Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rockwell Bergstrom]

Hi

My brother-in-law has asked me about purchasing a car for him in the States and then having it shipped here.

Does anyone know anything about the tax implications or the shipping costs?

Thanks

[frankhenry]

Perhaps you could just drive the car over to Korea. The gas would probably be less than the taxes!

[Rockwell Bergstrom]

I thought about that but he doesn't want me to put any miles on the car.

Seriously though, I was hoping that if the car was registered under my name and shipped out later there might be little if any tax implications.

[frankhenry]

Hi Rockwell,

I was just joking around.

Unless it is a car of really high value, the shipping expense probably won�t offset the value of the car. Then, my understanding is the taxes are on scale with the value of the item. Perhaps someone will chime in that can give you a direct answer.

[contrarian]

I would suggest that is a very bad plan. The only exception is that US military and diplomatis are allowed to buy tax free cars here without US taxes. (BMWs are popular).

A US Army friend of mine bought a nice 700 series BMW and then was transferred to Italy. They put the darn thing on a big air transport and flew it to Italy for him. [He is a full Colonel in the medical corps, so that must mean something.]

If you are wondering, I went to church with him.

[Rockwell Bergstrom]

After doing some research for the last hour on the web, I found that the tax on vehicles brought in is roughly 34 percent of the value.

I'm going to ask him to go down to a dealership here and price the car he is interested in and compare the difference with the price of the car in the States plus the 34 percent.

[SeoulFinn]

What kind of a car your b-in-l is looking for? If it doesn't have to be brand new and American made... I heard that couple year old cars with all the possible goodies on them are quite cheap in Japan. As far as I remember, the low price has something to do with taxation/insurance/check-up costs of older cars in Japan. And I think that shipping a car from Japan should be cheap too. (Sorry, I'm not helpful at all.)

[SuperFly]

I might be wrong about this. My wife worked for a shipping company in the states for almost seven years, when we decided to come back to korea about 8 months ago, she told me that we could ship a car (one car) without paying a lot of tax because I was an American citizen and we were moving our household goods overseas etc. She said that it was a one time deal and applicable to only one car. (Via container ship)

I assume she was right because she worked in the industry.

[Rockwell Bergstrom]

Superfly,

That's what I was initially hoping might be the case. I guess I'm going to have to get on the phone and call customs and ask about that

[Rockwell Bergstrom]

He's looking for a new Benz.

[kat2]

That "moving house" tax free bit is only good for 90 days after your entry stamp. So, you might want to get on that. I still think the cost of shipping might be prohibitive.

[Rockwell Bergstrom]

If the 90-day thing is true, we're out of luck I think. I've been here over a year with most of the time on an F-2.

[kat2]

Call customs. It might be different for those on F visas. I'm on an E2.

[I-am-me]

Military contractor friend got a quote for about $7000 to bring car over.

[Cheonmunka]

I really love the new Mustangs.