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

trellheim

Reclaim UK 20% vat and resale to include 23% - I think only Dealers can do it so I am wondering if any do , and if you can put in a request for a particular car.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122949237#Comment_122949237

Makes no sense. You can’t pay VAT and not pay the customs. Your basically asking the dealer to source and import the car and allow you to pay the VRT yourself. You might find a dealer to do it but expect to pay full Irish retail price minus the VRT

trellheim

I am not arguing to avoid the customs ? I am asking if dealers participate in the vat reclaim scheme as per

https://www.revenue.ie/en/vrt/registration-of-imported-used-vehicles/vat-implications-importing-vehicles-gb-ni.aspx

This is in no way an attempt to dodge. I am looking for a dealer who does this and I can ask them if they will do a particular car for me.

In my particular situation I have already a GB import with VRT paid a few years back, and am weighing whether it is worth bringing it back to the UK, reclaiming the VRT and then using it as a tradein, but that would not allow me avoid the double VAT element on the inbound car , unless i get a dealer to bring it in as only dealers seem to be allowed to do this. The car I want is not available on the 2nd hand market in Ireland

trellheim

Additionally to this looking at the customs duty, if you can prove the car is of preferential origin i.e. a japanese built car, can you get the customs down to 2% rather than 10% - anyone try this ?

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122949237#Comment_122949237

The only way a dealer would do this for you is if you were friends with them. They would be doing you a favour so will be looking for a cut which will eat into any savings you will be making.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122949742#Comment_122949742

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122949058#Comment_122949058

I’m not saying your trying to avoid it. You presumed that you’d be left with customs and VRT after the dealer sorts the VAT. This is not the case. Customs is paid together with the VAT and is not based on the OMSP.

In theory I as a VAT registered dealer could import a car from the UK, pay Irish VAT and customs, reclaim the UK VAT and sell you the car ex VRT but why would I go through all the hassle if I’m not getting a couple of grand from it. I’d have to wait weeks/months before I am refunded the UK VAT. And technically a dealer is not allowed sell a car without paying the VRT first. You might find someone willing to do it but they’ll probably want to supply it with VRT paid and NCT carried out. And thus will charge full Irish retail price.

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122949742#Comment_122949742

I think what you are asking is if there are any export companies that will help you export a UK car to Ireland. The export company will reclaim the UK Vat, so you technically don't pay twice (only Irish Vat). Yes there are a few and they are English based. They charge a small percentage, some have their own stock or will source a car you provide details of or an exact car you find. Lookup Beck Evans being one and mentioned here before. I was dealing with another, I can find the details if it's what you are looking for. I am not a dealer. I am in and out of sourcing a UK car, but my UK exported one at the moment is great so keep putting it off.

trellheim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122950513#Comment_122950513

Yes ? The difference is that I get a car that is not available on the ROI market sadly not NI either . Customs, VAT and VRT I know all about them, I've done it myself before Brexit and I just am looking for a dublin dealer to give me a price all-in on car X which is currently on forecourt Y in the UK. I expect them to charge their cut . Bonus points if they take my tradein too.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122952172#Comment_122952172

What is the make & model of the car you want and what year? You do realise only a small percentage of cars are VAT qualifying? You can’t just pick any car off a forecourt

trellheim

For argument sake, Lexus ES300H Takumi, 2019 or more recent.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122952311#Comment_122952311

Very niche car so it might be hard to find a VAT qualifying one in that particular spec. VAT qualifying cars are usually under 4 years old but you might get a 5 year old one thats VAT qualifying. For example on BCA right now there are only 4 ES300’s. 3 are VAT qualifying but they are 2020 and above and none are Takumi spec.

wassie

This is probably been discussed previously, but I was speaking with a dealer the other day regarding BCA auctions and he mentioned that he doesnt buy a lot through them anymore.

He said BCA pushes their best vehicles through to their sister group platform Cinch for direct retail sales (with associated markup), leaving the lower quality stuff for auction. Not say good cars cant be found on BCA, but the choice has been significantly reduced.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122953244#Comment_122953244

Yes a lot of the cars on BCA are scrap from their other sister group We Buy Any Car. But there are still thousands of 1 owner cars and main dealer trade ins to choose from

Tiger72

If one was to bring in a car so off a ferry should you declare it to customs on entry (and pay the excise duty ?) or can you do the whole lot when paying all of the taxes ? (Excise , Vat , VRT )

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122964070#Comment_122964070

Been covered multiple times already. VAT and customs should be paid before car enters the country, but generally there is no enforcement of this. There is no excise on cars. And you can’t pay VAT, customs, and VRT at the same time. VRT is separate to VAT & customs.

trellheim

Ref a point above on Vat Qualifying cars I was under the impression that for HMRC VAT reclaim the vat qualifying thing is gone now, and its all cars are qualifying

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965616#Comment_122965616

Nha, so VAT qualifying cars still exist and the full 20% of purchase price can be reclaimed by any VAT registered person in the UK or abroad. But HMRC also introduced a scheme which allowed something like 16.6% of the purchase price to be reclaimed by VAT registered traders based overseas on any vehicle which is not VAT qualifying

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965616#Comment_122965616

Yeah, I didn't mention anything about "vat qualifying" cars. The companies I mentioned will do both schemes. All the information is here.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-vat-related-payment-if-you-buy-second-hand-motor-vehicles-in-great-britain-and-export-them-to-the-eu-for-resale

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965616#Comment_122965616

And yes you can go to any private or any dealership and pick a car. And then use the export company to purchase for you and do the scheme paperwork. I know someone mentioned you can't but now they seem to know about this scheme.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965978#Comment_122965978

@trellheim was talking about an Irish dealer importing the car. I just cannot see an Irish dealer doing it this way as there is no profit for them unless they buy a VAT Qualifying car at trade price from BCA or other auction. An export company in the UK would be more suitable if buying from a UK dealer

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966159#Comment_122966159

The Irish dealer could charge a percentage for providing the same service that a UK company does. They also could make profit on the shipping charges and "inspection charges" and custom process charges and so on. Now the Irish dealer would have to already be going to the UK every other week for their own purchases in order to make this side of the business a success. It's guaranteed profit while purchasing cars might be sitting a while in certain times of the year. That's only my thinking I could be way off.

Esel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965770#Comment_122965770

That's the same refund in both cases.

franglan

A NI dealer I've used previously has the following on their website - anyone care to elaborate on what this means (I could always ask the dealer too!): Dealer is approved in NI to sell cars using a Customs Duty Waiver, saving Rep of Ireland customers on VAT and 10% duty, dealer can also vrt vehicle for Irish customers.

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122994622#Comment_122994622

Yes that's any Northern Ireland dealer selling cars that have been used in Northern Ireland for at least three months. He is trying to make himself sound special when that's just the norm. Fair play to him 👍

It's been talked about on here extensively, you don't pay Vat or customs on cars used privately for at least 3 month in Northern Ireland.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122994695#Comment_122994695

Sounds more like they are providing the correct NI customs import documents which excludes the car from customs here

franglan

Thanks both. From buying from the dealer on numerous occasions majority of his stock is from auctions in Britain (company cars post the 3 year rental) so how are they getting around the 3 months in use privately in Northern Ireland would you think? Not sure it's the norm though - I'm looking at SUVs up there and a 24k euro SUV being advertised as 35k euro cleared up the north which sounds excessive and must include vat and customs in such a case .

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122995209#Comment_122995209

No problem, I probably should have said should be the norm. But there is a lot of confusion around it. I am not sure how they are getting around the 3 months private use.

VRT and Nox may well be €11k on an SUV as they take the omsp in Ireland when calculating the amount of VRT to charge and if diesel the nox charge may be high.

Considering the car is displayed at €35k up North it may well have an omsp of €38k to €42k from Revenue. And VRT at est. 25% that's already €10k before the nox.

trindade

Hey guys, the VRT and custom duties in usedcarni is accurate?
Is this "All" that you have to pay on top of the purchase price?
They show CO2 Charge and NOx Levy and also ROI CUSTOMS that in lots of times it's not applied.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123000981#Comment_123000981

You need to read up on what cars qualify for no additional import duties and ask the dealer do the cars meet those requirements

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123000981#Comment_123000981

Also re:VRT - whilst its a useful guide, I would not rely upon it. The only accurate figure on VRT will be on Revenue website - provided they have the car & particular model in their database.