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

extra-ordinary_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124027628#Comment_124027628

"…not sure this will work as I booked the appointment so it is now in the system"

What difference will that make? Surely you made no formal import declaration at the booking stage? For all Revenue knows, you haven't even purchased the car yet, and may never do.

Lottie125

The new rule came in on the 19th November apparently, my appointment was 2 days later. the nct centre didn't tell me this but saw others saying it on an online forum.

Yes as he said he was going to mark me as missed vrt appointment I'm hoping they can say I booked the appointment before ever buying the car. Will let you know how it unfolds when I hit the 180days in 2 months time.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124032574#Comment_124032574

I posted about it last month but I had no official confirmation. You’re the first I’ve heard to get caught with it.

I’d just book it again and have a “receipt” dated over the 6 months.

Redsoxfan

Is this new rule for new or used cars or both?

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124034578#Comment_124034578

Even if not posting as a mod, surely advocating fraud (the creation of a false instrument with the intention of inducing someone to accept it as genuine) is against many boards.ie rules if not simple common sense?

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035093#Comment_124035093

The only one I tend to remember is about not being a d¹ck.

Revenue have been clear as mud on this issue.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035093#Comment_124035093

Common sense has prevailed. Thanks.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124034580#Comment_124034580

New cars are irrelevant as they always attracted vat once under 6000km and or 6 months or so.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035093#Comment_124035093

Come on, give it a rest. The VRT staff even marked him as a no show, knowing full well he will have the car in Ireland for the next 3 months

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035168#Comment_124035168

Seriously, they are not VRT staff, they are employed by Appplus and have clearly been giving out statements not backed by Revenue given their roll back on supposed 90 day rule. Relying on them is silly, even more so given that there is a notation of the car etc. I have cited elsewhere recent instances where motorists have incurred huge fines through dodgy dealers and dodgy dealings. Gumbo’s suggestion is incitement to defraud which could border on criminal piracy to defraud if he actually knew it had direct contact with the other poster. The other poster might get away with it or might not. If not, they’ll have to reexport the car and likely suffer a loss.

I know you are a small time dealer and importing a lot. You have been stating this as a 90 day rule repeatedly and some may have followed you. You have acknowledged here many times that you misrepresent yourself as a private seller and seek to avoid meeting your lawful obligations to provide warranties or stand over the cars you sell. Do you not think that maybe it’s time for you to wind your head in as your unsubstantiated “advice” merely exposes other boardsies to potential costs.

You have plenty of anecdotal instances of your approach being accepted but that does not mean that it’s genuine or supportable and I don’t see you even acknowledging the impact of the anecdotal 90 becoming the anecdotal 180.

Maybe if you ran a legitimate business there would be less of this.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035268#Comment_124035268

It's Revenue who tell the VRT staff what to accept or not to accept as proof the car was in private use. Obviously it goes through management and not directly to the VRT staff, but it's like when they stopped accepting customs clearance slips and started requiring full SAD documents. Its Revenue who passes the advice onto the staff on what is required to VRT a car. So ultimately its Revenue deciding what is acceptable, not the VRT staff member themselves

First it was 3 months, then it was 3 months with an MOT, then it was 3 months with no MOT, but the logbook had to be issued 3+ months ago. Now seemingly it's 6 months, and I have no idea about the logbook or MOT. At the time of posting, my info was correct. Its hardly my fault Revenue have changed their stance on it again? It's up to each individual importing a car to do their own research.

But come on, telling Gumbo his comments are incitement to defraud and criminal piracy? And your telling me that I need to wind it in😂

And what does me selling a few cars from my garden have to do with any of this?😂

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035534#Comment_124035534

There’s no evidence whatsoever that revenue ever gave those instructions.

feckwunker

Just to share my experience of importing earlier this year:

I imported my first ever car back in 2007 from the UK and the process was straightforward. It was a 1977 Land Rover Defender 100 Inch (Defender body on a Range Rover chassis) and bringing it in and registering it was all grand. So flash forward to this year and the bug bit me again and I decided to import another one (I'm a glutton for punishment) to have as my daily driver. The reason for vintage is obvious - 200 on VRT and 56 a year on tax. So I found a 110 station wagon and bought it. Flew over, saw the car, paid the guy and drove it home.

Now at this point, I had not declared to Revenue that I was going to import the car as, being honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to actually buy it until I saw it. So when I landed back into Dublin Port that night, I went straight to Customs and told them the story and they were completely grand with it. The noted it on their system and said I had 30 days to register the car. So I went and booked the VRT appointment locally and that's when the fun began.

As the officer was doing the inspection, she opened the front door and hopped up into the vehicle and looked back into it. The seating configuration was 3 seats in the front, 3 in the middle and then your standard "boot" in the back (it was a station wagon). However, she had a look on her face that suggested some kind of bureaucratic shitstorm was brewing and I'd have done well to heed that warning. Once she opened the boot door, she turned to me a and said "Yeah that is just what I thought; it's a 12 seater mini bus, isn't it?". I was totally perplexed and asked her what she meant. "See here (pointing to the rectangular metal over the wheel arches), well those are seats and you can sit 3 either side so that's 6 people in the back. That makes this a 12 seater so it's a mini bus". To say I was dumbfounded was an understatement. I pointed out that 1) there were no seats there and, more importantly, 2) there were no seatbelts or mountings for seat belts there so there was absolutely no evidence of this being a 12 seater mini bus. "Well, we're trained to a high standard and I've seen these before so I have to document what I see and the day" was what I was told. I knew then that I'd have a battle on my hands.

Once we went inside, I continued to plead my case but to no avail, I knew it was a lost cause. I was told that my vehicle was going into the system as a 12 seater mini bus and that it was up to me to apply for a conversion document once it was registered. I refused to sign the declaration she gave to me. I was told to not return to the VRT office until I had resolved the issue through corresponding with and officer via MyEnquiries online. Response time initially was good - about every 2 to 3 days. This then grew to a reply once every 2 weeks. Bear in mind that I was very conscious of late penalty fees that I was accruing during this time.

Finally, after 3 and a half months of back and forth, engineers reports, cover letters, invoices from the UK and the original factory sheet from Land Rover themselves, I got confirmation that the car could be registered as what it actually was. When I went back to the VRT office, the guy who should have been there originally (was on a long period of sick leave), burst out laughing when he opened my file. He said that usually when a vehicle is registered here, there may be up to 4 pages worth of correspondence on their system between the individual and Revenue - I had amassed 13 pages. He also commented that had he been there on day 1, all of this would have been avoided. And that's the annoying thing about this whole process; it really does depend on the person that you get on the day.

I learned a lot of very valuable lessons as a result of this fiasco. It wouldn't put me off importing from the UK again but it would really make me ensure that I had all my stuff in order down to the tiniest detail.

RCSATELLITES

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124041213#Comment_124041213

The main question I have is did ya one get any telling off for that stupidity.

I hope you didn't have to pay the late penalty fees as a minimum good will gesture.

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124041213#Comment_124041213

"Well, we're trained to a high standard and I've seen these before so I have to document what I see and the day" was what I was told. I knew then that I'd have a battle on my hands.

That is some serious Grade-A BS. I feel for you. Normally a check of the compliance plate would show the payload of the car wouldnt support that many passengers, but your car, given its age, may not show that.

These are the typical low-level clock watching civil servants that give their colleagues who actually get things done a bad rep.

User1998

No late penalties on vintage vehicles thankfully?