depends on CO₂ emissions: the fewer grams per kilometre, the lower it is.
- Two tests before registration: SVA (conformity with European requirements) and MOT (roadworthiness).
- Pickups cannot be registered in Cyprus, so we do not offer them.
The five-year rule: count from first registration, not from the model year
This is the most common misunderstanding. What counts is not the model year but the date of first registration in the Japanese documents. The clock stops when the car arrives at the port in Cyprus — not on the day you buy it.
That is why transit time matters. From purchase to arrival usually takes 3–4 months, and the exact date is known only once the booking on a specific sailing is confirmed.
An example. A car was first registered in Japan in October 2021. Its five years run out in October 2026. Bought in September 2026, it arrives in Cyprus after that date and can no longer be registered. That car had to be bought in the spring.
We check the date of first registration before we offer a car.
Classic cars over 30 years old
The five-year limit does not apply to historic cars, but the conditions are stricter:
- Age — at least 30 years.
- Factory, original condition. No tuning and no modifications — neither mechanical nor visual, wheels and rims included. The car can be driven every day (see the two schemes below); what matters is that it stays the way it left the factory.
- Proof of authenticity. Cyprus Customs releases such a car only with a certificate of authenticity, and registration requires a letter from the Cyprus Federation of Classic Vehicles (OKAK). Its inspector examines the car; after registration it can receive a FIVA ID — the international identity card of a historic vehicle.
- Registration within 6 months of customs clearance, on historic “A” plates. These plates are issued only to a car imported from abroad.
- Before you buy — ask the Road Transport Department whether that specific car will be registered.
Once registered, the owner chooses one of two schemes. The difference is only in the annual road tax and in when the car may be driven:
| Everyday use | Weekends and events | |
|---|---|---|
| When it can be driven | any day | Saturdays, Sundays, listed public holidays and the days of classic-vehicle club events |
| Road tax | the normal amount, 65% off | €25 a year |
| Needed for the scheme | — | registration certificate, valid MOT, insurance and a valid FIVA certificate |
The scheme does not change the import cost. Under EU rules a car that counts as a collector’s item — over 30 years old, in original condition, of a model no longer in production — can be imported free of duty. VAT at 19% still applies: Cyprus has no reduced rate for collector’s items. Customs decides the classification for each car.
We source classics on request: send us the model and the year, and we will check whether the car meets the conditions before you buy it.
Taxes at the border
Duty. For a passenger car it is 10% of the customs value. But a Japanese-built car from Japan enters with 0% duty under the EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, in force since 1 February 2019. The zero rate needs a statement on origin from the exporter; we make it out. The full story is in our article on zero duty.
What matters is that the car was built in Japan, not merely bought there. A BMW or a Mercedes from the Japanese market was built in Europe or elsewhere, and pays 10%.
VAT 19%. Charged on the customs value — the price of the car with freight and insurance to Cyprus (CIF) — plus duty where there is any. For example: a Japanese-built car at €15,000 CIF pays €0 duty and €2,850 VAT.
No excise tax. Cyprus used to charge an excise tax on cars. Law 39(I)/2019 abolished it: since 22 March 2019 no excise duty is charged on imported cars. If a calculation still includes it, the calculation is out of date.
Registration in Cyprus
After customs clearance the car passes two tests, SVA and MOT, and is then registered with the Road Transport Department and gets its plates. Insurance must be in place before the plates are issued.
At clearance our broker obtains customs form C72A — the confirmation that the car has been cleared — for every car we ship. From the date on that form there are 10 days to register the car. That is enough to pass SVA and MOT, register the car with the Road Transport Department and have the plates made.
All of this is done by our representative in Cyprus.
The two tests: SVA and MOT
SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) is a one-off conformity check. It applies to cars made for markets outside the EU, Japanese cars included: they have no European Certificate of Conformity (COC). It confirms that the car meets European safety and environmental requirements across 16 areas: seat belts and their anchorages, glazing, lighting and headlamp aim, mirrors, tyres, brakes, steering and suspension, doors and latches, wipers and demisting, exterior projections, fuel and electrical systems, noise and emissions. The export certificate and proof of ownership are required. A car can be registered only after it has passed SVA.
MOT is the roadworthiness test: brakes, suspension, steering, lights, tyres, exhaust. An imported used car takes it before its first registration in Cyprus. After that the MOT comes round every two years, and road tax cannot be renewed without a valid certificate.
Road tax
It is paid every year when the road licence is renewed. The amount depends on the car’s CO₂ emissions in g/km: it is noticeably lower for hybrids and small petrol cars and lowest for electric cars. The Road Transport Department calculates it for each car from its emissions data. It is paid by you as the owner and is not part of the turnkey price.
What cannot be imported — and what we do not ship
- Pickups (Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton and others) cannot be registered in Cyprus, so you will not find them on our site.
- Special machinery — forklifts, cranes, excavators, bulldozers — and large commercial vehicles — trucks, tractor units, buses. We do not ship them, even when they are on the Japanese market. We specialise in passenger cars, crossovers and minivans.
The documents from Japan
Customs clearance and registration need:
- the export certificate — the Japanese document that deregisters the car for export;
- a certified translation of the export certificate, since the original is in Japanese;
- the invoice;
- the bill of lading;
- the statement on origin — for the zero duty rate.
With us the invoice, the export certificate and the bill of lading are all issued by one company — ADN Group Stock Co. — with no middlemen between you and the car. We send the export certificate to our representative in Cyprus together with its certified translation.
What to check before you pay
- Date of first registration plus 3–4 months of transit — under five years.
- Country of manufacture — it decides whether duty is 0% or 10%.
- Electric or not. Electric cars travel in a container rather than on a car carrier, so shipping costs more. We include that in the calculation.
- The auction sheet — grade, mileage and damage marks. How to read one is in our guide.
The figures on the site are a guide. Once a car is chosen, we make a real calculation: an invoice with the actual price, FOB and the exact freight based on the car’s dimensions. A difference in euro can come only from your bank’s exchange rate on the day of the transfer.
Want to check a specific car?
Open it in the catalogue — its turnkey price already includes duty, VAT and the Cyprus-side costs. Or message us, and we will check the registration date and the origin before you pay.