People with disabilities of the locomotor system, who want to bring a car from abroad, can benefit from exemptions from import duties regardless of the service life of the vehicle. The condition is that the vehicle must be used exclusively by the person with disabilities or by the person who cares for them and this fact should be confirmed by documentation.

In a response to IPN’s inquiry, the Customs Service said that the exemptions refer to transport units classified under tariff heading 8703, i.e. those with a cylinder capacity of the engine up to and including 2,500 cm3.

In 2019-2023, 2,743 units of transport for people with locomotor disabilities were imported with exemptions from import duty. Most of them, 1,241, were imported in 2021. In 2022, 782 vehicles were imported with exemptions, and last year – only 41.

The regulations concerning the provision of exemptions from customs duties on the import of special purpose units of transport, approved by the Government, provides that the person with locomotor disabilities is the driver of the special purpose unit of transport if this is equipped according to the needs. If the vehicles are built/adapted for transporting people with locomotor disabilities (they have a ramp, fasteners, place for fixing the wheelchair), the person with locomotor disabilities is a passenger and the driver is a person who accompanies or takes care of the person with disabilities and must have a certificate issued by the local house of social insurance.

Also, the Law on Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities says that in order to benefit from the right to import a car with exemption from import duties, once in five years, the person must renounce the compensation for transport services.

The driving of the vehicle that is to be used to transport the person with locomotor disabilities by third parties while this is owned and used by the person with disabilities, is penalized. Also, the reequipment of these vehicles after importation, so that they lose the specific characteristics of the unit of transport intended for the transportation of people with locomotor disabilities, is considered use of the unit of transport contrary to the final purpose.