Bill of sale
Also known as: purchase invoice, koopfactuur
The bill of sale is the proof of purchase, for vehicles the bill of sale. It substantiates the customs value and is not the same as the commercial invoice or a pro forma invoice.
What is a bill of sale and when do you need it?
The bill of sale is the document that shows the buyer has bought the goods and at what price. For vehicles it is called bill of sale. Customs uses it as the source for the transaction value, the basis of the customs value. On ordinary commercial consignments the commercial invoice is often the same document. For vehicles, damaged cars and private purchases that is not so. There the bill of sale is the proof of the transaction, and the commercial invoice is missing or is a later document from a dealer. Without a bill of sale you cannot substantiate the customs value. An IMA with an estimated amount does not stand up at a check. Customs asks for the document, the proofs of payment, and whether the price is the price actually paid. Ask for the document at intake, not at the IMA. A bill of sale that comes from a mailbox three days later has already let the T1 time limit run. Complete is complete when the document is there, not when the declaration is ready.
How does the bill of sale differ from the commercial invoice and the pro forma?
The commercial invoice is the document between seller and buyer in the trade flow, with goods code, Incoterm, origin and the price. The pro forma invoice is an advance notice, not proof of a closed transaction. The bill of sale is the proof that ownership or possession has passed against a price. For vehicles the bill of sale shows the VIN, the buyer, the seller, the price and the date. That VIN is the key of the file: every declaration, every status and every document hangs on that chassis number. A pro forma with a symbolic amount is not a bill of sale for Customs. Samples and consignment have no transaction value and fall back on the secondary valuation methods. A bill of sale of one euro for a running car neither. For vehicles ask expressly for the bill of sale, not for a later dealer invoice. Customs values the transaction that brings the car into the EU, not a resale afterwards.
What must be on the bill of sale for the declaration?
Parties, date, a recognisable description, the price, the currency, and for vehicles the VIN. If the VIN is missing, the document cannot be linked to the consignment. If the price is missing, there is no transaction value. The price on the bill of sale is the starting point, not the end point. Freight and insurance to the EU border add on. Costs after entry may come off if they appear separately. A bill of sale that includes inland transport without a split does not allow that deduction. Discounts only count if they are fixed at the moment of valuation. A bonus granted afterwards does not belong in the customs value of this consignment, unless Customs has a separate arrangement on it. Convert the currency at the rate of the declaration date, not at the rate on the invoice date, unless Customs rules prescribe otherwise. A dollar invoice from last month is on the IMA a euro amount of today.
How does the bill of sale work in a vehicle flow?
In Dutch vehicle import the bill of sale is one of the documents without which the file does not go to complete. Alongside it sit an authorisation, an identity document of the buyer and a proof of payment. On the basis of those documents the invoice value and the weights are filled in. The IMA follows only once that is right. A container with several cars has several bills of sale, one per VIN, under one T1 and then per car or per group an import declaration. If the bill of sale is missing, the car can go to a bonded warehouse, where incomplete data may lie. At a location without a warehouse authorisation it cannot. The bill of sale is in that chain the difference between clearing and storing. Put the bill of sale as a mandatory document on the VIN, not on the container. One missing bill of sale must not hold the whole box if the other cars are complete and the location allows a split.
What does Customs check afterwards on the bill of sale?
Whether the price is the price actually paid, whether buyer and seller are related, and whether besides the invoice there are still royalties, commissions or later payments. A transfer price between group companies may undermine the transaction value. Customs lays the bill of sale next to the payment. An invoice of twelve thousand and a payment of eight thousand asks for an explanation. An invoice without payment likewise, unless the Incoterm and the contract explain it. For vehicles the VIN comes on top. The chassis number on the bill of sale must be the same as on the declaration, on the transport document and on the car itself. A mismatch is a document error that holds the release, even if the value is right. Keep the document with the file, not in a general invoice folder. At a check afterwards the bill of sale of that car must surface in seconds, with the same VIN as on the IMA.
What goes wrong with bills of sale in the declaration?
The most common gap is a missing document: the IMA is ready, the bill of sale still sits in the buyer's mailbox. The file stays on not complete, the T1 time limit runs on. The second gap is a value that does not come from the document. An estimated amount, a rounded invoice, or a price in another currency without a rate. Customs recalculates the value at the exchange rate of the declaration date. The third gap is confusing bill of sale and commercial invoice. Anyone who files the dealer's commercial invoice while the car comes from a private seller has the wrong document. The transaction that determines the value is the purchase, not the later resale. An unreadable scan counts as missing. OCR that misses a VIN, too. The document must carry the number that stands on the car. Otherwise it is an invoice of another consignment, however right the price.