Foreign car in Ireland for more than 1 year - do I need to pay a fine to register it?

toto408

Hi,
I brought my french-registered car in Ireland 1.5 year ago, and as its insurance is going to expire I need to register it in Ireland.

I heard that if I do so I will have to pay a fine, because I didn't declare the car when I arrived in Ireland. Is that true? Is there any way to avoid this fine?

Thanks

No Pants

Can you drive it out of the country and back in again?

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

take a trip with your car to france and back....... you only just brought it here

georgefalls

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

take a trip with your car to france and back....... you only just brought it here

How much would the fine be, compared to ferry tickets and petrol and hotel

kupus

would driving up the north and back again work?

Scottie99

When coming through Irish ports, every car is recorded so they'd know when you did come in. What might work for you, if you show them how long you've had the car ie time in France. Worst case a small fine

testicle

How long have you owned this car? Before you brought it to Ireland?

pheelay

If you are now resident in Ireland, then by law, your car must be registered in Ireland and you are no longer permitted to drive with foreign (french) plates. If you were caught driving, you could be fined and the car could be seized. If you are not caught, then it would be possible to register the car in Ireland without a fine, for example, if you show that that the car only recently entered the country (with a recent ferry ticket).

To register, there is normally a one-time tax (VRT) that must be paid. That tax could cost 20-30% the value of the car. If you owned the car while living in France for 6 months (before you moved to Ireland), then you might be able to get an exemption from VRT. You would apply by making an appointment at your local revenue office and they will ask for plenty of proof, including bill-of-sale, bank statements, rent agreements etc and a ferry ticket showing when the car entered the country. Hence why other posters are suggesting a quick trip to France/UK..

djimi

A quick trip to France isnt going to suffice, is it? I was of the impression that to apply for the exemption the OP would need to just moved over here also, not just the car. The OP has been resident in Ireland for the past year.

toto408

Thanks a lot for all these answers!

So yes I owned the car a couple of years before moving to Ireland, so I should'nt pay the tax. I have still a postal adress in France, that's why I still have my French insurance

I can make a quick trip in UK (less expensive than France), but if the fine that I would pay if I don't have a ferry ticket is less expensive than the price of the ferry ticket, I rather go for the fine... Do you know how much would be the fine? If I don't show any ferry ticket, will I have to pay the full VRT?

Thanks again

pheelay

djimi wrote: »

A quick trip to France isnt going to suffice, is it? I was of the impression that to apply for the exemption the OP would need to just moved over here also, not just the car. The OP has been resident in Ireland for the past year.

I don't see why the exemption can't be obtained if the car was genuinely owned for 6 months abroad but remained in france for 1.5 years after the move to Ireland. I did exactly this myself when I moved back home from france, although the period was around 11 months rather than 1.5 years.

toto408

pheelay wrote: »

I don't see why the exemption can't be obtained if the car was genuinely owned for 6 months abroad but remained in france for 1.5 years after the move to Ireland. I did exactly this myself when I moved back home from france, although the period was around 11 months rather than 1.5 years.

Did your car had a french registration? Did you declare the car in Ireland straight away when you moved back?

pheelay

Yes, I lived and owned the car in France for many years. It had french registration. I didn't make any declarations when I moved back, I just filled out the transfer of residence form when I wanted the VRT exemption. Revenue told me that they check your income records via PAYE/PRSI so they would have seen that I was earning in Ireland for the previous 11 months - I didn't hide that fact.

toto408

That's great
So no need to go to UK! Thanks a lot for this

toto408

Did you have to pay the motor tax for the 11 months before you registered?

pheelay

No. When you're taxing it, you pay motor tax from date of the NCT registration. The entire process will be something like this:

1. Appointment with Revenue to apply for VRT exemption.
2. Wait 10 days or so for the exemption to arrive in the post. Make an appointment with NCTS in advance.
3. Appointment with an NCTS centre to register imported vehicle. Only some NCT centres do this. You'll need the Carte Grise and possibly the Certificate de Conformité for vehicle type/specs/emissions level etc. NCTS will have a quick look at the car, check chassis number, engine number etc., but they do not do the usual full NCT inspection at this stage. NCT will give you a document with your irish registration number and vehicle type info for the motor tax.
4. Visit the motor tax office with this document and also a completed RF100. Pay the motor tax and receive the tax disc on the spot.
5. Wait for Registration Document to arrive in the post.
6. Do the NCT.

If you haven't done so already, don't forget that the headlights will need to adjusted or replaced for left side driving. I hope the car you have is worth the hassle!!

pheelay

Regarding insurance, you should be able to take out a policy in Ireland with the car temporarily on french registration, on the agreement that you will provide irish registation asap.

If you have built up a bonus/malus in France, you can have that converted to No Claims Bonus. Most insurance companies insist on getting a bonus/malus document translated into English directly from the french insurance company which is load of crap. Try AXA. Being a French company, they accepted my french document without any hassle.

toto408

pheelay wrote: »

No. When you're taxing it, you pay motor tax from date of the NCT registration. The entire process will be something like this:

1. Appointment with Revenue to apply for VRT exemption.
2. Wait 10 days or so for the exemption to arrive in the post. Make an appointment with NCTS in advance.
3. Appointment with an NCTS centre to register imported vehicle. Only some NCT centres do this. You'll need the Carte Grise and possibly the Certificate de Conformité for vehicle type/specs/emissions level etc. NCTS will have a quick look at the car, check chassis number, engine number etc., but they do not do the usual full NCT inspection at this stage. NCT will give you a document with your irish registration number and vehicle type info for the motor tax.
4. Visit the motor tax office with this document and also a completed RF100. Pay the motor tax and receive the tax disc on the spot.
5. Wait for Registration Document to arrive in the post.
6. Do the NCT.

If you haven't done so already, don't forget that the headlights will need to adjusted or replaced for left side driving. I hope the car you have is worth the hassle!!

Thanks a lot for that I didn't knoz that I need to change the headlights, I'll figure out how to do that for cheap. My car doesn't realy worthe the hassle, but it's mine and I know what's ok and what's not on it
Thanks again

pheelay wrote: »

Regarding insurance, you should be able to take out a policy in Ireland with the car temporarily on french registration, on the agreement that you will provide irish registation asap.

If you have built up a bonus/malus in France, you can have that converted to No Claims Bonus. Most insurance companies insist on getting a bonus/malus document translated into English directly from the french insurance company which is load of crap. Try AXA. Being a French company, they accepted my french document without any hassle.

Yeah I'm currently at Axa in France, and a friend of mine transfered to bonus/malus pretty easily from Axa France to Axa Ireland, so I'm gonna do the same thing. Thanks