Today, buying a car is not a problem. Both domestic and foreign are sold. The latter may be cleared from the nearest countries: Germany, Poland, Bulgaria. Buying a cleared car, is it possible to ride it legally in Russia? What legislative restrictions and operating features exist for this category? Today we will try to answer these questions.
Why do I need a cleared car
These cars are much cheaper than similar imported officially. Even used cars in Russia are more expensive than new ones in other countries. The reason is the current legislation.
In Russia, high customs duties have been introduced in order to officially drive a foreign car. Therefore, motorists are constantly looking for some workarounds in order to operate a cleared car in Russia. These payments can be up to 50% of the cost of a new vehicle. 
Unfortunately, there are no official ways to operate cleared cars in Russia. Nevertheless, on the street you can increasingly see cars with foreign numbers. Therefore, there are workarounds for how to arrange a cleared car. There are several ways.
Buying a car from a foreign relative
The action scheme is as follows:
- buying a car in another country and registering it as a relative;
- a relative gives a power of attorney for a long period (more than a year);
- a car can travel across Russia for six months;
- after that, the car must cross the border of the country where the car was purchased. This sequence can be performed many times.
The advantage of this method is that there is no legal basis for making objective claims. The downside is that a non-cleared car and its owner are legally completely defenseless. In addition, all fines are international and will be sent to a relative abroad.
Registration of a residence permit abroad
A residence permit, like citizenship, is quite difficult to obtain abroad. And because of the purchase of a car, such a procedure will be unreasonable. It’s also quite expensive. Temporary citizenship is given for a certain period of time. 
But if it already exists, then it is quite possible to try this option - you can drive a car without customs clearance quite legally. However, there will still be a need to cross the border of this country once every six months.
Please note that the residence permit must be genuine. Otherwise, deportation with subsequent confiscation of the vehicle is possible.
Fictitious employment
Another way is employment, i.e. this is a way to register a cleared car at a company so that the legal entity is its owner. It is quite simple. But the method is fraught with considerable legal risks, namely:
- indirect legality of finding a car in Russia;
- if the company ceases to exist, the car loses its owner and goes to the state;
- the inability to officially clear the car subsequently;
- in this case, it is necessary to live in the country where the legal entity is established once a month once a year.
Non-cleared cars: how to drive in Russia?
Buying such a car, at first glance, has many advantages. The owner avoids paying transport tax and liability for traffic violations, there is no need to undergo a technical inspection. In addition, financial savings are also very substantial. 
After all, customs duty is almost half the cost of a new car. However, all this is crossed out by possible problems with the law and rather large risks. In the event of an accident, there is nowhere to wait for compensation.
In addition, a cleared car cannot be transferred to second parties, sold at all and used for commercial or entrepreneurial activities. And the traffic police inspectors are also extremely disloyal to such cars.
Other methods of obtaining cleared vehicles
You can also mention how to arrange a cleared car for a disabled person. Firstly, TS is issued to disabled people by social security authorities. Therefore, he actually does not own the car. And such a car should be donated by a foreign owner directly to a disabled person. But that is not all. Secondly, at best, people with disabilities benefit from customs clearance for an imported vehicle. 
Otherwise, such a scheme does not give any advantages. Non-cleared VAZ cars in Ukraine are also quite widely sold. But again, there is a risk of being left without a car after a close examination of documents on customs payments.
Customs Issues
The customs service is extremely disapproving of such machines. The Convention on temporary import says that a vehicle can be imported without any taxes and duties, but only on condition that its owner is not a resident and not a citizen of this country. 
Therefore, a cleared car is considered “alien” in the Russian Federation and must be returned to its owner, who is a foreigner.
Thus, a vehicle with foreign numbers will always be an object that attracts the attention of the traffic police on the road. Traffic police can indefinitely detain a driver and his car in order to find out the legality of a car crossing the border.
General Customs Rules for Import
Under Russian law, a car that enters the territory of the Russian Federation from abroad must be customs cleared within 30 days. This procedure includes the following: writing an application, paying a fee and obtaining permission to manage. The procedure is simple, if not for the heavy duty when crossing the border.
Non-cleared car - how could this be fraught?
Despite the fact that car owners are aware of the possible consequences of driving such cars, they are often sold to citizens of the Russian Federation. The new owners do not even suspect this fact, and then, when the truth becomes known, they get in big trouble.
In the event that it is possible to prove that the owner did not know anything about the smuggling method of importing a car into Russia, liability does not occur and the car is not confiscated. However, a fine in this case cannot be avoided. This is the best outcome. But this happens quite rarely. 
In the worst case, when the owner will not be able to prove that he did not know anything about a cleared car, then he will be fined and deregistered. The worst part is that subsequently such a car can not be sold even to the state. Exit only in full payment of customs duty - in fact half the cost of the machine. In order not to get into this situation, you should carefully check the documents for the car, especially information about customs clearance and about the owners of the TCP.
Responsibility for violation of customs duties
Russian law provides for administrative and criminal liability for violation of customs regulations:
- violation of the deadlines for the payment of mandatory customs duty - from 500 to 2500 rubles;
- violation of the deadlines for filing documents established by law - 1000-2500 rubles;
- violation of restrictions on the import of cars into Russia - 1-2 thousand rubles;
- untimely export of a car from the territory of Russia - 1500-2000 rubles.
The last two cases involve the confiscation of a car.Criminal liability is possible when evading the payment of large customs duties - more than one million rubles. In this case, fines, forced labor or imprisonment are possible.
Total
As you can see, a non-cleared car for personal use in Russia is a rather dangerous acquisition from a legal point of view. 
With modern customs duties, buying a car abroad is unprofitable, both new and used, up to 8 years. If you can use foreign citizenship, or at least a residence permit, you have the right to do so.
It’s still not worth participating in various dubious frauds and deliberately making fictitious transactions for the sake of buying a cheap car, because you can simply be left without a car and money as a result of a simple check of documents by the traffic police.
So, we found out the features of buying a cleared car in Russia.
