Denmark is one of the countries in Europe known for its love of vintage, antique and classic cars. Each year, a few hundred vehicles leave the shores of the United States in containers and arrive at the ports of Aarhus, Copenhagen, and Fredericia. While many are modern cars belonging to the Danish moving back home, the majority are classic cars imported from the USA. But that wasn't always the case.
From 2009 to 2012, the Danish customs administration tried to limit the number of classic car imports by charging a higher VAT. If you wanted to import a classic car to Europe during that time, the cheapest option was the Netherlands. They had a "vintage rule" in place and charged just a 5% VAT on classic car imports. During that time it made little sense to ship classic cars to Denmark. People were able to ship classic cars to the Netherlands and transport them to Denmark for less.
Denmark finally implemented the vintage car import rule in 2013 and matched the low 5% import rate on classic, antique, and vintage vehicles. Since then, the Danish have been importing more classic cars from the USA than ever before. During the last quarter, there was a 30% increase in the number of cars shipped from the USA to Denmark.
Since Sweden's VAT on classic cars is 12%, the people of Sweden also take advantage of the low VAT import by first importing the classic car into Denmark. We have agents near the border of Sweden who can help with unloading and clearing the vehicles with customs. You pay the low 5% VAT in Denmark, collect your vehicle in Denmark, and drive back to Sweden.
