Driving to Cyprus

[avington]

I have re-located to Cyprus, the climate and ambience of the Country suits family life. I planned to bring my car over for 12 months, under the European Convention of open borders.

My biggest obstacle was a suitable car ferry with passengers, which having researched for the last 3 months, none exist. The so called Greece Ferry is in fact a Cargo Ship which only ships vehicles without passengers, so that was a no no.

I was close to giving up, when I stumbled on a website which ships cargo weekly to Limassol. They have space for 12 vehicles and passengers and I was fortunate to secure a booking from Salerno to Limassol.

Im travelling next week but I have one concern on landing at Limassol. I have been informed (right or wrong) that I have to pay import taxes. I have no intention to import my vehicle, I am using for approx 6 months to drive around Cyprus and returning back to UK.

I understood the European Convention gives me freedom of movement anywhere in the European Community, with no borders or hindrance. If I am to be penalised with taxes at the port of entry this is in contravention of European Law, comments would be appreciated.

If anyone wants further details of the Cargo Shipping Company, please feel free to contact me at anytime

regards
avington

[AradippouTales]

Originally Posted by avington

I was close to giving up, when I stumbled on a website which ships cargo weekly to Limassol. They have space for 12 vehicles and passengers and I was fortunate to secure a booking from Salerno to Limassol.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with the Grimaldi Freighter. People we know are thinking of coming over with a large vehicle late this year and this is one of the routes that they are considering.

Mands

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by AradippouTales

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with the Grimaldi Freighter. People we know are thinking of coming over with a large vehicle late this year and this is one of the routes that they are considering.

Mands

We came from Southampton to Limassol 2 years ago with Grimaldi, excellent trip, basic food, acceptable accommodation and lovely crew, two weeks of relaxation with visits to various ports that the ship stopped at. Nightmare started when we arrived, 8 hours trying to get cars through customs and a cash payout of over 600 Euros required just to get out of the port. Hopefully things might have changed and perhaps someone has more up to date information. on this As to the travel with Grimaldi I would recommend it as a lovely way to arrive.

[avington]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

We came from Southampton to Limassol 2 years ago with Grimaldi, excellent trip, basic food, acceptable accommodation and lovely crew, two weeks of relaxation with visits to various ports that the ship stopped at. Nightmare started when we arrived, 8 hours trying to get cars through customs and a cash payout of over 600 Euros required just to get out of the port. Hopefully things might have changed and perhaps someone has more up to date information. on this As to the travel with Grimaldi I would recommend it as a lovely way to arrive.

Thank you for your replies, the same topic comes up in all the answers " Custom Taxes " or should I call it "Pocket Taxes "

Cyprus is a member of the European Community and as such its borders should be unrestricted at all times. Charging EEC citizens taxes to enter the Country is against the law, did anyone raise this with the Custom officers at the time.

I am about to travel in a weeks time, I have been reliably informed that nothing has changed in regards the " Pocket Tax " ... I will make some enquiries with an associate I know from the European Parliament in regards taxes on borders.

[AradippouTales]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

We came from Southampton to Limassol 2 years ago with Grimaldi, excellent trip, basic food, acceptable accommodation and lovely crew, two weeks of relaxation with visits to various ports that the ship stopped at. Nightmare started when we arrived, 8 hours trying to get cars through customs and a cash payout of over 600 Euros required just to get out of the port. Hopefully things might have changed and perhaps someone has more up to date information. on this As to the travel with Grimaldi I would recommend it as a lovely way to arrive.

Hi Mycroft,

Thanks for the info on Grimaldi :-)

I feel your pain regarding Limassol customs. We drove from the UK and made the last hop on a Louis Line ship with a car deck that has subsequently been scrapped. Our car was impounded because the paperwork was considered to be too difficult to complete on a Friday afternoon when everyone wanted to go home.

As you say, perhaps things have changed now.
Mands

[AradippouTales]

Originally Posted by avington

Cyprus is a member of the European Community and as such its borders should be unrestricted at all times. Charging EEC citizens taxes to enter the Country is against the law

In my experience, having lived here for four years, the quickest way to a nervous breakdown here is to go down the "Should be" route. The Cypriots will do what the Cypriots want to do.

When they introduced temporary new restrictions a year or two ago regarding who was permitted to buy property our solicitor agreed that it was illegal. His suggestion was that we should sue the government via the European Courts. We chose not to, instead using a loophole to get to where we wanted to be. Same final result, significantly less time, cost and angst.

One of the soft costs of living here is finding a way to cope with local bureaucracy. I find that it helps to accept that, to a greater or lesser extent, it impacts Cypriots also. There was an extensive survey last year regarding the difficulties of dealing with official and government bodies: Cypriots were reported as agreeing that often it is who you know that determines how quickly or easily things get done.

The EU is busy fining Cyprus for all manner of breaches of EU law and regulation. Perhaps that'll change the mindset, but it seems unlikely. What we are seeing is costs being passed on to consumers to cover the fines, as with EAC bills.

For anyone with a penchant for tilting at windmills there are plenty of targets here :-)

Enjoy the Grimaldi trip. As I said, I'd be interested to hear how it goes.
Mands

[avington]

Originally Posted by AradippouTales

Hi Mycroft,

Thanks for the info on Grimaldi :-)

I feel your pain regarding Limassol customs. We drove from the UK and made the last hop on a Louis Line ship with a car deck that has subsequently been scrapped. Our car was impounded because the paperwork was considered to be too difficult to complete on a Friday afternoon when everyone wanted to go home.

As you say, perhaps things have changed now.
Mands

A question came to mind, were you importing your car or just visiting at the time. Visiting another European Country there certainly no paperwork to complete when driving across borders, importing that is another matter which I am not familiar with.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by avington

A question came to mind, were you importing your car or just visiting at the time. Visiting another European Country there certainly no paperwork to complete when driving across borders, importing that is another matter which I am not familiar with.

We were actually importing two cars and had the impertinence to land after 1300 when the customs office closes, silly us. So had to pay their over time payments as well. Other than that I have to say that all (with one exception) of the officials we have had to deal with over the two years have been generally very helpful, if slow. For other information there are now Citizens Service Centres in most towns who are extremely helpful as the first port of call for most of the government type inquiries. i.e. immigration, etc.

For any one travelling via Grimaldi, enjoy the trip, if possible get the 'Owners Cabin' which has a sitting room and outside port hole, take lots of books and DVD's. We left a English Scrabble game on the ship we came out on, but there are usually lots of jigsaws, as TV is very limited. And as an extra bonus mobile phones only work when in site of land.

[AradippouTales]

Originally Posted by avington

A question came to mind, were you importing your car or just visiting at the time. Visiting another European Country there certainly no paperwork to complete when driving across borders, importing that is another matter which I am not familiar with.

We were importing.
Mands

[avington]

Originally Posted by AradippouTales

In my experience, having lived here for four years, the quickest way to a nervous breakdown here is to go down the "Should be" route. The Cypriots will do what the Cypriots want to do.

When they introduced temporary new restrictions a year or two ago regarding who was permitted to buy property our solicitor agreed that it was illegal. His suggestion was that we should sue the government via the European Courts. We chose not to, instead using a loophole to get to where we wanted to be. Same final result, significantly less time, cost and angst.

One of the soft costs of living here is finding a way to cope with local bureaucracy. I find that it helps to accept that, to a greater or lesser extent, it impacts Cypriots also. There was an extensive survey last year regarding the difficulties of dealing with official and government bodies: Cypriots were reported as agreeing that often it is who you know that determines how quickly or easily things get done.

The EU is busy fining Cyprus for all manner of breaches of EU law and regulation. Perhaps that'll change the mindset, but it seems unlikely. What we are seeing is costs being passed on to consumers to cover the fines, as with EAC bills.

For anyone with a penchant for tilting at windmills there are plenty of targets here :-)

Enjoy the Grimaldi trip. As I said, I'd be interested to hear how it goes.
Mands

Thanks for the info, I managed to put my case forward to a contact of mine in the EU, confirmed verbally that any form of taxes is illegal and most probably I am correct the taxes are certainly not directed to the government coffers!

I have raised the query and the following reply confirms they are taking it seriously ....

Case_ID: 0297123 / 402889] - DRIVING TO CYPRUS
Friday, 30 July, 2010 14:09

This is an automated message.
Please do not reply.

Thank you for your e-mail. We expect to respond in three working days on average. For more complex or specific queries, responses may take longer.

With kind regards,

In the meantime I will keep you all posted, I plan to arrive +/- 16th August at the port of Limassol, I have no intention of paying taxes ... bookmark this thread !

regards ..... avington

ps: If they think ... having been a veteran of the 1974 conflict, customs can line their coffers with my hard earned cash ..... they can think again