Importing camper into Ireland

sno_fun3

Hi just wondering if anyone has imported a camper into Ireland lately, have been trying to gather some information on how much the V.R.T. might come to, have tried talking to both customs + excise and local tax office but neither can help.
Ive been told i will need to pay 13.5% of the open market selling value of the van i bring in but no one can tell me how much that will be before i roll up to rosslare to register it on Irish plates. There is an extremely complicated form that involves comparing the prices of vans for sale in Ireland with similar vans for sale in the UK but i cant make sense of it really.

Would be interested to hear if any one has brought in a camper and much you were charged for VRT to try and get some idea of what it might cost if we were to bring in a van.

thanks

Wayne

Doom

Google the model at Irish dealers, that should give you an indication of the value

niloc1951

sno_fun3 wrote: »

.......................... There is an extremely complicated form that involves comparing the prices of vans for sale in Ireland with similar vans for sale in the UK but i cant make sense of it really. ................................................

The VRT which is supposed to be based on the Open Market Selling Price is very difficult to assess for motorhomes because unlike for ordinary cars the Revenue have no database of actual sales prices.
To overcome this, as you say, the Customs refer to advertised prices of vans for sale, but those prices are only inspirational or what the sellers would like to get on a good day. In reality at the moment, if you can find a buyer for a van, the actual selling price will probably in the region of only 75% of the advertised asking.
I know of two modern vans from '06 and '07 which only made about 75% of what they would have made in the UK or Europe.

The Revenue really only seem to be 'winging it' themselves so how are you to make sense of it. It must be the only tax where one can not know their liability before a transaction, which is probably illegal if it was tested in the courts.

Aidan_M_M

I can officially confirm they are "winging it"

We , as a main dealer , buying direct from the factory , can show them the purchase price of a typical new MH . They have a convoluted formula , but it's daft , they mostly look up something that looks similar , on Autotrader etc and work from there , irregardless of the fact that the one they are looking at may well be of a much higher spec .

And they aren't even consistent! We registered 2 new factory builds , about a month apart . same chassis , same engine , same interior , same colour even! Genuinely identical . 1200 euro more VRT on the 2nd one , and they couldn't explain why...

sunchaser

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Squ

sunchaser wrote: »

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Who do you work for????

John Dough

Squ wrote: »

Who do you work for????

Dearest place in EU for motorhomes is here saving jobs and all that a load of popycock they are long gone!!
VRT Hike killed them off.

niloc1951

sunchaser wrote: »

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

I would agree.

Examples of my motorhome (a '05 upperend A Class) are currently listed in the UK are priced in the region of £32k thats €40k at current rates, add a VRT of 13.5% of say the Revenue's notional OMSP of €45k which would be €6k bringing the total cost of importing to €46k, not including ferries flights etc.
Going on examples of private sales which I personally know of if I were insane enough to put mine on the Irish market I would probably get somewhere in the low €30k's for, it if anyone was buying .
If I had to sell I would probably do an export to the European market (it's LHD) where similar models are listed for €40k.

So, if you look in Ireland in the current climate you should find better value than importing and get the satisfaction of not having to hand over a wedge of your hard earned to the Revenue.

niloc1951

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

I can officially confirm they are "winging it"

We , as a main dealer , buying direct from the factory , can show them the purchase price of a typical new MH . They have a convoluted formula , but it's daft , they mostly look up something that looks similar , on Autotrader etc and work from there , irregardless of the fact that the one they are looking at may well be of a much higher spec .

And they aren't even consistent! We registered 2 new factory builds , about a month apart . same chassis , same engine , same interior , same colour even! Genuinely identical . 1200 euro more VRT on the 2nd one , and they couldn't explain why...

Firstly let me say that I accept fact that your industry is hard pressed like so many others and is probable not flush with funds.

However, is it not time that as an industry you form a lobby group or action committee to take the Minister to task on the issue of VRT on motor caravans.

OMSP criteria being applied to such a low volume market where actual selling prices are not recorded by Revenue to be taken into account and instead notional asking prices from magazines are used must be against the regulations.

Surely if VRT must be levied then the purchase invoice should be acceptable, as it is for VAT on imports.

Finally, as I have said before, requiring a transaction to take place before its tax liability can be assessed must surely be against the rights of the taxpayer to know in advance his/her tax liability for a transaction before the transaction is embarked upon.

sno_fun3

sunchaser wrote: »

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Not sure where you come to this conclusion when you have no idea what kind of van im looking for, the fact is there isnt a van of the make, model,layout and year im looking of in Ireland and even if there was a van from the UK will usually come with more of the accessories solar panel,towbar,air sus etc which im looking for.

And to be honest i think me buying a van in Ireland as opposed to the UK or europe isnt going to make that much different on the jobs front.

Anyway am i not going to pay the VRT isnt that making a contruibition

sno_fun3

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

I can officially confirm they are "winging it"

We , as a main dealer , buying direct from the factory , can show them the purchase price of a typical new MH . They have a convoluted formula , but it's daft , they mostly look up something that looks similar , on Autotrader etc and work from there , irregardless of the fact that the one they are looking at may well be of a much higher spec .

And they aren't even consistent! We registered 2 new factory builds , about a month apart . same chassis , same engine , same interior , same colour even! Genuinely identical . 1200 euro more VRT on the 2nd one , and they couldn't explain why...

That confirms what i had suspected, the method for calculating VRT is rubbish, even if i did all i could to get an idea of how much it could cost i could roll up in rosslare and get hit with a large bill on a whim

sno_fun3

niloc1951 wrote: »

I would agree.

Examples of my motorhome (a '05 upperend A Class) are currently listed in the UK are priced in the region of £32k thats €40k at current rates, add a VRT of 13.5% of say the Revenue's notional OMSP of €45k which would be €6k bringing the total cost of importing to €46k, not including ferries flights etc.
Going on examples of private sales which I personally know of if I were insane enough to put mine on the Irish market I would probably get somewhere in the low €30k's for, it if anyone was buying .
If I had to sell I would probably do an export to the European market (it's LHD) where similar models are listed for €40k.

So, if you look in Ireland in the current climate you should find better value than importing and get the satisfaction of not having to hand over a wedge of your hard earned to the Revenue.

Thats all well and good and i understand your point but the fact is Ireland is a very small market and the way things are no very few are up grading vans, there is not a camper of the model, layout and year which im looking for so what choice do i have except to look outside the country which it seems as the thread going on means being subject to the whim of a custom and excise office

spaceHopper

Get a list of vans for sale it will give you an idea of what to expect, the price set by Roslare, wither go down there or go to your local VRO office. If they over value the van you can argue it on the day with them or if you can't agree you appeal.

Aidan_MM can you not appeal after you sell each van you have proof of the OMSP you could save up a few and send them in at the one time, after they have had to wast time processing them and either payout or say no they may cop on and let you sell the van first the pay vrt?

karmaan

sno_fun3 wrote: »

Hi just wondering if anyone has imported a camper into Ireland lately, have been trying to gather some information on how much the V.R.T. might come to, have tried talking to both customs + excise and local tax office but neither can help.
Ive been told i will need to pay 13.5% of the open market selling value of the van i bring in but no one can tell me how much that will be before i roll up to rosslare to register it on Irish plates. There is an extremely complicated form that involves comparing the prices of vans for sale in Ireland with similar vans for sale in the UK but i cant make sense of it really.

Would be interested to hear if any one has brought in a camper and much you were charged for VRT to try and get some idea of what it might cost if we were to bring in a van.

thanks

Wayne

Hi Wayne,
We brought one in in 2006, at the time it was 50€ vrt for vehicles over 3 ton, so we made the weight (Literally ) thats all finished know afaik, what are you after? if you know what you want there is good value here, the good stuff on done deal sells very fast if the sellers value is realistic.

sno_fun3

Ye those were the days karmann, sadly long gone now !!

We are after a hymer E510, S520 or at a push a B584 of a 99/2000 vintage. Its a very narrow search band hence the reason was looking to bring something in from the UK where there is a lot more available.

Looks like we may have to suck it up and roll the dice with customs either that or sit and wait and hope something similar appears in Ireland.

There is nothing really that suits at the moment and i'm not the wait and be patient type so ill probably have a go at figuring out what customs may charge us. Tricky task though as there is not many vans to use as a comparison, only a couple of hymer A class on done deal and a another 1 r 2 with a couple of dealers.

karmaan

good luck!
we bought a B584 from donaghys last year, this has come up on done deal recntly, you probably saw it
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/campers/4095583

sno_fun3

Ye have seen that one alright is that not a 544 though ?

sunchaser

Quote:




Originally Posted by sunchaser

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Who do you work for????

Squ was never in the motorhome trade, now retired & enjoying life.

karmaan

tis ye, we looked at a few of thm until i saw the 584

sno_fun3

Ye we had a 544 a few years ago they are a nice van, we like the layout of the 584 as well as the separate shower

Irishgoatman

I imported my camper from the U.K. paid the V.R.T. and then appealed the amount.

I quoted, with printouts, similar campers on Adverts.ie and ebay that were dearer than mine showing them what I could have bought for the value they put on my camper.
I did not say whether the prices quoted were asking or selling!!.

I received a refund of, I think it was, around 20%.
This subject came up on a thread some time ago and what ever the % was others had received the same.

sno_fun3

Cheers irishgoatman that sounds a bit more promising, i was looking at the customs and excise again last night they have a sample form on how to calculate your own VRT, its for a car but the same principles apply. They have four different cars listed.

Irishgoatman

By the way, I brought mine in through Dublin Port then went to my local Customs and Excise office a couple of days later to register it.
At no time was I told that I should have gone to Rosslare.

It was the chap I dealt with who told me to appeal as, his words, "I've no idea how the V.R.T. is calculated".

niloc1951

Ever think of Germany 1996Hymer S520 it's the only one of any year advertised

Its got loads of extras, including four solar panels, and looks in great condition and it's on Merc chassis.

karmaan

nice bus alright, dont think its viable to land it here and pay the vrt

sno_fun3

niloc1951 wrote: »

Ever think of Germany 1996Hymer S520 it's the only one of any year advertised

Its got loads of extras, including four solar panels, and looks in great condition and it's on Merc chassis.

Ye ive seen that 520 and have been looking at vans in germany but i think they are holding there value much more there than here or the UK, there seems to me to be beter value in the uk at the moment, I think we could get a 00 van for the same price in the UK.

sno_fun3

Irishgoatman wrote: »

By the way, I brought mine in through Dublin Port then went to my local Customs and Excise office a couple of days later to register it.
At no time was I told that I should have gone to Rosslare.

It was the chap I dealt with who told me to appeal as, his words, "I've no idea how the V.R.T. is calculated".

Oh right i had heard people talking about rosslare i just thought that was the only place to register it, what your saying makes sense though.

That kind of sums it up really though, there is no set formula to calculate VRT and therefore is impossible to know if you are going to end up paying over the odds which makes a bit of a mockery of the whole process in my opinion.

killalanerr

sno_fun3 wrote: »

Oh right i had heard people talking about rosslare i just thought that was the only place to register it,

OP Afaik it works like this you buy the van you have no clue what the VRT will be other than it will be based on what they might think the OMP is,you then contact your local NCT office yes thats right the nct and make an appointment,they will inspect the van and send you away telling you they will contact you when they have contacted revenue,in a few days you will get a call from the nct at that stage you will be told how much the VRT will be,you pay the vrt and tax it only after that can you appeal
As was said some good deals at home at the moment best of luck what ever way you go

sno_fun3

Ye i have no problem buying something here, in fact in a lot of ways it would be much easier. Its only a matter of finding the model we are looking for, we could go for a different layout but we are planning on keeoing this van for a number of years so it should be worth the extra hassle importing to get exactely what were after.

Irishgoatman

I've just seen the repeat of a Customs programme on RTE which jogged my memory.

You have 30 days, from importing a vehicle, in which to re-register it as Irish.

Aidan_M_M

First of all, we in the industry have tried, numerous times to reason with the Vrt/Vro but they don't want to listen. We fight them on every registration. And another thing people dont realise, they don't hold a data base of Mhs, if your neighbours buy a model x, version y, chassis a, and a month later you buy an identical one, they don't use ones previously registered/vrt'd as a comparison.

I would have thought the 584 would be relatively easily bought in the country? I've seen a good few here. Unless people aren't selling them on.
We haven't imported a S/h MH in over a year iirc, they're cheaper here than abroad.

niloc1951

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

First of all, we in the industry have tried, numerous times to reason with the Vrt/Vro but they don't want to listen. We fight them on every registration. And another thing people dont realise, they don't hold a data base of Mhs, if your neighbours buy a model x, version y, chassis a, and a month later you buy an identical one, they don't use ones previously registered/vrt'd as a comparison.

I would have thought the 584 would be relatively easily bought in the country? I've seen a good few here. Unless people aren't selling them on.
We haven't imported a S/h MH in over a year iirc, they're cheaper here than abroad.

I'm sure you do try to get the best out of the situation, but talking to 'rank and file' people only gets their opinion. I firmly believe that the farcical situation requires testing in the courts.

It cannot be sustainable that a person/company importing a motorhome is obliged to 'drop their pants and allow the revenue to help themselves' and only be allowed complain after the fact :eek:

Aidan_M_M

niloc1951 wrote: »

I'm sure you do try to get the best out of the situation, but talking to 'rank and file' people only gets their opinion. I firmly believe that the farcical situation requires testing in the courts.

It cannot be sustainable that a person/company importing a motorhome is obliged to 'drop their pants and allow the revenue to help themselves' and only be allowed complain after the fact :eek:

We don't just talk to the rank and file.

Irishgoatman

I learnt last night that there are 15 other countries that apply a VRT on imported vehicles (I haven't had time to look them up), it might be worth somebody's time to find out how they apply it.

If there's another EU country, that could be very interesting.

Irishgoatman

Just found a piece concerning importing into Spain. This is the only useful piece and even that leaves a lot out. No mention of the rate of duty!

Used car: Imported vehicles owned for more than six months prior to the ownerbecoming resident in Spain are not subject to import duty, provided that VATwas paid in the EU country in which the vehicle was purchased.

niloc1951

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

We don't just talk to the rank and file.

Point taken.
Perhaps I used the wrong term, what I was trying to get across is that in the absence of a reliable database of actual selling prices those who make the rules, as opposed to those who implement them, need to be prodded in the direction of accepting the suppliers invoice price, either directly by the trade or by the courts.

sno_fun3

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

I would have thought the 584 would be relatively easily bought in the country? I've seen a good few here. Unless people aren't selling them on.
We haven't imported a S/h MH in over a year iirc, they're cheaper here than abroad.

Ye Aidan its a popular van alright but theres not many around at the moment i dont think theres as many people upgrading with the way things are. Hopefully something will appear shortly and we wont have to worry about the VRT !!

Del2005

Irishgoatman wrote: »

I learnt last night that there are 15 other countries that apply a VRT on imported vehicles (I haven't had time to look them up), it might be worth somebody's time to find out how they apply it.

If there's another EU country, that could be very interesting.

Since it's a local registration tax it doesn't matter what other countries do. You can't use their systems to compare to ours.

Irishgoatman wrote: »

Just found a piece concerning importing into Spain. This is the only useful piece and even that leaves a lot out. No mention of the rate of duty!

Used car: Imported vehicles owned for more than six months prior to the ownerbecoming resident in Spain are not subject to import duty, provided that VATwas paid in the EU country in which the vehicle was purchased.

We have a similar rule. You have to have lived outside of Ireland for 12 months and owned it for more than 6 months, if you sell it within 12 months of import you're liable for the VRT.

porterboy

I traded in an Irish camper in Germany so I should only have to pay vrt on the difference when (if) I bring it back.

Irishgoatman

Del2005 wrote: »

Since it's a local registration tax it doesn't matter what other countries do. You can't use their systems to compare to ours.



We have a similar rule. You have to have lived outside of Ireland for 12 months and owned it for more than 6 months, if you sell it within 12 months of import you're liable for the VRT.

Firstly , I said it would be interesting to see how another E.U. country applied import tax, meaning did they have a set formula as compared to our ad hoc system.

Secondly, I was showing the fact that even another E.U. country doesn't state how much or what percentage is charged as import tax.

In other words "We are not alone" (key Xfiles music).

Irishgoatman

porterboy wrote: »

I traded in an Irish camper in Germany so I should only have to pay vrt on the difference when (if) I bring it back.

Great thinking but I wonder if it will work?.

Best of luck in trying:).

Del2005

porterboy wrote: »

I traded in an Irish camper in Germany so I should only have to pay vrt on the difference when (if) I bring it back.

I doubt it, since the vehicle you are bringing back needs to be registered here.

But if an Irish person bought the one you had traded in and took it back to Ireland to be registered they'd have no VRT, it would go back onto the Irish plate it was on before. A few people on Motors have done this.

Irishgoatman

Del2005 wrote: »

I doubt it, since the vehicle you are bringing back needs to be registered here.

But if an Irish person bought the one you had traded in and took it back to Ireland to be registered they'd have no VRT, it would go back onto the Irish plate it was on before. A few people on Motors have done this.

I fail to understand how this could work.
Surely the person in, say Germany, who takes the vehicle as a trade in becomes the owner.
If he were to keep it on his sales lot for a length of time on its Irish plates and then you buy it and bring it back, then you would have to explain, when you send for a change of ownership, who you bought it from and when you became the owner. Also the previous owner needs to sign the transfer of ownership if you're trying to use the original Irish plates.

niloc1951

Del2005 wrote: »

......................................But if an Irish person bought the one you had traded in and took it back to Ireland to be registered they'd have no VRT, it would go back onto the Irish plate it was on before. A few people on Motors have done this.

This is correct, in fact I know of one particular dealer in Northern Ireland who keeps the Irish plates and if the new buyer is from The South the vehicle just returns here under the original plates, this is quite legal.

A number of years ago I had an import from the UK which became surplus to requirements, my son emigrated to there and was in need of a car, he simple took it back, got a set of plates for it (I knew the original UK number), told the DVLA all the documents were 'missing' and the car had been out of the country for a while so they issued replacement documents, got it MOT'd, taxed and insured without any difficulty.

Irishgoatman

niloc1951 wrote: »

This is correct, in fact I know of one particular dealer in Northern Ireland who keeps the Irish plates and if the new buyer is from The South the vehicle just returns here under the original plates, this is quite legal.

A number of years ago I had an import from the UK which became surplus to requirements, my son emigrated to there and was in need of a car, he simple took it back, got a set of plates for it (I knew the original UK number), told the DVLA all the documents were 'missing' and the car had been out of the country for a while so they issued replacement documents, got it MOT'd, taxed and insured without any difficulty.

Lying doesn't make it legal in my book but that aside, how was/would the change of ownership be explained?. The DVLA in Swansea would have the car you mention shown as exported to Ireland under your name and now someone with the same surname but, possible, a different first name trying to get documents for it. Would only work if the country you're taking it to doesn't have VRT on imported vehicles.

Sounds far too complicated and risky to me.

Del2005

Irishgoatman wrote: »

I fail to understand how this could work.
Surely the person in, say Germany, who takes the vehicle as a trade in becomes the owner.
If he were to keep it on his sales lot for a length of time on its Irish plates and then you buy it and bring it back, then you would have to explain, when you send for a change of ownership, who you bought it from and when you became the owner. Also the previous owner needs to sign the transfer of ownership if you're trying to use the original Irish plates.

I was assuming that it would have been transferred to a different EU plate. The Irish reg of a vehicle is tied to it for life. So if it was sold to a German/EU dealer and than a person reimported it to Ireland, there is no more VRT liable as it's already registered in Ireland. If it's still on Irish plates you don't need to do anything apart from get the person you bought it off to send off the VLC with your details and then tax it, it may be slightly more complicated than this.

niloc1951 wrote: »

This is correct, in fact I know of one particular dealer in Northern Ireland who keeps the Irish plates and if the new buyer is from The South the vehicle just returns here under the original plates, this is quite legal.

A number of years ago I had an import from the UK which became surplus to requirements, my son emigrated to there and was in need of a car, he simple took it back, got a set of plates for it (I knew the original UK number), told the DVLA all the documents were 'missing' and the car had been out of the country for a while so they issued replacement documents, got it MOT'd, taxed and insured without any difficulty.

There was no need to do that, the car was already UK type approved so you could have just exported it to the UK and registered it. A mate of mine brought an Irish bike to the UK and had to get loads of stuff to register it, if I took my exUK bike over it would be simple to get it back onto UK plates

A fair amount of prestige cars are being re-exported to the UK now that we are broke and Sterling is strong against the Euro.

niloc1951

Irishgoatman wrote: »

Lying doesn't make it legal in my book but that aside, how was/would the change of ownership be explained?. The DVLA in Swansea would have the car you mention shown as exported to Ireland under your name and now someone with the same surname but, possible, a different first name trying to get documents for it. Would only work if the country you're taking it to doesn't have VRT on imported vehicles.

Sounds far too complicated and risky to me.

No lies told:mad::mad:

Facts:
Car originally purchased in UK by UK resident
Car sold by said UK resident to me, Irish resident
VRT paid by me
Car taken back to UK, by my son (really irelevent who took it back)
Car continued life in UK under original UK reg
DVLA was happy with transaction and issued V5 to replace the lost one, (which IIRC was held by the VRT people here) to facilitate tax, mot, insurance on the vehicle on its return to the UK.

Logically the vehicle having already borne whatever UK taxes were applicable it would not be subject to the same taxes again on its return to the UK.

Irishgoatman

Let's see if I get things right this time.
Niloc, in your post you said that your son told the DVLA that vehicle documents were "missing". He got the car from you, you obviously had the documents for the car, albeit under Irish reg. So this was not a lie just a tiny tiny little white fib:rolleyes:.
Second point is that when a vehicle is permently exported from one country to another the original documents have to be sent to the country of origin, as I had to do on both my car and camper, so that country, in this case the U.K. would surely raise a red flag on "missing" documents.
Unless, of course in this case, both the Irish authorities and the U.K. authorities believe the vehicle to be under their jurisdiction.

Still doesn't look too honest to me.

Del2005, you seem to be missing this same point if I understand you correct. Type approval doesn't come into it.
With regard to the lifetime of registration, I find it hard to believe that if you went abroad and purchased a vehicle that had originally been an Irish vehicle, perhaps a good number of years ago, you would not have to pay VRT?. Perhaps someone has first hand knowledge of this.

niloc1951

Irishgoatman wrote: »

Let's see if I get things right this time.
Niloc, in your post you said that your son told the DVLA that vehicle documents were "missing". ................................................

the missing documents were its original UK papers.
And, I can assure you that the whole transaction was totally above board as there is nothing 'dodgy' about importing a vehicle back to its country of origin, apparently it's not unusual.
All my son had for the DVLA was a bill of sale from me, the Irish RF101, and a note of the original UK reg. no., which had been etched on all the windows.

Irishgoatman

niloc1951 wrote: »

the missing documents were its original UK papers.
And, I can assure you that the whole transaction was totally above board as there is nothing 'dodgy' about importing a vehicle back to its country of origin, apparently it's not unusual.
All my son had for the DVLA was a bill of sale from me, the Irish RF101, and a note of the original UK reg. no., which had been etched on all the windows.

Now that you say he had all the paperwork as having bought the car, that changes things drastically.
Not exactly as you said, taking the car over, getting new plates and telling DVLA that docs had gone missing.:(

Now I don't know if the U.K. have import duty on second hand cars into the country, but I find it hard to believe that because a vehicle had originated here in Ireland, say 10 years ago, and then been taken to, let's say, U.K.and changed to U.K. registration, that I could go over there, buy it and bring it back to Ireland without having to pay import/VRT on it.

As I said before. if anyone has done it I'm sure we'd all like to hear about it. First hand knowledge would be better that from a friend of a friend who knows someone who did it:).

If it is possible then I feel sure that there would be quite a few Irish reg. taken back to Germany by people returning home due to the recession here and could now be on or coming on to the second hand market.

paddyp

I have two friends that moved back to england recently:

One brought a previously uk regged vehicle walked into an office and walked out with v5 and licence plate 15 mins later.

The other brought and Irish registered unmodified ford focus and spent 6 months trying to get it reregistered ended up having to get a certificate of conformity from ford ireland