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Overseas Motorcycle Delivery
Could This Be You?
Can you still pick up your new bike at the factory door?
It was one of the greatest scams ever and it was completely legal. Once upon a time, it was actually possible to beat the taxman if you wanted to buy a new European or American motorcycle. You ordered your bike through your local dealer and the Australian importer, but you specified delivery at the factory. Then, with the money you saved on the Australian price of the bike, you flew to Europe or the USA and rode the machine around a bit before returning and having the bike shipped back for you.
Ah, what a way to go, and all at the taxpayer’s (sorry, the taxman’s) expense.
Brett Findlay from Narrabri in NSW has obviously
| | heard of this, so he sandwiched a simple question between compliments about ARR: can it still be done? Do you know if any of the European bike manufacturers, especially BMW, offer discounts for factory purchase and pick-up as they do for tin-tops? It could be just the excuse I need to head to Europe for a few weeks. Like I said, your mag
is inspirational.”
With a letter like that, what could we do but chase the facts for him? Unfortunately, the news is not good.
For a start, there were never discounts. All you got was tax breaks. Then the financial advantage evaporated with the introduction of the GST, as the taxes you used to save were abolished. And then the distributors, faced by lack of demand, began to cancel the schemes. Reasonable enough — who wants to run something (at some expense and effort) if nobody uses it?
So has anyone kept the facility?
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| | At BMW Australia, Cameron Cuthill had bad news, with a very careful and thorough explanation. He also pointed out that, as far as he knew, European delivery is not done with tin-tops any more, either, Brett.
“Reintroduction of the ‘European Delivery’ has been discussed and we (Australia) would still like to be able to offer it, but if it ever happens it will actually be substantially more expensive than purchasing a bike here, not least because of the significant extra handling costs.
“At present we order on AG [BMW Germany], they fill a container at the factory and send us one invoice for the contents. All bikes are brand new and approved clean etc
for customs. The system is very streamlined.
“With a Euro delivery the process would require (at least) additional: pulling of an Australian-spec bike out of the process / transport to a local dealer or point for assembly / different individual customs certification, rather than bulk electronic ‘paperwork’ / Euro registration for a non-Euro-certified (?) bike / Euro deregistration / Euro tax payment collection (to stop tax-free sale in Europe prior to departure) / Euro tax refund if applicable on bike return / special insurance / (Carnet?) / cleaning / draining of some fluids / disassembly / recrating / creation of importation paperwork for a used motorcycle / inspection / plus plus plus and all the customer care that goes along with this...
“Then, once the bike got to Australia, the dealer would still have to do at least the same prep (and more paperwork for the entire purchase process) as for a new bike. As an importer, we would never sell direct, only via the dealer network, so the dealer would still need to
cover costs.
“If we could do it, it would now only make economic sense if you were going to Europe for a reasonable time (two months or more) and could offset bike rental for an equivalent period against the increased costs. This still accounts for a significant number of requests we get, but at present Germany doesn’t have the resource/space/system allocated to do it, so I can’t see it happening for us in the near future.”
PS Importers’ Simon Gloyne had not only all the facts but all the initials, too, but he can’t see it being done for either Triumph or Piaggio.
“The UK does not offer a temporary registration for OS bikes and an AU spec bike won’t comply with UK regulations, therefore you can’t get full registration, either,” he writes. “You also can’t find out the VIN and put an AU plate in your luggage because we have to submit our commercial invoices to NEVDIS for listing on a VIN database. If it is not on NEVDIS, the RTAs of this world won’t allow it to be registered.”
Simon did have another suggestion that makes a lot
of sense.
“Looks like it might be a case of buying a bike there and selling it on departure,” he wrote, “or buying used and importing into Australia. If the bike is over 15 years old, you don’t need to comply with the usual ownership requirements (12 months ownership prior to application to import) but you’ll still need to convert to ADR compliance once it arrives here. A 30+-year-old bike is even easier. Go to this link for importing advice: www.dotars.gov.au/transport/safety/road/bulletin/importing.aspx.”
Checking the link is especially good advice because it will keep you updated on any changes to the law.
It isn’t just Europe that’s canned the scheme. Harley-Davidson was one of the manufacturers that had a delivery scheme, but “the US stopped factory deliveries a few years ago”, according to H-D Australia’s Adrian O’Donoughue.
There is, however, a ray of hope on the horizon for anyone wanting to buy a new bike. It comes from Bologna.
“Currently, Ducati does not have a Euro purchase or delivery plan,” wrote Ducati Australia’s Warren Lee, “but they are working toward it and it could be in place by mid-2007, which just happens to coincide with WDW2007 (World Ducati Week)!”
All right — we’ve left the best news until last! It is, in fact, possible to collect an Australian-spec Moto Guzzi from the factory. It isn’t easy; there are registration problems in Italy, but you should be able to get what importer John Sample Group’s John Currao calls “partial registration” and there may be some other work-arounds as well. You’ll need to be keen, Brett, but it can be done!
It can also be done with Aprilia, but their systems make it more difficult. You’ll have to be even keener! Call John Sample Group on 02 9772 2666 for the latest information and they’ll steer you to the best Australian dealer to make
the arrangements.
But, whatever you do, don’t expect to save any serious money (except insofar as you won’t need to rent a bike). The tax loophole has been well and truly closed. |
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