Importing from the UK - definitive guide (Q&A)

cee_jay · 10-10-2006 10:29am

I am currently working in Scotland, and will be for the next 6 months.
However, I will be staying in an apartment, but under the companies name, so do not have a permanent address, and am still getting paid through the Irish side of the company, where I normally work.
If I bought a car here now (have seen one I really like), if I bought it and brought it home, would I have to pay VRT??
I know the exemption says:
"People who have owned their vehicles abroad for more than 6 months and who are moving permanently to Ireland"
So does that mean I have to be a permanent resident over here, even though I will be here for the 6 months and will own the car here for 6 months before going home????

And if I were to buy it (even with paying the VRT) how would insurance work? I am still insured at home by Hibernian (Ignition) - could I be covered under that policy or would I have to get a UK policy for the use over here?

bbability · 15-10-2006 10:48pm

There's a great article in todays Sunday Business Post about importing from the UK. Try and get your hands on it. Its a great read... Stating that you can save up to 10 grand on some second hand cars..

Tipsy Mac · 16-10-2006 9:00am

bbability wrote:

There's a great article in todays Sunday Business Post about importing from the UK. Try and get your hands on it. Its a great read... Stating that you can save up to 10 grand on some second hand cars..

Yes interesting article, here it is, no registration required...

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=FERDIA+O+DOWD-qqqm=motoring-qqqid=18000-qqqx=1.asp

Tanabe · 17-10-2006 12:50am

I wanna bring it right back to the start.........

Robertr gives an excellent guide to importing a vehicle from the UK. Is this more of less the same when importing from Japan?

Robertr wrote:

For those looking to save a few quid here is my difinitive guide to importing cars from the UK based on my own experiences.

Firstly here is the best information you can get: Revenue.ie - VRT

When you want to get a car from the UK there are a few rules to follow:

(1) You will have to pay VRT on any car coming into Ireland from any country unless over 30 years old.
(2) You will have to pay VAT on all cars coming from outside the EU, so always buy in the EU as an additional 21% will never bring it under the Irish price.
(3) You will have to pay VAT on all cars under 6 mths old or less than 6,000kms even if they are from within the EU.

VRT

When you are looking at the price of different cars in the UK (Autotrader.co.uk is the best site) it might seem like the prices are great. This can be true for some cars but others this is not the case.

Obviously, you will firstly have to convert the price into EURO using the most up to date rate that your bank will Sell GBP (This can be quite different from the daily exchange rates that you might see in the papers).

Then you will have to calculate the VRT. This can vary in a number of ways:
(1) The % of VRT is based on the engine size of the car. You can see the table using the above link.
(2) It is not based on the price you bought the car for but the Open Market Selling Price or OMSP. This is a value decided by the Revenue. In my experience these can be way off. Sometimes they are way above the retail value and sometimes they are less than the Trade value. Depends on the car. I've noticed that they will value an Audi at about trade or less but BMW's are above what you would expect to pay on a forecourt.

Procedure for Buying:

(1) Get a shortlist of cars that you are interested in knock off about 5% of the listed price for a cash discount. Should get more off but leave that as a nice surprise.

(2) Call your local VRO office (listed in the contact page on Revenue.ie) and ask for a VRT quote. They should be able to give you the amount straight away unless it is a high-end luxury car (over say €60,000). They will then need the chassis number and they will get their VRO Department in Rosslare to do up a valuation - usually 1 day.

(3) You will now have the cost of the car.

(4) Factor in expenses, usually about €1,000.
- Flights
- Ferry
- RAC/AA inspection (has to be done!!!)
- HPI Check

(5) Contact the Dealer (never buy privately) you want to buy from and give them as many questions as you can think of. Tell them that you will be getting an inspection done so they may as well tell you everything now. If you are not 100% happy with all answers, walk away!!!!! Every Tom, Dick and Harry has a 'car dealership' in the UK, loads of guys operating out of their back gardens, so be wary. Don't bother getting a warranty from the dealer if the car is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty, in fact you should be able to get money off if you tell them you don't want it.
**EU law states that a manufacturer must stand over their warranty in every EU country regardless of which country the car was originally purchased so if something goes wrong you can go to your local dealership and you will be covered by the warranty. This does not cover Dealership warranties, only Manufacturer!!

(6) Once happy, you will have to pay a deposit, (by Credit Card) don't worry, once it’s by credit card you are covered from fraud. Make sure it is subject to the inspection not showing up anything that will change the overall value of the car from his decryption.

(7) Get inspection done. Make sure you get the expensive one. An engineer will call you to discuss the car and these guys do a great job. One time he even told me that there was a tiny dent the size of a 10P coin in one of the speakers in the back door. When I got the car it took me ages to find it. They do a really good job.

(8) Agree a date to travel over and get the Dealer to collect you from the closest Airport.

(9) Get a bank draft for the remaining GBP balance to pay the dealer.

(10) Call you insurance company and ask them to transfer your policy to the new car. They will only issue a temporary cover for a non-Irish reg that lasts for 1 month.

(11) You should have no trouble of making the journey in one day if you leave early in the morning you will be back in Dublin that night.

(12) Get a bank draft for the amount you were quoted when you got the VRT quote. Knock off about 10% from the draft and bring cash as some time will have passed and the amount they want will have gone down.

(13)With in 24hrs of arriving in Ireland you are required to present the car at the VRO. You will have to fill out a few forms and then they will have a look to see if you have honestly described the car. Don't worry about telling them about every extra, they don't seem to care as long as the Make, Model and Year as are you said. (So make sure that it’s fully loaded).

(14) They will then give you a document that will have your new Irish Reg on it. Go and get some plates done up and put them on the car.

(15) Get your insurance changed to the new reg.

(16) A few days later you will receive the Vehicle Registration Cert. This is not the same as the one that you usually have as it in only the initial cert. and is used to Tax a car for the first time only.

(17) Go to the Tax office and tax that puppy!

(18) In a few days you will have you proper Vehicle Registration Document.

In general, even with VRT, most cars are cheaper from the UK. Obviously, there more expensive the car the more you will save. Anything under €15,000 - €20,000 may not be worth your while but there are some exceptions out there!!

Anyways, hope this helps everyone. I've been doing it for a while and its had its ups and downs, so always use your commen sense and don't let the really cheap ones get the better of you.

Any questions, let me know

Good Luck!!!

seanpaul · 25-10-2006 11:25pm

Hi All,

I’m an Irish student in the UK, have been here a few years. I recently tried to buy my sister a car and deliver it to Dublin; but met the VRT system. I bought a Citroen C5 for about £4000 GBP and the VRT people wanted to charge me £4500 EUR VRT. I was very angry and decided to take this up with the European Union. I have received a few replies, however the last one said that the Irish Government were using VRT as a local tax, rather than an import tax; however my case is going forward and I have been told that there are many, many similar complaints.

I don’t think VRT will ever go away - some other European countries have similar stealth taxes --- also I think part of the Irish economy would collapse if there was no VRT, as there would be a mad rush to buy cars in the UK and a lot of Irish dealers would be out of business overnight!

Not that I'd lose any sleep over them: rip over Ireland continues as a result of silly taxes; hyper-inflation can only be controlled by comparable pricing (I am an economics graduate) and consumers not going wild; I have to say that I see people in Ireland looking for 2006 and 2005 cars; whereas I see doctors in England looking to buy second had 2000 cars for £3000. Stop the rush for new and expensive everything and you will push down prices; so all this VRT talk would be irrelevant.

Best wishes to you all in fair Ireland.

Sean

seanpaul · 25-10-2006 11:58pm

cant find that sunday business post article?

jeanbabes · 02-11-2006 9:27pm

Hi

I live in UK past 2 years and have 2 cars in my name , insured etc - I am now moving back home to Ireland for good and want to bring two cars back and not pay VRT - are you allowed bring back two cars????

Please let me know!

Thanks alot

mon242 · 11-11-2006 11:01am

If I purchase in Northern Ireland and import the car to the south can I reclaim the 17.5% VAT that is payable in the North ?
Secondly If I decide to sell my Southern car in Northern Ireand and it is imported there , are there any taxes to be reclaimed ? (

Do-more · 11-11-2006 6:26pm

mon242 wrote:

If I purchase in Northern Ireland and import the car to the south can I reclaim the 17.5% VAT that is payable in the North ?

If the car is Vat reclaimable under the UK system (not all are) you can, however you will then have to pay 21% to the Irish Government, so I see little point. (I'm assuming it's a 2nd hand car, if it's a new car you have to reclaim the NI vat and pay Irish VAT!)

mon242 wrote:

Secondly If I decide to sell my Southern car in Northern Ireand and it is imported there , are there any taxes to be reclaimed ?

At present no, however the SIMI is lobbying the Government to have VRT reclaimable on exported vehicles, they are bringing the case under EU competition rules and I believe they have a very good chance of success, could possibly get a mention in the budget but may well take a lot longer.

wanwarlock · 13-11-2006 2:12am

hi all, i've 'imported' my wifes' punto from scotland.

when will/should i go and get an nct for it? should i register the vehicles particulars at the nearest nct office or should i just wait for a letter from the nct to arrive?

thanks

edit: it's a 95 punto btw. still has it's MOT at the mo

Mc-BigE · 13-11-2006 9:29am

wanwarlock wrote:

hi all, i've 'imported' my wifes' punto from scotland.

when will/should i go and get an nct for it? should i register the vehicles particulars at the nearest nct office or should i just wait for a letter from the nct to arrive?

thanks

edit: it's a 95 punto btw. still has it's MOT at the mo

every car is NCT'd on its date of registration, so yours is definately due, MTO is from a different country so its not valid.

you need to ring/email the details of the car with the NCT before they contact you for a test (i know its a stupid system!)

you'll have to have the Irish registration documents with you to NCT the car.

Not too sure if you have to have road tax before NCT

mon242 · 13-11-2006 7:33pm

Thank you for replying DO-MORE.

The car I'm buying is new - Merc S320cdi.
The car I have is a 2002 S320 cdi - whats the best way to realise its value ?

daveball · 17-11-2006 8:41pm

Robertr wrote:

For those looking to save a few quid here is my difinitive guide to importing cars from the UK based on my own experiences.

Firstly here is the best information you can get: Revenue.ie - VRT

When you want to get a car from the UK there are a few rules to follow:

(1) You will have to pay VRT on any car coming into Ireland from any country unless over 30 years old.
(2) You will have to pay VAT on all cars coming from outside the EU, so always buy in the EU as an additional 21% will never bring it under the Irish price.
(3) You will have to pay VAT on all cars under 6 mths old or less than 6,000kms even if they are from within the EU.

VRT

When you are looking at the price of different cars in the UK (Autotrader.co.uk is the best site) it might seem like the prices are great. This can be true for some cars but others this is not the case.

Obviously, you will firstly have to convert the price into EURO using the most up to date rate that your bank will Sell GBP (This can be quite different from the daily exchange rates that you might see in the papers).

Then you will have to calculate the VRT. This can vary in a number of ways:
(1) The % of VRT is based on the engine size of the car. You can see the table using the above link.
(2) It is not based on the price you bought the car for but the Open Market Selling Price or OMSP. This is a value decided by the Revenue. In my experience these can be way off. Sometimes they are way above the retail value and sometimes they are less than the Trade value. Depends on the car. I've noticed that they will value an Audi at about trade or less but BMW's are above what you would expect to pay on a forecourt.

Procedure for Buying:

(1) Get a shortlist of cars that you are interested in knock off about 5% of the listed price for a cash discount. Should get more off but leave that as a nice surprise.

(2) Call your local VRO office (listed in the contact page on Revenue.ie) and ask for a VRT quote. They should be able to give you the amount straight away unless it is a high-end luxury car (over say €60,000). They will then need the chassis number and they will get their VRO Department in Rosslare to do up a valuation - usually 1 day.

(3) You will now have the cost of the car.

(4) Factor in expenses, usually about €1,000.
- Flights
- Ferry
- RAC/AA inspection (has to be done!!!)
- HPI Check

(5) Contact the Dealer (never buy privately) you want to buy from and give them as many questions as you can think of. Tell them that you will be getting an inspection done so they may as well tell you everything now. If you are not 100% happy with all answers, walk away!!!!! Every Tom, Dick and Harry has a 'car dealership' in the UK, loads of guys operating out of their back gardens, so be wary. Don't bother getting a warranty from the dealer if the car is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty, in fact you should be able to get money off if you tell them you don't want it.
**EU law states that a manufacturer must stand over their warranty in every EU country regardless of which country the car was originally purchased so if something goes wrong you can go to your local dealership and you will be covered by the warranty. This does not cover Dealership warranties, only Manufacturer!!

(6) Once happy, you will have to pay a deposit, (by Credit Card) don't worry, once it’s by credit card you are covered from fraud. Make sure it is subject to the inspection not showing up anything that will change the overall value of the car from his decryption.

(7) Get inspection done. Make sure you get the expensive one. An engineer will call you to discuss the car and these guys do a great job. One time he even told me that there was a tiny dent the size of a 10P coin in one of the speakers in the back door. When I got the car it took me ages to find it. They do a really good job.

(8) Agree a date to travel over and get the Dealer to collect you from the closest Airport.

(9) Get a bank draft for the remaining GBP balance to pay the dealer.

(10) Call you insurance company and ask them to transfer your policy to the new car. They will only issue a temporary cover for a non-Irish reg that lasts for 1 month.

(11) You should have no trouble of making the journey in one day if you leave early in the morning you will be back in Dublin that night.

(12) Get a bank draft for the amount you were quoted when you got the VRT quote. Knock off about 10% from the draft and bring cash as some time will have passed and the amount they want will have gone down.

(13)With in 24hrs of arriving in Ireland you are required to present the car at the VRO. You will have to fill out a few forms and then they will have a look to see if you have honestly described the car. Don't worry about telling them about every extra, they don't seem to care as long as the Make, Model and Year as are you said. (So make sure that it’s fully loaded).

(14) They will then give you a document that will have your new Irish Reg on it. Go and get some plates done up and put them on the car.

(15) Get your insurance changed to the new reg.

(16) A few days later you will receive the Vehicle Registration Cert. This is not the same as the one that you usually have as it in only the initial cert. and is used to Tax a car for the first time only.

(17) Go to the Tax office and tax that puppy!

(18) In a few days you will have you proper Vehicle Registration Document.

In general, even with VRT, most cars are cheaper from the UK. Obviously, there more expensive the car the more you will save. Anything under €15,000 - €20,000 may not be worth your while but there are some exceptions out there!!

Anyways, hope this helps everyone. I've been doing it for a while and its had its ups and downs, so always use your commen sense and don't let the really cheap ones get the better of you.

Any questions, let me know

Good Luck!!!

Hi and thats some great info on importing cars.
I am looking to but a few cars from the UK or n Ireland with the purpose of selling them on at a profit.
I got made redundant and want to put the money to work
Is there any sites like there are in Japan where u acn buy online and then get the cars shipped To Dublin Port.
If not would you reccomend any auction places that I could buy from.
I have been buying a couple of cars frm the auctions here, but I reckon on gettng a better deal in the UK .
Thanks in advance for any info you could give me.

mervuedude · 20-11-2006 9:30pm

Hi Folks,

I´d really appreciate some advice on this one. I left Ireland in August to travel for 1 year (currently in South America). I was thinking of getting my cousin in England to buy a car in January, register it in my name and stash it at his gaff. Then when I get back next August I stop off in England pick up the car and drive it home. Would I be liable for VRT, I can prove that I´ve been abroad for a year but won´t be living in Engerland.

Mervuedude

Seth Brundle · 20-11-2006 10:23pm

I think you will have to prove that you were not using Ireland as a financial base but given that Anto O Reilly etc. can get away with it I don't see why you can't.
Its a strange one that would require further clarification from the VRO.

Villain · 20-11-2006 10:39pm

Anyone got any good sites for searching cars up North?

Seth Brundle · 20-11-2006 10:51pm

autotrader.ie

Villain · 20-11-2006 10:52pm

Cheers, I actually found that one, is there any others?

netwhizkid · 20-11-2006 11:04pm

wanwarlock wrote:

hi all, i've 'imported' my wifes' punto from scotland.

when will/should i go and get an nct for it? should i register the vehicles particulars at the nearest nct office or should i just wait for a letter from the nct to arrive?

thanks

edit: it's a 95 punto btw. still has it's MOT at the mo

I imported a BMW 316 E36 1998 (but with 97-KY here as it was registered at the end of December 1997 :rolleyes:)from England in June and paid the VRT in July and got my local guard to declare it not on the Road and taxed it from August.

I have not received an NCT call yet and have been driving around the last 4 months almost without an NCT and haven't got no hassle from the guards yet. My car has Valid MOT until January which will determine the car to be roadworthy in the eyes of my Insurance company. If I Nct'd it back in July I would only get a certificate valid until this December pfft :mad: I will NCT it probably in January, but aren't really worried to be honest as it is a total waste of time and only an excuse to rip-off the average motorist.

The NCT will not contact you when your car is imported and you will have to get onto them for to get it tested. If I am stopped by a guard I will them they never called for it guard (play ignorant) plus I don't think they are enforcing it due a dispute with the minister for justice.

Mc-BigE · 21-11-2006 12:14am

mervuedude wrote:

Hi Folks,

I´d really appreciate some advice on this one. I left Ireland in August to travel for 1 year (currently in South America). I was thinking of getting my cousin in England to buy a car in January, register it in my name and stash it at his gaff. Then when I get back next August I stop off in England pick up the car and drive it home. Would I be liable for VRT, I can prove that I´ve been abroad for a year but won´t be living in Engerland.

Mervuedude

You probably would need to prove to the VRO that you were driving it in the uk i.e. UK road tax,MOT,insurance.

This might be difficult considering your in South America!

Seth Brundle · 21-11-2006 8:45am

netwhizkid wrote:

I have not received an NCT call yet and have been driving around the last 4 months almost without an NCT and haven't got no hassle from the guards yet.

The onus is on you and not the NCTS to book your test. In saying that, mine has not been done (due last April) and no gardai that I have come across have cared.

micker · 22-11-2006 3:24pm

Am thinking about importing a Land Rover Discovery from the UK was given a site to look on www.car-equality.net they import Japanese Discovery's only
does anybody have any advice, should I is there value in it- is the VRT to high

Thanks

mervuedude · 22-11-2006 3:27pm

Thanks for the advice lads. I may send an email to VRO and see what they say. I´ll let you know what happens.

Mervuedude

micker · 22-11-2006 3:32pm

Has anybody heard of a siite www.car-equality.net imports Japanese Discovery's
Was thinking about bring ing one in any advice-

Thakns

db · 23-11-2006 5:54pm

A note of caution when dealing with the VRT office.

I am looking to import a VW Caravelle from the UK. I got a quote a few weeks ago for a '01 that I liked but when I got back to the seller it was gone. After looking around for a while I found a nice low mileage '02. Thinking that the VRT would not have increased that much I started dealing with the seller while I got an updated VRT quote. I didn't want to lose the car so I paid a deposit and arranged the RAC check.

The VRT got back to me after a week with the quote - 50% higher than the previous one for the '01. Naturally I got a major shock as I had budgeted for a small increase. I queried this and explained that VW dealers here had told me that the price they would be looking for would be a lot less the the VRT OMSP. The woman I was speaking to in the VRT went away and spoke to the person in Rosslare again about it - she has just come back with a quote in the region of what I was expecting.

Make sure you do your homework and have the figures to hand when dealing with the VRT on any cars that are not on the website.

mysqlusr · 03-12-2006 4:02am

What a nice guy really, what a nice guy, a really really nice guy, all that information, clearly some people are lonely get a job lads

Ye people are too nice, buooaaagghhh Im getting sick buooohhhh

:cool:
recomposed, sorry 'bout that

barf, excuse me!

Seth Brundle · 03-12-2006 11:57am

mysqlusr wrote:

What a nice guy really, what a nice guy, a really really nice guy, all that information, clearly some people are lonely get a job lads

Ye people are too nice, buooaaagghhh Im getting sick buooohhhh

:cool:
recomposed, sorry 'bout that

barf, excuse me!

bye bye

Tanabe · 03-12-2006 7:47pm

mysqlusr wrote:

What a nice guy really, what a nice guy, a really really nice guy, all that information, clearly some people are lonely get a job lads

Ye people are too nice, buooaaagghhh Im getting sick buooohhhh

:cool:
recomposed, sorry 'bout that

barf, excuse me!

?

onekeano · 17-12-2006 12:58pm

I'm buying a car in the UK in January. My understanding was that there is no VAT if the car was EITHER 6 months old OR had 6000 kilometers on the clock.

However I have heard unofficially that this has now changed and BOTH of these parameters must now apply before the car is VAT exempt. I've checked this site http://tinyurl.com/4glk9 but there is no specific information on this rule.

If anyone could clarify, especially through a Revenue link etc I would be very grateful.

Thanks
Roy

kluivert · 04-01-2007 6:23pm

Alrigh Roy,

UK Vat...

If you import a car from the UK that is less than 6 months old or less than 6k miles on the clock you must pay Irish Vat (21%) on the purchase price of the car. (Need to supply purchase invoice).

If you import a car that is less than 3 months old from the UK, you can ask the dealer in the UK not to charge UK Vat, and he will get you to sign a declaration stating the same.

Now if the car is between 3 - 6 months old, you will be caught for UK and Irish Vat, this is a joke as Vat is only chargable once in the EU, welcome to Ireland.

Now, I live in Monaghan - smartest county in Ireland according to Test the Nation, so here's the plan (please note this is not my recommendation)

Import a less than three month old car from the UK, and dont pay UK vat.

Wait till its six months old or has 6k miles on the clock and then regsiter it. You dont pay Irish Vat either. The declaration you signed in the UK is sent to the DVLA, this is to cover the dealer, in case of a Vat inspection.

It has been known for "boys" to go over to England, buy a three month old car as above, but get it clocked upwards to over 6k miles, take a note of the original mileage, get the car VRT'd and then get the clocks changed back to the original mileage and no Vat is paid in the UK or Ireland. Who loses out, the government, who is ripping us of, so am told.

The "boys" where caught last year by customs doing this though and was reported in the Independent Newspaper. All top end cars though

Importing from the UK - definitive guide (Q&A)

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