Importing and re-selling a car; is it legit?!

xha1r

Hey lads,

Basically I want to get myself a good and insurable car (doesnt everyone), and so as you may remember (no, you havent) I am interested in getting a 99 or so Golf for 5 or 6 grand.

So I have an idea to;

Buy a reasonably priced Jap car, import it to Ireland, dont pay VRT (but get it checked at the port), trailer it to home and then advertise it and sell it at a price to make a decent profit.

My question is:

"Is it legal to import a car, get it checked and get a quote for the VRT at the port the day you get it, and let someone else pay for it (VRT), herefore avoiding having to wait the 12 months before you can sell it? Will I have to pay VAT as a private buyer? And, altough Im pretty sure I will, will I have to pay import duty as the car is from Japan. (and will this be on the original price, or the price if you included the VRT?)"

PS. Is this frowned upon, or do people look at it as a good way to make money?

Thanks lads,
x.

RobAMerc

hi,

there is nothing stopping you paying the vrt and selling it ten minutes after.
there is no need to wait a year unless you import it as personal property having returned from abroad with it.(which i presume your not)

Also how do you intend on buying the car and getting it back from Japan ?

I doubt it will be cost efffective for one car, the ones that come over are normally bulk imported.

Rob

JohnCleary

There is nothing wrong with what you want to do, people are making a living from it

bazz26

xha1r wrote:

Hey lads,

Basically I want to get myself a good and insurable car (doesnt everyone), and so as you may remember (no, you havent) I am interested in getting a 99 or so Golf for 5 or 6 grand.

So I have an idea to;

Buy a reasonably priced Jap car, import it to Ireland, dont pay VRT (but get it checked at the port), trailer it to home and then advertise it and sell it at a price to make a decent profit.

My question is:

"Is it legal to import a car, get it checked and get a quote for the VRT at the port the day you get it, and let someone else pay for it (VRT), herefore avoiding having to wait the 12 months before you can sell it? Will I have to pay VAT as a private buyer? And, altough Im pretty sure I will, will I have to pay import duty as the car is from Japan. (and will this be on the original price, or the price if you included the VRT?)"

PS. Is this frowned upon, or do people look at it as a good way to make money?

Thanks lads,
x.

I don't think there is anything wrong with importing the car and passing on the VRT to the customer who buys it plus make a small profit. Garages are doing this for years.

Importing a car from outside the EU means you will have to pay VAT on top of VRT i.e. double tax. Unfortunately the VRO determin what the car is worth over here when calculating the VRT rather than what you payed for the car in Japan, etc afaik.

Esel

Jebus!

You only have to wait 12 months if you have imported the veh-ic-le under 'transfer of residence' - i.e. where you have been living abroad and have owned and used the said veh-ic-le there for six months or more.

Please pull over. :rolleyes:

HotRodDub

only have to wait 12 months if you have transfered residence AND got an exemption from the VRT.

MercMad

You cannot buy an imported car and remove it from the dealer unless you are another dealer and have a TAN number from the revenue.

The dealer who is selling the car to you will not give it to you until he collects the VRT money !

blastman

bazz26 wrote:

I don't think there is anything wrong with importing the car and passing on the VRT to the customer who buys it plus make a small profit. Garages are doing this for years.

Importing a car from outside the EU means you will have to pay VAT on top of VRT i.e. double tax. Unfortunately the VRO determin what the car is worth over here when calculating the VRT rather than what you payed for the car in Japan, etc afaik.

You don't pay VAT on the VRT, you pay VAT on the import duty.