VAT qualifying UK import

younggalway

Having seen this previous thread while looking for information on this process, I thought I would see if anyone has any recent updates on this.

A family member qualifies for the Disabled Passengers Scheme whereby the person driving is entitled to the remission of Vat/Vrt up to 16k. They usually just buy a used car in the north and import it here without having to pay the vrt. They are looking for their next car in the coming months and hence why this question has now come up.

While flicking through the UK Autotrader, I have seen a number of 3 year old SUVs (In this case 2017 VW Touareg) that have obviously been bought new by a business and are now VAT qualifying. I'm aware that there is a form for a nearly new car (Under 6000km) whereby you can reclaim the VAT from the UK, just wondering if there is a similar means to do this on a used car from the UK if it is VAT qualifying? I know from the thread above there are lots of questions around loopholes etc but thats not what I am interested in. In this case, if my family member was to buy a VAT qualifying Touareg from the UK, could she then import it, utilise the full exemption up to 16k, and then submit for a VAT reclaim from the UK? (The VRT would be around 12k, and the VAT in Ireland would be 8k roughly, so they would be liable in theory for about 4k of this. In my head this would be offset by the VAT claim from the UK)

I have just got this plan in my head as I think it is the best way for them to take full advantage of the Disabled Passengers scheme when buying a used car. Would anyone with experience in these things be able to tell me if this is feasible at all or am I making things up? (which I accept is possible )

Thanks in advance folks

frozenfrozen

If you reclaim UK vat Irish vat has to be paid

Vinnymcdonnell

frozenfrozen wrote: »

If you reclaim UK vat Irish vat has to be paid

Not for disabled drivers/passengers, they are VAT exempt.

My parents do this with a local garage, he gets the VAT qualifying cars in the UK (usually a couple of months old car) and carries out all the paperwork required meaning they basically change car every 2 years without having to pay anything. Kevin Kennedy Motors in Ballina/Belmullet is very up to knowledge on it all and would be able to advise and potentially pick a car up for your uncle

younggalway

Vinnymcdonnell wrote: »

Not for disabled drivers/passengers, they are VAT exempt.

My parents do this with a local garage, he gets the VAT qualifying cars in the UK (usually a couple of months old car) and carries out all the paperwork required meaning they basically change car every 2 years without having to pay anything. Kevin Kennedy Motors in Ballina/Belmullet is very up to knowledge on it all and would be able to advise and potentially pick a car up for your uncle

Thanks for this, I might give him a call to see if he has more info on this. For the above case, it is fairly straightforward as nearly new cars with under 6,000km can be exported and you can reclaim the VAT from the UK with the VAT411 form. Im just wondering what the scenario is is the car is say 3 years old with 50k miles on it. I suppose my question is can a private individual buy a VAT qualifying UK car and reclaim the VAT.

frozenfrozen

Vinnymcdonnell wrote: »

Not for disabled drivers/passengers, they are VAT exempt.

My parents do this with a local garage, he gets the VAT qualifying cars in the UK (usually a couple of months old car) and carries out all the paperwork required meaning they basically change car every 2 years without having to pay anything. Kevin Kennedy Motors in Ballina/Belmullet is very up to knowledge on it all and would be able to advise and potentially pick a car up for your uncle

I thought he was asking can he get a refund of UK vat twice essentially... you can't

he wanted the refund up to 16k of vrt & vat (as its not vat exemption just you are to be reimbursed of the vat paid) then he wanted to apply for a vat refund from UK because it's vat qualifying. Unless I've picked it up arseways you can't do that

younggalway

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I thought he was asking can he get a refund of UK vat twice essentially... you can't

he wanted the refund up to 16k of vrt & vat (as its not vat exemption just you are to be reimbursed of the vat paid) then he wanted to apply for a vat refund from UK because it's vat qualifying. Unless I've picked it up arseways you can't do that

Tbh I'd say I have explained it arseways. in the example of the garage mentioned above, that is fine whereby the car has under 6000km as it is classed as nearly new and therefore the UK Vat can be reclaimed upon export. So you claim back from the UK and would then pay the Vat here. The disabled passenger/driver scheme makes you exempt from this Vat so while you're not technically paying anything you still go through the same process at the NCT centre and they come up with a VRT/VAT figure which is just set to null in this context. I dont think its too complicated but I am terrible at explaining.

I think im just looking for someone that has imported a used car and claimed the UK vat back where it was vat qualifying. Anyone involved in the trade have experience with this?

Edit: Just on your second point there, when you bring a car in from the UK its not reimbursed you just dont pay it. The reimbursement only happens if you bought a used car in Ireland.

California Dreamer

frozenfrozen wrote: »

If you reclaim UK vat Irish vat has to be paid

That is 100% incorrect.

Although when you sell the car you have to pay the vat back.

OP:
Some garages will sell you the car 20% free of vat on production of a valid vat number that they can confirm to the UK authorities.

For years so many people were going north, giving a vat number and the dealer would get stung. These days you generally will have to pay the 20% vat and then claim it back from the UK revenue.

frozenfrozen

California Dreamer wrote: »

That is 100% incorrect.

Although when you sell the car you have to pay the vat back.

OP:
Some garages will sell you the car 20% free of vat on production of a valid vat number that they can confirm to the UK authorities.

For years so many people were going north, giving a vat number and the dealer would get stung. These days you generally will have to pay the 20% vat and then claim it back from the UK revenue.

Telling me I'm wrong and then talking about providing a VAT number for Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme :rolleyes:


They are not VAT exempt they are entitled to a reimbursement of VAT and VRT up to a value of 16k

Esel

California Dreamer wrote: »

That is 100% incorrect.

Although when you sell the car you have to pay the vat back.

OP:
Some garages will sell you the car 20% free of vat on production of a valid vat number that they can confirm to the UK authorities.

For years so many people were going north, giving a vat number and the dealer would get stung. These days you generally will have to pay the 20% vat and then claim it back from the UK revenue.

Are you sure about the bold bit? I thought you could change car after a minimum of 2 years with no repercussions (from memory; guy I knew had one).

California Dreamer

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Telling me I'm wrong and then talking about providing a VAT number for Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme :rolleyes:


They are not VAT exempt they are entitled to a reimbursement of VAT and VRT up to a value of 16k

I never said anything about Disabled Drivers Scheme.

My point was your original post of you will have to pay the vat here, which you won't! Only when you sell it.

California Dreamer

Esel wrote: »

Are you sure about the bold bit? I thought you could change car after a minimum of 2 years with no repercussions (from memory; guy I knew had one).

I hope I am not, I have imported cars for the best part of 15 years and being vat registered I have always charged and paid vat on them when selling them on.

Casati

younggalway wrote: »

Having seen this previous thread while looking for information on this process, I thought I would see if anyone has any recent updates on this.

A family member qualifies for the Disabled Passengers Scheme whereby the person driving is entitled to the remission of Vat/Vrt up to 16k. They usually just buy a used car in the north and import it here without having to pay the vrt. They are looking for their next car in the coming months and hence why this question has now come up.

While flicking through the UK Autotrader, I have seen a number of 3 year old SUVs (In this case 2017 VW Touareg) that have obviously been bought new by a business and are now VAT qualifying. I'm aware that there is a form for a nearly new car (Under 6000km) whereby you can reclaim the VAT from the UK, just wondering if there is a similar means to do this on a used car from the UK if it is VAT qualifying? I know from the thread above there are lots of questions around loopholes etc but thats not what I am interested in. In this case, if my family member was to buy a VAT qualifying Touareg from the UK, could she then import it, utilise the full exemption up to 16k, and then submit for a VAT reclaim from the UK? (The VRT would be around 12k, and the VAT in Ireland would be 8k roughly, so they would be liable in theory for about 4k of this. In my head this would be offset by the VAT claim from the UK)

I have just got this plan in my head as I think it is the best way for them to take full advantage of the Disabled Passengers scheme when buying a used car. Would anyone with experience in these things be able to tell me if this is feasible at all or am I making things up? (which I accept is possible )

Thanks in advance folks

If the car is 3 years old but has less than 6000 km then you can still use form 411. Presuming it’s higher mileage then you need to give your vat registered number to buy a vat qualifying car vat free in the UK and import to here.

As your importing as a private individual you won’t have a vat number. I have heard of people using their pps number as the vat number and you might find a dealer willing to accept this and then sell you the car vat free in the UK.

You would then register it here and pay the vat, vrt and Nox less 16k allowed for disabled passengers scheme. If the vat, Nox and vrt is less than 16k you pay nothing.

If a UK dealer won’t accept the pps number then you will need to do a deal with an Irish dealer to import the car and sell to you. This will cost a bit more as they will have to cover their costs

Ultimately you are onto a winner with this idea as you take advantage of high UK depreciation plus the 16k disabled passenger exemption so in two years times you’d probably get what you paid for the car back selling it secondhand here

frozenfrozen

^ Exactly


If you get it exvat in UK, the VAT has to be paid here and the 16k VAT+VRT reimbursement under DDS may then fully cancel it out.


But the original point of using the exemption based on the value of the car landed then going for a vat reclaim won't work

"if my family member was to buy a VAT qualifying Touareg from the UK, could she then import it, utilise the full exemption up to 16k, and then submit for a VAT reclaim from the UK? (The VRT would be around 12k, and the VAT in Ireland would be 8k roughly, so they would be liable in theory for about 4k of this. In my head this would be offset by the VAT claim from the UK)"

If you land it here with UK vat paid, you can not then reclaim UK vat without paying VAT here. Whether the 16k VAT+VRT reimbursement would cover that is irrelevant, you just can't do it in that order


that is having your cake and eating it...

buy the car, have up to 16k VAT+VRT taken off. The end.


And it's not even splitting hairs, there is a massive difference getting 16k off, and then getting a vat refund from the UK. It's just not a thing. The vat "exemption" (which isn't an exemption) happens during that 16k reduction. It's not a reason to get a UK VAT refund on top of the 16k reduction

younggalway

Casati wrote: »

If the car is 3 years old but has less than 6000 km then you can still use form 411. Presuming it’s higher mileage then you need to give your vat registered number to buy a vat qualifying car vat free in the UK and import to here.

As your importing as a private individual you won’t have a vat number. I have heard of people using their pps number as the vat number and you might find a dealer willing to accept this and then sell you the car vat free in the UK.

You would then register it here and pay the vat, vrt and Nox less 16k allowed for disabled passengers scheme. If the vat, Nox and vrt is less than 16k you pay nothing.

If a UK dealer won’t accept the pps number then you will need to do a deal with an Irish dealer to import the car and sell to you. This will cost a bit more as they will have to cover their costs

Ultimately you are onto a winner with this idea as you take advantage of high UK depreciation plus the 16k disabled passenger exemption so in two years times you’d probably get what you paid for the car back selling it secondhand here

Thank you, this is the exact answer I was looking for. Don't think she would bother with the PPS attempt. I'd rather just pay a dealer their fee and get them to land it in with all the bits done and dusted.

They probably wont be doing this until the near year anyway so not sure if the current Brexit issues will affect importing from the UK. If not, this seems a great way to make full use of the disabled passengers scheme particularly when buying used.

Thanks again folks for all input, I may be back in a few months with an update.

Casati

younggalway wrote: »

Thank you, this is the exact answer I was looking for. Don't think she would bother with the PPS attempt. I'd rather just pay a dealer their fee and get them to land it in with all the bits done and dusted.

They probably wont be doing this until the near year anyway so not sure if the current Brexit issues will affect importing from the UK. If not, this seems a great way to make full use of the disabled passengers scheme particularly when buying used.

Thanks again folks for all input, I may be back in a few months with an update.

‘ Flipping cars’ might be worth a look - they source from auctions for in UK and might be able to arrange VAT export

newmember2

1. A VAT qualifying vehicle can be purchased in the UK with VAT paid on purchase.
2. Vehicle can be imported into Ireland and regisitered VAT free.
3. VAT can subsequently be reclaimed from UK vendor.

Saying this can't be done is not true.

frozenfrozen

newmember? wrote: »

1. A VAT qualifying vehicle can be purchased in the UK with VAT paid on purchase.
2. Vehicle can be imported into Ireland and regisitered VAT free.
3. VAT can subsequently be reclaimed from UK vendor.

Saying this can't be done is not true.

What can't be done? You've listed very different things

newmember2

frozenfrozen wrote: »

...If you land it here with UK vat paid, you can not then reclaim UK vat without paying VAT here.

frozenfrozen wrote: »

What can't be done? You've listed very different things

Apologies...this could be done previously with a Certificate of Permanent Export. Now it needs a VAT number.