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Duty and VAT on an imported car in Serbia: customs value and rates

On a used car bought in Germany, Serbia charges duty of 0% with proof of EU preferential origin, otherwise 12.5% (5% for a fully electric car), and 20% VAT on the customs value plus the duty. The customs value is based on the price actually paid, plus transport and insurance up to the border if the price does not include them. Customs also charge a fee on the car as future waste: 14.58 RSD per kg of its mass in 2026. There is no excise, and the 2.5% transfer tax is not charged on an import.

How the customs value is set

The customs value is the price actually paid for the car; on an export sale without German VAT, that is the net price. Transport and insurance up to the Serbian border are added when the price does not include them, but only on the basis of objective, quantifiable data, and transport after the border is left out (Customs Law, articles 52 to 54). When one invoice also covers transport after the border, customs count only the share for the distance up to the border, unless you prove what transport to the border would cost at the usual tariff; where transport is free or you provide it yourself, its cost is counted at the usual rate for that kind of transport (Decree on Customs Procedures and Customs Formalities, article 115). A 2020 legal commentary says transport costs are not added when you drive the car in yourself; which rule customs apply to such a car is not confirmed. The calculator adds the fuel for the whole drive and the tolls abroad, or the transporter's whole price, so it slightly overstates the duty (without proof of origin) and the VAT.

If customs doubt the price, they first ask you for more information, for example the contract, the proof of payment or the export declaration. Only if the doubt remains may they value the car another way, never at a minimum or arbitrary value (Decree on Customs Procedures and Customs Formalities, articles 117 and 122). In practice, as customs described it in 2021, they use AMSS catalogue prices less VAT, any duty, the trade margin and domestic transport, then adjust them for condition by at most 2.5% either way, and separately for mileage.

To dispute the value, apply to the customs office that cleared the car, then appeal to the Ministry of Finance. If you expect a different value, enter the difference in the calculator's valuation adjustment row, and both duty and VAT change with it.

Duty: 0%, 12.5% or 5%

Duty is a percentage of the customs value, at the rates of the 2026 tariff (Službeni glasnik RS 107/2025 and 45/2026). For a used car the rate depends only on origin and drive, not on age, engine size or price:

  • 0% with proof of EU preferential origin: EUR.1 or an origin declaration on the invoice; the EUR.1 guide explains which proof fits your seller and what happens if customs check it after clearance;
  • otherwise 12.5% for used petrol, diesel and hybrid cars, plug-in hybrids included;
  • 5% for a used fully electric car.

For customs, a car is used once it has been registered and at least 6 months have passed since its first registration; a younger car falls under the tariff lines for new cars, which this page does not cover.

VAT at 20% and its base

Import VAT is 20% (VAT Law, article 23). Its base is the customs value plus the duty, other import charges and public revenues other than VAT (such as the waste-stream fee described below), and incidental costs up to the first destination in Serbia (article 19). So transport inside Serbia up to that destination, which is left out of the customs value, still goes into the VAT base.

VAT is due whether or not duty is: a car with proof of EU origin pays VAT alone.

Paying: in dinars, at the weekly rate

The customs office that clears the car calculates and collects the duty and, under the VAT Law, the import VAT as well (articles 58 and 59); the Serbian customs guide says when the car is released.

Customs work in dinars: a price in euros is converted at the official middle rate of the last working day of the previous week (Decree on Customs Procedures and Customs Formalities, article 124), and the same rate applies to VAT. Customs publish that rate every week; for 21 to 27 September 2026 it was 117.4007 RSD per euro. Enter the current rate in the calculator's exchange rate field.

Example: a car bought for €10,000

A car bought for €10,000 net, with no transport or insurance to add:

  • any car with proof of EU origin: no duty, VAT €2,000;
  • a petrol, diesel or hybrid car without proof: duty €1,250, VAT €2,250 (20% of €11,250), €3,500 in all;
  • a fully electric car without proof: duty €500, VAT €2,100, €2,600 in all.

At 117.4007 RSD per euro, €2,000 is 234,801 RSD. The waste-stream fee described below comes on top, and so does the VAT on it.

What else is charged, and what is not

Customs also charge the fee for products that become special waste streams after use; it is sometimes called "eco tax". A private person importing a passenger car (category M1) for their own use pays it too, electric cars included. From 1 January 2026 the fee is 14.58 RSD per kg of the mass stated in the car's homologation document or registration certificate, and customs assess it on the day the import duties are calculated (Law on Fees for the Use of Public Goods, articles 140, 141 and 143; Službeni glasnik RS 118/2025), so a 1,400 kg car pays 20,412 RSD. The fee also goes into the base of the import VAT (Customs Administration circular of 30 October 2023). Which mass customs take from a German registration document is not confirmed; the calculator has a row for the fee, filled in with the amount for a 1,400 kg car.

Not charged on the import:

  • excise: cars are not on the list of excise goods (Excise Law, article 2);
  • the 2.5% transfer tax (see the transfer tax guide).

Common mistakes

  • "The customs base is the AMSS catalogue." Customs start from the price actually paid and turn to the catalogue only if their doubt about it remains.
  • "Every EU-built car pays 0%." Only with proof of EU preferential origin.
  • "Duty depends on age and engine size, plus excise." Without proof of origin every used petrol, diesel or hybrid car pays 12.5%, a fully electric one 5%, and there is no excise.
  • "Duty is 0% to 2.5%" or "10%". It is 0% with proof of EU origin, otherwise 12.5%, or 5% for a fully electric car.
  • "Condition can move the value by up to 10%." In 2021 customs said condition changes the catalogue value by at most 2.5% either way; mileage is corrected separately.

This step of the import

Work out the whole cost

Sources

The official laws, decisions and pages this guide rests on, read on 23/09/2026. Rules and amounts change, so check the ones that matter to you before you buy.