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Vehicle recycling fee

Still choosing a car, calculating the recycling fee, or already received a customs letter?

Choose your situation. The section below explains which documents to request from the seller, what you can check yourself and when it is better to review the documents before replying to customs.Calculate car recycling feeCalculate customs charges for personal car imports

Customs letter

First identify exactly what customs has requested

It may be a request for missing documents, an invitation to provide written explanations or a demand for additional payment. Record the exact title, number and date of the document. Then identify which information customs says is unsupported and how any additional amount was calculated.

The issue may involve more than vehicle specifications. Customs may check who is named as payer, the purpose of import, when the vehicle was sold, where it was cleared and which documents supported the original calculation.

Collect the documents

Keep the letter with all attachments and proof of the date received. Retrieve the original calculation, customs-release document, confirmation that the payment was credited, electronic vehicle passport, contracts and earlier correspondence.

Do not rush the response

Do not answer from memory. If a new explanation gives a different payer, import purpose, sale date or reason for the coefficient, compare it first with the calculation, contracts and anything already submitted to customs.

To determine what response is needed, send the letter with all attachments, proof of the date received, VIN and original calculation.

Send the letter for review

Two separate calculations

Car recycling fee and personal-import customs charges: two separate calculations

The recycling fee and customs charges use different inputs. Choose one calculation and the form will show only the questions relevant to it.

The model catalogue will populate the specifications in both calculations. The price, declaration date, route and purpose of import will remain as you entered them.

Recycling-fee data

The date is prefilled. Enter the known model year, engine and power. The calculator uses the values as entered and does not require document uploads.

What the selected route means

Already assumed: the vehicle is registered to the payer and is not sold during the first 12 months. If that is not correct, change the conditions below.

Change reduced-coefficient conditions
Vehicle VIN check before calculating the recycling fee
The calculation is checked against the documents for that specific vehicle

Before filing the calculation

Why identical cars can have different recycling fees

Two vehicles of the same model can produce different amounts. Start with the documents, not the engine: identify the payer, the buyer and the person responsible for import. Then check the customs-release document. It shows where the vehicle was cleared and under which procedure.

Then compare the VIN, category, year, engine, power and other technical data. Use the documents for that specific vehicle, not an advert or the description of a similar trim. If the vehicle was cleared in another EAEU state, the electronic vehicle passport alone may not show the full import history.

Also note the date of the calculation and the purpose of import. These details can affect the result more than the vehicle specifications. An online calculator does not verify them; it only recalculates the data entered.

VIN check

Check not only the VIN, but the vehicle's path from import to sale

The same number appearing in every document does not by itself confirm that the calculation is correct. Check whether the release, payment, electronic vehicle passport and contracts relate to the same vehicle and the same chain of transactions.

Start with the customs-release document. Check the VIN, clearance date, country and procedure used. Then review the recycling-fee calculation. It should identify the same vehicle, payer and characteristics used to arrive at the amount.

A receipt or payment order confirms that money was transferred, but it may not show that the payment was credited to this VIN and this calculation. The electronic vehicle passport does not replace the other documents either: it contains vehicle and current-status data, but not the full file on which the recycling fee was calculated.

The payer and the current seller may be different people. That is not necessarily an error, but the contracts and dates should show how the vehicle passed from one owner to the next.

Discrepancies to clarify with the seller

Money may have been paid, but the documents do not show which calculation it was applied to. The electronic vehicle passport identifies the vehicle, but the seller does not provide the customs-release document. Contracts exist, yet the dates do not show when the vehicle was sold after import or who owned it at each stage.

So ask not for a generic 'proof that the recycling fee was paid', but for the calculation for the specific VIN, the customs-release document, evidence that the payment was credited, and the contracts tracing the vehicle from the payer to the current seller.

If customs has already contacted you

The document type points to the next step

Open the first page and read the entire document, including its attachments. Keep the original calculation and earlier correspondence beside it; they can show when the discrepancy first appeared.

If customs is requesting documents, it may not yet have reached a final conclusion. The response should explain what each document proves, not simply attach as much as possible. A large unexplained archive may still fail to answer the question asked.

If the document already states an additional amount due, find the attached calculation and the reason the amount changed. Check more than the arithmetic. The issue may concern the payer, purpose of import, vehicle specifications, sale date or release documents from another state. New explanations should not contradict what has already been submitted to customs.

A court decision or bailiff order means ordinary correspondence with customs is no longer enough. Establish whether the case was heard with your participation, where notices were sent, when you received the document and what materials support the claim. Only then can you decide what to file next and what deadline remains.

Before payment

What to clarify about the recycling fee

If the recycling fee has already been paid, does that mean the calculation was checked?

No. Payment only proves that money was transferred. It does not show that the vehicle data and coefficient are correct. Check the calculation, customs-release document, payment crediting, electronic vehicle passport and contracts separately.

Can I pay now and review the calculation later?

Sometimes payment is made before the dispute is resolved. Before paying, identify exactly what has been sent to you, check the calculation and keep the documents that may be needed to challenge the amount or seek a refund.

Do I need to collect every document straight away?

Not always. For an initial review, a letter or demand, proof of the date received, the VIN, the original calculation, the customs-release document and the latest correspondence are usually enough. The remaining documents can be gathered once the reason for the issue is clear.

Is the electronic vehicle passport alone enough before purchase?

No. It is important, but it does not contain the full recycling-fee calculation, the customs-release document or every contract in the vehicle's sale chain. Ask for those separately before paying a deposit.

You can start without the full archive

Send what you already have

If you have not bought the vehicle yet, send the VIN and the seller's calculation. If a document has already arrived, send its first page and the date received. That is enough to identify the next documents needed and whether you can prepare the response yourself.

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