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

Paul Kiernan

User1998 wrote: »

Its €19,000 delivered to Dublin Port.

10% Customs €1,900

23% VAT €4,800

Customs broker, port fees, tax, consumables €500

Total cost €26,200

Oh, and heres one in Ireland for €3k less and you don’t have to wait 2 months to get it (albeit with higher mileage)

https://www.donedeal.ie/view/27088550

Did you forget VRT?

Casati

Leaf is still a good car to buy directly from England - loads of them are ex lease so can be sold ex vat, and as they are made in UK then they don't attract the 10% duty either.

Having said that you could potentially grab a bargain here too especially as more sought after EV's like ID3 enter the used market

User1998

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

Did you forget VRT?

Theres no VRT on a Nissan Leaf

galwaytt

User1998 wrote: »

Theres no VRT on a Nissan Leaf

Thats still not enough to make me buy one though!!

Kpk

Hey I presume this has been discussed over and over and I have read a few topics already but I just wanted to confirm some details in case any changes have come in. I am thinking of importing an electric car ( a 2017 leaf) from the north. My understanding is I will not pay any VRT (checked and it was 0€) and I will not be charged and custom duty as it is from the north. Is this correct. Thanks in advance of any information given.

Anyone know is there a phone number you can ring to find out if a car will be subject to VAT or Import Tax.

An English Reg car a Northern Ireland dealer is selling. They acquired it in 2020.

User1998

Do they have a customs declaration to go with the car? If so it should be vat free

User1998

User1998 wrote: »

Do they have a customs declaration to go with the car? If so it should be vat free

I'll check with them tomorrow. They are saying no VAT will apply. But I'm weary of taking their word on it as they have a vested interest in getting the car sold . They wont care if I'm hit with an extra 6000.

Isambard

it's laid down what documentation you need. I suspect you'd have to convince Revenue the car was in NI in 2020. Not sure how, as the documents they need weren't done back then for a GB to NI transfer.

sk8board

According to news reports, imports were up in January versus last year (6,900 v 6,600) - and only 1% were EVs (just 68).

are dealers simply adding the tariffs to the price, or was there some sort of transition period in January?

mickdw

sk8board wrote: »

According to news reports, imports were up in January versus last year (6,900 v 6,600) - and only 1% were EVs (just 68).

are dealers simply adding the tariffs to the price, or was there some sort of transition period in January?

Anything in the country prior to january were free of new restrictions.
Dealers have thousands of cars here taken in.

loki7777

I have a question: how to transfer and convert at good rate euro to gbp and then to GB bank account? Any site/service recommendations?

Isambard

mickdw wrote: »

Anything in the country prior to january were free of new restrictions.
Dealers have thousands of cars here taken in.

indeed but that would need to be proved.

darragh o meara

loki7777 wrote: »

I have a question: how to transfer and convert at good rate euro to gbp and then to GB bank account? Any site/service recommendations?

Revolut premium is probably the handiest. I transferred my money to my Revolut account, bought the Sterling at the best rate I could see at the time and when I went over for the car, sent the transfer through their bic/iban. Within a minute the money was in their account.

Transfermate do something similar and I’ve used both and been impressed with both in the past.

There are 100’s of posts in this thread dealing with this exact question.

TomOnBoard

darragh o meara wrote: »

Revolut premium is probably the handiest. I transferred my money to my Revolut account, bought the Sterling at the best rate I could see at the time and when I went over for the car, sent the transfer through their bic/iban. Within a minute the money was in their account.

Transfermate do something similar and I’ve used both and been impressed with both in the past.

There are 100’s of posts in this thread dealing with this exact question.

I use Transferwise.

loki7777

TomOnBoard wrote: »

I use Transferwise.

I'm trying to activate account with them but no SMS is coming.

TomOnBoard

If you have a Whatsapp account tied to that number, they will send to that if you select it.. I think its say something like use another method at the SMS screen

loki7777

TomOnBoard wrote: »

If you have a Whatsapp account tied to that number, they will send to that if you select it.. I think its say something like use another method at the SMS screen

I have but i had also problem with mywelfare.ie so I had replacement sim from 3. Now just waiting for it to be active and will try again.
But revolut is still cheaper even while using standard account by €185(260 with premium plan).

wpd

i am looking at changing car in the near future
from what i am reading buying a car in the UK i will now have to pay VAT and duty on import plus VRT and NOX tax

however if i import from northern ireland the vat and duty do not apply

can i ask if my understanding is correct
also if i am right about northern ireland is this subject to and end date

if i buy a uk mainland reg car in northern ireland rather than an northern ireland one is that subject then to vat and duty?


thanks for you help, dont want to buy something and end up with a big bill

Rmgblue

loki7777 wrote: »

I have a question: how to transfer and convert at good rate euro to gbp and then to GB bank account? Any site/service recommendations?

Transfermate. Great service

Vicxas

I heard on RTE tonight that the NI Motor industry have a workaround for those paying double VAT. Any ideas what that means for us down south?

User1998

Its old news now, for a few days they had to pay VAT when importing a car from GB to NI, so that would mean 20% price increase up there. It was almost immediately changed and now they don’t have to pay the VAT

Schorpio

Does that mean that NI will effectively become a 'backdoor' for GB cars into ROI?

If an NI dealer brings a car over, it seems like that can get the customs declaration paperwork and not have to pay any VAT or import duty. Revenue will then be happy that the car was imported into NI, so no import of VAT due upon import into ROI? Or am I missing something.......

User1998

Schorpio wrote: »

Does that mean that NI will effectively become a 'backdoor' for GB cars into ROI?

If an NI dealer brings a car over, it seems like that can get the customs declaration paperwork and not have to pay any VAT or import duty. Revenue will then be happy that the car was imported into NI, so no import of VAT due upon import into ROI? Or am I missing something.......

Exactly. I’ve been saying it since maybe Jan 5th but most people are very slow to realise it

Isambard

yes but whatever profit there is in doing it will be grabbed by the Dealer and the car will be much the same price as a native Republic car.

User1998

I don’t see why, theres no extra costs involved in NI so prices there shouldn’t increase

deezell

User1998 wrote: »

I don’t see why, theres no extra costs involved in NI so prices there shouldn’t increase

Except the dealers there can do what you can't, bring in a UK VAT inclusive car and sell it down South with only VRT to pay. If you see a far better priced car in the UK, transport costs included, you cant bring it in for VRT only. So the NI dealer has a monolopy on UK imports. Expect to see some southern dealers setting up a business address in NI to get stock down here, but they will just sell at prevailing market prices, there will be no extraordinary deals like you used to get self importing with the right car and a favourable exchange rate.
Also, Nox and WLTP have eaten into the savings, and this happened regardless of Brexit.
The only posiitive in the NI VAT u turn is that any source of competitive used cars is good, otherwise the cost of indigenous used will rocket.

Schorpio

Well, for anyone actually resident in NI, they can bring a car over from the UK mainland VAT-free too, right?

Therefore, unless the NI dealer is targeting an ROI customer (which they very well might be), they need to remain competitive on price with their mainland UK colleagues to attract their local customers, who will otherwise hop across the water. That should keep NI prices in the main UK ballpark.

User1998

deezell wrote: »

Except the dealers there can do what you can't, bring in a UK VAT inclusive car and sell it down South with only VRT to pay. If you see a far better priced car in the UK, transport costs included, you cant bring it in for VRT only. So the NI dealer has a monolopy on UK imports. Expect to see some southern dealers setting up a business address in NI to get stock down here, but they will just sell at prevailing market prices, there will be no extraordinary deals like you used to get self importing with the right car and a favourable exchange rate.
Also, Nox and WLTP have eaten into the savings, and this happened regardless of Brexit.
The only posiitive in the NI VAT u turn is that any source of competitive used cars is good, otherwise the cost of indigenous used will rocket.

Right now yes but in a few months time I’d say private individuals will be able to bring cars through NI without much difficulty. Maybe not your average Joe Soap but people with a bit of know how.

Regardless, the prices in NI are already very high as it so I think if they raise their prices anymore they’ll just price themselves out of the market, and will be left with just the population of NI to sell to. Theres barely any savings up North as it is.

Just my two cents, who knows what will happen

deezell

Schorpio wrote: »

Well, for anyone actually resident in NI, they can bring a car over from the UK mainland VAT-free too, right?

Therefore, unless the NI dealer is targeting an ROI customer (which they very well might be), they need to remain competitive on price with their mainland UK colleagues to attract their local customers, who will otherwise hop across the water. That should keep NI prices in the main UK ballpark.

It's not VAT free though, any private used UK car price has it's residual VAT in its price since new, e.g, a £12000 car is a £10,000 car with 20% vat, but this cant be claimed back by anyone, desler or exporter. All thats happened is they avoided being charged another 20% on the £12,000 under protocol rules, maintaining pre brexit status quo. A VAT qualifying car can be treated differently if exported.
There's no value at this price level given NI prices, exchange rate and WLTP/Nox increases.