Guides / Caravan from Germany to UK · Updated 19 October 2026

Importing a caravan from Germany to the UK: customs, VAT and approval

Buying a touring caravan or motorhome in Germany and bringing it home to Great Britain is the reverse of the UK-to-Poland moves this site usually covers: the caravan is now the EU-origin good, and the UK is the country of import. Here is what the customs declaration, import VAT, origin preference and vehicle approval rules actually require.

Most of the caravan and motorhome guides on this site, including our own guide to moving a caravan from the UK to Poland, deal with the other direction: a British-registered unit leaving Great Britain for the EU. Buying in Germany and bringing the caravan home reverses every part of that process. The caravan becomes an EU-origin good arriving in Great Britain, Great Britain is the country of import, and it is the UK side of the paperwork — customs declaration, import VAT, origin preference and vehicle approval — that you need to get right before you register it.

Why the direction changes the paperwork

Since the end of the Brexit transition period, a caravan or motorhome crossing from Germany into Great Britain is treated as an import from outside the UK's customs territory, in the same way as any other third-country goods movement. That is true whether a dealer, a private seller or you personally are driving it across. An EORI number starting with GB is the first requirement: GOV.UK's step-by-step guide to importing goods into the UK says you will need a new EORI number if the one you hold does not already start with GB.

Making the customs declaration

GOV.UK's guidance on importing goods into the UK says that most businesses that import goods use a transporter or customs agent rather than handling the declaration themselves, and that if you appoint someone to deal with UK customs on your behalf, they make the declaration and get the goods through the border for you. You can instead complete the declaration yourself through the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), but a caravan being imported for the first time will usually also need the vehicle-approval evidence described below attached to the file, so most private importers use an agent for a one-off caravan movement rather than setting up CDS access themselves. If you are unsure whether you need help at all, see do you need a customs broker.

Import VAT, and getting it back

Import VAT becomes due when the caravan clears into free circulation in Great Britain, calculated on its customs value. If you import it as a VAT-registered business rather than as a private individual, GOV.UK's guidance confirms you can reclaim the import VAT you have paid using your Import VAT Certificate (C79), and it advises keeping your commercial invoice, customs paperwork and the C79 as your records. A private buyer bringing in a caravan for personal use has no equivalent route to recover this VAT; it is a genuine cost of the purchase, on top of whatever you paid for the caravan in Germany.

Origin preference: does the UK-EU trade deal reduce the duty?

Customs duty is a separate charge from VAT, and whether any is due depends on where the caravan was manufactured, not simply on where you bought it. GOV.UK's guidance on rules of origin under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement explains that an importer wanting the reduced or zero duty rate must claim preference on the customs declaration and hold proof that the goods meet the agreement's rules of origin before doing so. That proof takes one of two forms: a statement on origin provided by the exporter, normally on the invoice or another commercial document, and only after the exporter itself holds evidence that the goods qualify, or the importer's own knowledge, built from evidence the importer has gathered directly. GOV.UK is explicit that you must have this proof in hand before you claim preference, be able to produce it to customs on request, and keep the records for at least four years. For a caravan genuinely built by a German manufacturer, this is usually achievable by asking the dealer for a statement on origin at the point of sale; for a caravan assembled from a mix of parts, or one bought secondhand with no paperwork trail, obtaining it is harder, and without it the standard duty rate applies.

Does the caravan need UK vehicle approval?

GOV.UK's vehicle approval overview states that you must apply for vehicle approval if you have imported a vehicle, among other listed situations, though it adds that some vehicles do not need approval and points importers to a separate list of exemptions. GOV.UK's individual vehicle approval (IVA) guidance covers a single vehicle, or a very small number of them, across categories that include trailers as well as cars, goods vehicles and motor caravans, and it makes clear that the standard IVA route is for vehicles not previously registered in the UK; one that has already been registered in the UK would instead need the separate voluntary IVA scheme. A caravan or motorhome arriving fresh from Germany falls into the first group, since it has no existing UK registration.

In practice this means checking, before you commit to the purchase, whether your specific caravan already carries a valid EU whole-vehicle type-approval and Certificate of Conformity, since that is normally what an approval inspection looks for. The exemptions GOV.UK refers to, and exactly what a particular model needs, are specific enough to the caravan's age, category and manufacturer that they are worth confirming directly with DVSA before you arrange transport, rather than discovering the requirement after it has already crossed the border.

One thing that does not apply here: GOV.UK's trailer registration guidance, which some caravan owners come across when planning a trip abroad, covers only UK-registered trailers being taken out of the country to tow abroad. It has no bearing on a caravan coming into the UK from Germany, so do not confuse the two processes.

Practical checklist for importing a caravan from Germany

• Get or confirm your GB EORI number before the caravan leaves Germany.
• Decide whether you or an agent will make the UK import declaration, and arrange it in advance.
• Ask the German dealer for a statement on origin, or gather your own evidence of EU origin, if you want to claim reduced duty under the TCA.
• Check with DVSA whether your specific caravan needs individual vehicle approval, and what Certificate of Conformity or other evidence would avoid it.
• Budget for import VAT as a real cost if you are a private buyer, since there is no C79 recovery route open to you.
• Keep the invoice, origin evidence, customs paperwork and any approval certificate together; you must be able to produce origin evidence on request for four years.

Caravan importing from the EU is manageable once you separate the four questions above — declaration, VAT, duty and origin, and vehicle approval — rather than treating it as one generic task. For a walk-through specific to this route, including the DVLA registration paperwork and trailer category weights, read this guide to importing a caravan from Germany into the UK.

Related guides

• Shipping goods from Poland to Northern Ireland: VAT, XI numbers and EORI

• Statement on origin: claiming zero duty under the UK–EU TCA

• Buying from Polish suppliers: a UK importer's guide

Sources

• Import goods into the UK: step by step (GOV.UK)
• Introduction to rules of origin and claiming duties when trading between the UK and EU (GOV.UK)
• Vehicle approval (GOV.UK)
• Individual vehicle approval (GOV.UK)

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.