A new way to import used cars has appeared in the Customs Union

Even despite the increasing environmental requirements for cars imported into Russia and the increasing cost of customs clearance, the number of people wishing to purchase them is increasing from year to year.

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After all, car prices in the USA and Japan are among the lowest in the world. Russians often deliver them to the country through Kazakhstan, because there is a simplified import procedure there.

Tip two

Having registered your car with the Russian traffic police (MREO), be sure to obtain transit insurance for driving through the territory of the Russian Federation . As we have already written, it is better to purchase such insurance from an insurance company whose office is located as far as possible from the traffic police building. Otherwise, you will have to seriously overpay for it.

To obtain insurance at reasonable prices, we recommend that you contact the offices: https://www.ingos.ru/ru/company/office/. Find out their opening hours in advance, especially on Saturday and Sunday.

By the way, keep in mind: due to the peculiarities of the policy of the Russian Union of Auto Insurers (RUA), insurance companies officially have nothing to do with issuing transit insurance. That is, in this case, employees actually work for free. This is why insurers are very reluctant to issue transit insurance. And those who are ready to do this “quickly and without unnecessary questions” can charge up to 4 thousand rubles (about 12 thousand tenge) for their services.

To make the girls who make policies treat you more kindly, buy them something tasty “for tea” - for example, a box of good chocolates or a fresh cake. And it’s even better if your gift has a national flavor - that is, it was brought from Kazakhstan. The price of these sweets is almost symbolic, but you will be greeted differently.

How much does customs clearance of a car from Kazakhstan cost?

The cost of customs clearance of a car is influenced by the following factors:

• vehicle age: new, 1-3 years, 3-5 years, 5-7 years, over 7 years;
• car engine type: diesel, gasoline, electric, hybrid;
• type of vehicle: cargo (carrying capacity is taken into account), passenger car;
• legal status of the buyer - legal entity or individual;
• the country in which the product was produced (in Russian cars the tariff is 1 euro per 1 cm³ of engine volume).

As you can see, the cheapest option would be a small car between three and five years old, purchased by an individual for personal use. For individuals there is one customs rate - UTS (unified tariff schedule), and for legal entities there is another - STP (total customs payment).

The Customs Code does not impose additional taxes on cars registered in Kazakhstan and other member countries of the customs union. You will only need to pay for paperwork and travel to the place of purchase of the car, as well as transportation to the territory of our country.

Tip three

Having registered your car with the MREO and purchased Russian transit insurance, you can safely go home. But pay attention to a few nuances. ➢ Don’t forget to attach the transit signs to the regular places for the license plates - for this you will need four standard plastic zip ties. If you do not do this in advance, you may be fined 5 thousand rubles (about 15 thousand tenge). ➢ On the territory of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan at any time of the day you must drive with your low beams on ! ➢ When buying a car in Russia, we recommend that you also update your fire extinguisher, first aid kit and warning triangle . If the car does not have this kit or one of its components is expired, then traffic cops (both Russian and Kazakh) can find fault with this, which will result in a substantial fine.

➢ If you drive a car in winter, then make sure that the car has winter tires . In Kazakhstan, there are sections of the road where there is bare ice on the road for several hundred kilometers in the steppe zone. There are also serious changes in the road (blizzard), during which visibility is reduced to 10 meters.

How much does it cost to clear a car through customs in 2021?

Immediately after the signing of the official agreement between the two countries, the conditions and requirements for crossing the border were significantly simplified. At the same time, the procedure and rules for staying in the countries were significantly simplified. Here are the most important requirements and travel rules:

1. Previously, it was necessary to apply for a visa, but currently it is only required to have a personal civil passport and a document that confirms the fact of citizenship.
2. Travel to the countries is allowed free of charge.
3. If a person drives a car, he will need to take care of purchasing special car insurance.

To significantly simplify the procedure for crossing the border, you should choose the crossing checkpoint in Isilkul. In other words, you can save personal time and money only when traveling through the Omsk region.

When crossing the border, you must have with you a document that will officially prove your identity. This can be not only a regular passport, but the following important papers:

• Specialized service passport;
• Diplomatic ID;
• Seaman's passport;
• Birth certificate for children.

Important!

It is necessary to monitor the current validity periods of documents. Failure to comply with this rule may result in denial of entry or fines.

In some cases, a foreign passport may be required. These are the situations:

1. Planned stay for more than 90 days. This is usually required to work or obtain a more thorough residence permit.
2. Presence of a transit travel visa for travel to another country.
3. There is no need to stay in the republic for more than 5 days.
4. No Russian citizenship.

Lack of documents may be regarded as illegal border crossing.

For border crossing to be considered illegal, the following circumstances must be present:

• Transition to a site that does not have the required customs control;
• Providing false documents;
• Use of papers and certificates of third parties.

For these violations you can receive quite serious fines. Sanctions can only be avoided if there is proven negligence, for example, if a person gets lost.

If during the proceedings a violation is proven, the court will impose a hefty fine and even imprisonment for up to a year.

If a violation is detected among a group of people, the term of imprisonment can automatically be increased to 5 years. A fine and a violation are not enough. Violators are included in a special database. There will be no ban in the future.

Regardless of the chosen checkpoint, a person must go through the following procedure:

1. Passport standard control and customs check. Moreover, this needs to be done on both sides.
2. A visual thorough check of the passport is carried out. If everything is fine with this document, everything is carried out without any problems.
3. When passing through the required control at customs, the emphasis is on checking citizens. Customs officers are looking for prohibited items that cannot be brought into the country. The cargo is checked for the volume and quantity of imported cargo.
4. A special migration card must be filled out. The necessary information must be written in Kazakh, Russian and English.

There is no need to search for forms yourself. They are issued by border guards. The information concerns personal data, purpose of arrival and departure period. If children are traveling with an adult, information about them is included in the card.

The paper should be kept until departure.

This document may be required by employees of responsible services during their stay in the country and is provided upon departure.

There are several situations in which you do not need to fill out a migration card:

• Availability of a guest or tourist visa;
• Planned stay in the country for up to 5 days;
• A person passes through Kazakhstan in transit;
• The passport has been registered with the Ministry of Affairs of Kazakhstan;
• Have a residence permit or citizenship.

The law allows 10 days for registration. Without this paper, it is permissible to stay in the country for no more than five days. Even if you have a correctly completed card, you can stay for no more than 30 days. If a person plans to stay in the country for a longer period of time, for example, three months, he will need to obtain a temporary residence permit.

Border crossing

a radar detector with you (buy or borrow from friends) - this is a very useful thing that will help you save money on the road. ➢ If you travel to the Russian Federation using an internal document (identity card), then when leaving Kazakhstan you will have to fill out a migration card , on which the border guards must put their stamp. Be sure to save this card, because when you cross the Russian-Kazakh border again, you will be asked for it back.

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A friend of our site, Bakhtiyor Iskhakov, decided to buy a car in Russia and drive it to Kazakhstan. And he was going to do it personally. On the road, he needed a travel companion, and he called with him our restless photographer Viktor Magdeev, who had just completed a hitchhiking trip around the country as part of the “Road” project. Let's give the floor to Bakhtiyor.

The idea about the haul arose in my head immediately after I had already definitely decided to buy this particular car. I also remember that on that day they announced to me that I had every chance of becoming a three-time father. My close friend Shukhrat wrote to me on Skype, we have known each other since the first grade of school, we were inseparable. We sat at the same desk throughout our school years, went to sports clubs, and even began a working career in a Moscow company, where he works to this day. Shukhrat boasted that yesterday he bought a new car at a bargain price. When I asked what happened to the old one, he said that he was going to sell it. Word for word, in the end it turned out that Shukhrat decided to sell me the car at a very favorable price! Let's just say, 35 percent below the market price.

After analyzing car prices in Almaty and receiving advice from the tax committee regarding duties, I definitely decided to purchase this particular car. Let me clarify that within the framework of the Customs Union, all goods purchased in the Russian Federation and Belarus are subject to VAT in the amount of 12% of the cost. Attention! Before purchasing, do not forget to check the purchased car for certification in a standard not lower than Euro 4. That is, the engine must comply with the Euro 4 standard, and not lower. You can check the list of cars by VIN CODE on the Internet or contact the traffic police for help.

Having completed all the above-mentioned manipulations and calculated the costs, I began to think about the possibility of transporting the car to Almaty. I called and left requests for all transport companies in Almaty and Moscow that I could find. Not everyone responded. The best price for delivery was offered by a certain Moscow company. I found them on the website “perevezi.rf”, which works on the principle of a tender. You leave a request indicating the route, cargo and the amount you want to spend, and companies offer their services as part of your request. The cheapest shipping rate was $1650. They promised to deliver in two weeks, but after reading the reviews and the company’s standard contract, I realized that the deadline announced was not entirely realistic. There was a risk of waiting for the car for up to 30 days.

Attention! The conditions for paying duty on imported cars into the Republic of Kazakhstan within the Customs Union are such that I must pay VAT by the 20th of the next month from the date of concluding the sales contract. And according to the experience of knowledgeable people, there is a possibility that a car in a car transporter may be damaged along the way. According to the contract, transport workers are not responsible for this, because the cargo must be insured. That's about $400 more. Having added up and analyzed everything, including the route, I decided to move the car myself. And, to be honest, I really missed Moscow; after all, 10 years of my life passed in this city.

This idea was now supported by my colleague on the crossing, Kairat. He studied at the Ryazan Airborne Forces School and, when he found out that we would be passing through Ryazan, he readily agreed! We set a date and got ready to hit the road!

We arrived in Moscow at 9 am on a flight from our national carrier. I will immediately describe the expenses: 45,000 tenge. tickets (for convenience – $300). We were met at Sheremetyevo airport by the “salesman” Shukhrat. We reached the city quite quickly. Breakfast cost $50. They took the car, it had already been deregistered in advance. We took the car in for diagnostics ($150), after which we headed to the Moscow auto center on Kashirskoe Highway. We drew up a purchase and sale agreement ($50), insurance ($150), bought a spare wheel there ($300) and every little thing (radar detector, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, etc.) - another $200.

The total cost before leaving Moscow was $1,200. After resting for another day after the flight, we hit the road! We determined the following route: Ryazan – Penza – Syzran – Tolyatti – Ufa – Troitsk (Chelyabinsk) – Kostanay – Astana – Karaganda – Balkhash – Almaty. The distance on the map is 4200 km. The start was from the center of Moscow, from Vasilyevsky Spusk. The departure was scheduled for 6 a.m. in order to avoid Moscow traffic jams.

The first 300 km were a breeze. We drove approximately this far to the first big city after Moscow. Using the navigator, they set the route to the Airborne Forces School, as I promised Kairat, and he himself quite quickly began to remember the route to the places of his military glory. He somehow negotiated at the checkpoint, and he was allowed inside alone. What was there - only he knows. About thirty minutes later, Kairat came out happy and sad at the same time; according to him, he realized that everything except the mosaic floor in the barracks had changed. We had lunch at McDonald's in Ryazan ($30) and hit the road with $30 worth of gas.

The next “berth” and dinner were near Penza, the distance from Ryazan is about 450 km. By dinner we drove through Penza. It was possible to take the bypass, but we took the risk through the city and got stuck in a traffic jam. The road through the city took a whole hour, although it was possible to drive along the bypass in about fifteen minutes. But we liked the city - very green and clean. We took a couple of shots and went outside.

Somewhere near Penza we saw an extraordinary roadside cafe with a fashionable inscription: “Free Wi-Fi and barbecue.” Let's just say this marketing ploy hooked us.

We ordered three servings of shish kebab and asked for the Wi-Fi password. I’ll be honest: I was very upset when they brought the hastily heated coals of meat.

Yes, and Wi-Fi was only a name. In short, it was a scam! Spent $40 on dinner that we didn't eat. There were about 200 km left to Syzran, and it was already about 9 o’clock in the evening.

By 12 o'clock at night we entered Syzran. We went to the first hotel we came across, “Energetik”. The hotel doors were closed, and after several minutes of knocking, two ladies finally opened the door for us. When I asked if there were any rooms available, they answered that there were and clarified how many of us there were and what the composition was. When I answered that we were three guys, one lady laughed (I still don’t understand the reason for her laughter). After they told me the price, I wanted to see the room, to which the lady’s laughter turned into hysterics. The second lady who negotiated with me offered to go to another hotel...

In general, we felt that we no longer liked it here, and left in search of another hotel. Quite quickly we found a place called “Chaika”. We rented a triple room for the night for $100 without any problems, interrogations or wild hysteria from the employees.

At 6.30 the alarm rang, we got ready and left the hotel. The morning city turned out to be no better than the night city, so we decided to leave it quickly. Next on the way was Tolyatti, but we decided not to visit it, since we planned to cross the border that night. Every minute counted. We had breakfast at a roadside cafe for $25, the food was quite tasty and filling. There were about 400 km left to Ufa. After consulting with our comrades, we decided to stop in Ufa for lunch.

On the way we passed a dam and a hydroelectric power station.

After a number of cities, the navigator brought us to “Mega” in Ufa, where we again refreshed ourselves with hamburgers at McDonald’s for $30.

After some 150–200 km from Ufa, we noticed a sharp change in the natural landscape. The Chelyabinsk forests and mountains that we passed through were mesmerizing! Yes, yes, after Ufa we stopped in the Chelyabinsk region. Because of the beautiful landscape “overboard,” we did not notice how quickly we ended up in Troitsk, near Chelyabinsk, because the border of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan passes through this city. I’ll say right away that I now have not the best associations with this city, since 40 km before the border I “caught” three potholes and damaged the tires on the right side. But we were in a hurry and didn’t attach any importance to it.

At the Russian border we stood in line for about an hour. Russian customs officers and border guards quickly checked our documents and allowed us into the neutral zone to the Kazakh border. I had to stand in front of the border of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the same amount of time. To be honest, the organization of our border leaves much to be desired. We spent more time going through passport control. We crossed only two borders in 3 hours and at three in the morning we were on our home territory.

It turns out that when crossing the border on the Kazakh side, you must present a ticket for crossing the border by car. We didn't have that. Nobody told us about him! I was helped by a copy of my passport about crossing the border and receipts from gas stations in Troitsk and Kostanay.

We were heading to Kostanay. There were about 150 km left. We arrived in the city at 6 am. It didn’t take long to find a hotel, because Viktor Magdeev knew the right place to stay for the night. Having paid 18,000 tenge, we checked into a triple room and passed out from fatigue. At 12 o'clock we woke up, had lunch at a hotel restaurant, spent 4000 tenge, and rushed to Astana.

Before leaving, we checked the tires and found damage in the form of a “hernia” on the tires on the right side. Because of this, I had to drive to Astana at a speed of no more than 100 km/h.

On the way to Astana, another funny incident happened to us. A man caught up with us and demanded compensation for the fact that a stone flew out from under the wheels of our car and hit his windshield.

This is the same windshield where the pebble allegedly hit. We refused to pay.

Around 11 at night we entered the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana! There were 1250 km left to Almaty. In Astana I replaced all four wheels. The selection of spare parts here leaves much to be desired. After driving around half the city, I finally found suitable tires. The issue price is 140,000 tenge. per set.

We left Astana at one o'clock in the afternoon. On the way out of town we had an inevitable meeting! Having traveled 3200 km from Moscow, we practically forgot about the traffic police. I note that we were stopped not because of a violation, but simply for verification, because the license plates are foreign. It immediately became clear that we did not have Kazakh insurance. Having paid a fine on the spot in the amount of 3000 tenge, we moved on. In Karaganda they provided insurance for 10 days for 500 tenge.

Near Karaganda there was a second meeting with our zholpol. Here the fine was already an order of magnitude higher. Having parted with 5000 tenge, we rushed towards Balkhash! The night halt was planned in this city. We decided that we would spend the night in the car. At dawn we continued our journey to Almaty. The last 300 km were very difficult.

The road was terribly broken, but the thought that there was very little left did not leave us. We were in such a hurry to get to Almaty that we didn’t slow down even on bad roads, and, to be honest, this was the biggest stupidity. The last kilometers of the journey did their job - the very next day diagnostics revealed damage to the steering and chassis of the car.

To summarize, I spent about $500 on gasoline from Moscow to Almaty. The remaining expenses incurred are described above.

But the main thing is that the car was delivered safe and sound (in general). Remember what I wrote at the beginning of the report that I would soon become a dad for the third time? So, this car is my gift to my wife for this!

And this information will be useful for those who decide to follow my example.

To get the car customs cleared, I contacted the tax office at my place of residence, the department of the Customs Union, where you can get an electronic key. There are also freelance accountants there who offer their services to submit a report on a special form for paying duties on imported cars. The cost of services is $300, this amount also includes the payment of an independent appraiser. It turned out that our tax authorities, to be on the safe side, ask us to evaluate the car and attach the document to the purchase and sale agreement. The duty amount is 12% of the price of the car at its estimated value.

The following documents are required for customs clearance:

1. A sales contract certified by a notary or a consignment store.
2. Deregister and receive transit numbers.
3. Make a note in the PTS (vehicle passport) that you are the owner of the car (this is done in a consignment store when drawing up a sales contract).
4. Border clearance certificate for an imported vehicle.
5. An independent car appraisal commission (the goal is to estimate the cost).
6. Tax reporting form 320.00
7. Receipt of payment of a fee in the amount of 12% VAT on the cost of the assessment commission.

The duty has already been paid at Halyk Bank, after the money reaches the personal account, they must issue a certificate stating that everything has been paid and there are no problems with importation. Based on this certificate, you need to undergo certification by the State Traffic Inspectorate to ensure that the car complies with the Euro 4 standard. After this, you will need to return to the tax office again to pay the tax for the car. And then, at the UDP, register the car in the Republic of Kazakhstan and receive the coveted number and registration certificate.