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

bazz26 · 22-01-2021 8:41pm

The same suggestion seems to repeatably pop up on this thread every few pages. Who would pay for converting all the roads, streets, car parks, etc for driving on the right? Take a wild guess - the motorist through higher taxation such as VRT. Also what about all the existing left hand drive cars on the road, what do we do with them? What about the people who cannot afford to change their existing car? Do we have driving on the right 3 days a week and then driving on the left the other 4 days?

gally74 · 22-01-2021 9:19pm

Isambard wrote: »

Indeed but not straightforward buying them. Could only avoid double VAT if you could buy at 0% or reclaim VAT, most of us can't. Dealers will snap them up and the public buying from them will pay market price.

I reckon a broker will setup to export like flipping cars

Isambard · 22-01-2021 9:26pm

gally74 wrote: »

I reckon a broker will setup to export like flipping cars

yes and make a profit, but it won't make cars cheaper for you and me.

jwmpayne2004 · 23-01-2021 2:40pm

Hello All,
I have paid the VRT of the car last 14th of December and lodged an appeal . Just got a reply from revenue asking for a copy of vehicle import receipt, is that the same receipt that the vrt office issued me? Thanks and lovely weekend to all!

Atlantic Dawn · 23-01-2021 2:41pm

jwmpayne2004 wrote: »

Hello All,
I have paid the VRT of the car last 14th of December and lodged an appeal . Just got a reply from revenue asking for a copy of vehicle import receipt, is that the same receipt that the vrt office issued me? Thanks and lovely weekend to all!

I'd be thinking proof of the ferry journey in to the country.

Isambard · 23-01-2021 2:43pm

jwmpayne2004 wrote: »

Hello All,
I have paid the VRT of the car last 14th of December and lodged an appeal . Just got a reply from revenue asking for a copy of vehicle import receipt, is that the same receipt that the vrt office issued me? Thanks and lovely weekend to all!

I reckon it's proof of date of entry into Ireland they are looking for....ferry ticket perhaps

User1998 · 23-01-2021 11:52pm

Its not. They want the receipt the VRT people gave you. They already have your ferry ticket on file

PKB1 · 24-01-2021 7:15pm

Hi, has anyone imported car from UK or NI since Jan 1? If so would it be possible to give practical example of how it worked?

Thanks

d15ude · 25-01-2021 11:28am

bazz26 wrote: »

The same suggestion seems to repeatably pop up on this thread every few pages. Who would pay for converting all the roads, streets, car parks, etc for driving on the right? Take a wild guess - the motorist through higher taxation such as VRT. Also what about all the existing left hand drive cars on the road, what do we do with them? What about the people who cannot afford to change their existing car? Do we have driving on the right 3 days a week and then driving on the left the other 4 days?

Other countries have done it, it's possible.
And in the long run would be better for the Irish motorist!

colm_mcm · 25-01-2021 11:38am

d15ude wrote: »

Other countries have done it, it's possible.
And in the long run would be better for the Irish motorist!

Better how? Having to replace the existing fleet with LHD cars which will have to have VRT paid on them

Better for the tax payer who would have to pay for the changes to the road network?

Better for the victims of road accidents that such a switch would inevitably cause?

Wilhelm III · 25-01-2021 11:50am

colm_mcm wrote: »

Better how? Having to replace the existing fleet with LHD cars which will have to have VRT paid on them

Better for the tax payer who would have to pay for the changes to the road network?

Better for the victims of road accidents that such a switch would inevitably cause?

I would assume better in the sense we wouldn't have to rely on Britain and Japan for cars, the entire European market would open up for us. I'm somewhat on the fence, but I wouldn't be totally against the idea. I'll tell you what else I wouldn't be against – Mustangs, Big Ford Trucks, Old Cadillacs! Of course, by the time such a move would ever come in to being - these big guzzlers will have no doubt been made illegal by our... b***ard overlords. But still - the first point is not a terrible argument, in my opinion.

bazz26 · 25-01-2021 11:52am

d15ude wrote: »

Other countries have done it, it's possible.
And in the long run would be better for the Irish motorist!

The thing is it may not be and the idea looks great on the back of a match book but when you actually drill down to what it involves and how much it would cost then it isn't. Are you willing to pay more taxes in the short to medium term to cover the cost of converting the country's entire infrastructure? What about private businesses who would have to convert their infrastructure? Would you be willing to accept the cost of that being passed on to you as the end customer of their goods or services? Also what do you do with all the existing right hand drive cars, do you suddenly say you have to drive on the other side of the road from tomorrow? Or how would you phase such a large scale change in with both lhd and rhd cars on the road at the same time.

Another thing what about NI? Most of the Continent who have land boarders drive on the same side as it makes total sense. It's not so easy on a small island country like Ireland on the western most point of Europe that has a friction less boarder with another country who will continue to drive on the left for the foreseeable future.

Last thing is that our governments over the decades have nothing but milked the motorist here by taxing them to the hilt. So Brexit aside they still hiked the VRT rates up to make it less attractive to import cars since January. So don't think that they won't do the same if we could get access to cheaper cars from the Continent.

colm_mcm · 25-01-2021 11:58am

Wilhelm III wrote: »

I would assume better in the sense we wouldn't have to rely on Britain and Japan for cars, the entire European market would open up for us. I'm somewhat on the fence, but I wouldn't be totally against the idea. I'll tell you what else I wouldn't be against – Mustangs, Big Ford Trucks, Old Cadillacs! Of course, by the time such a move would ever come in to being - these big guzzlers will have no doubt been made illegal by our... b***ard overlords. But still - the first point is not a terrible argument, in my opinion.

Used cars on the continent aren’t that cheap.

Wilhelm III · 25-01-2021 12:18pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Used cars on the continent aren’t that cheap.

Yeah... but:

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TomOnBoard · 25-01-2021 2:19pm

gally74 wrote: »

I reckon a broker will setup to export like flipping cars

Has anyone had experience of using flipping cars?

TomOnBoard · 25-01-2021 2:21pm

d15ude wrote: »

Other countries have done it, it's possible.
And in the long run would be better for the Irish motorist!

What other countries did this in modern times?

Wilhelm III · 25-01-2021 2:39pm

TomOnBoard wrote: »

What other countries did this in modern times?

Sweden - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q52RfAiZlws

And Iceland too - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-dagurinn

Isambard · 25-01-2021 2:47pm

plan going ahead, but phased. Buses changing over next monday, Taxis Tuesday, Commercials wednesday....OK I know, old joke.

deezell · 25-01-2021 3:35pm

Wilhelm III wrote: »

Sweden - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q52RfAiZlws

And Iceland too - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-dagurinn

That was in the 60s. The amount of motorway infrastructure we have now makes changing a huge challenge, a bit more than a few tins of paint and moving stop signs.

deezell · 25-01-2021 3:44pm

Article in Indo yesterday, 'Can I still import a used car'. It's what we already know, including the fudged bits, re 'cars properly imported into NI' and the luidicrous derogation of duty on used cars of UK manufacture, but not of EU manufacture. Imo, the answer is 'Yes, but why would you bother'.
https://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/can-i-still-import-a-used-car-39998746.html

User1998 · 25-01-2021 3:59pm

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Has anyone had experience of using flipping cars?

Yeah I wouldn’t trust them with anything ever again. Promised me a logbook for 6+months and had a new excuse for me every week.

25-01-2021 4:43pm

Do we need the Brits back in the Customs Union or the Single Market or both to get buying their cars again as before.

Hopefully Labour get in and seek to move a bit closer to the EU again. Britain was a great source of cars.

deezell · 25-01-2021 8:46pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Do we need the Brits back in the Customs Union or the Single Market or both to get buying their cars again as before.

Hopefully Labour get in and seek to move a bit closer to the EU again. Britain was a great source of cars.

That will never happen. They've bitten off their nose to spite their face, now they'll have to spend some time swallowing it, before anyone over there, or here, has the appetite for more negotiations. We're stuck with the customs rules, its as close as hard brexiteers would go in accepting the barest of EU compliance. Way into the future perhaps, the economic outcomes may force action on closer customs unity. Maybe the next generation will reverse some of the worst aspects, but I dont expect to see the UK voting to return in my lifetime.

TomOnBoard · 25-01-2021 9:02pm

Wilhelm III wrote: »

Sweden - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q52RfAiZlws

And Iceland too - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-dagurinn

I'm actually amaazed by this. I would honestly not have thought it possible in modern times..

TomOnBoard · 25-01-2021 9:05pm

Isambard wrote: »

plan going ahead, but phased. Buses changing over next monday, Taxis Tuesday, Commercials wednesday....OK I know, old joke.

Not to mention the 3-month trial period during which trucks and cars would change sides on alternate days to see how the system would work out... :cool:

Isambard · 25-01-2021 9:05pm

deezell wrote: »

That will never happen. They've bitten off their nose to spite their face, now they'll have to spend some time swallowing it, before anyone over there, or here, has the appetite for more negotiations. We're stuck with the customs rules, its as close as hard brexiteers would go in accepting the barest of EU compliance. Way into the future perhaps, the economic outcomes may force action on closer customs unity. Maybe the next generation will reverse some of the worst aspects, but I dont expect to see the UK voting to return in my lifetime.

I can't see why the EU would entertain it at all. A few years down the line and it would all start again.

TomOnBoard · 25-01-2021 9:23pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Do we need the Brits back in the Customs Union or the Single Market or both to get buying their cars again as before.

Hopefully Labour get in and seek to move a bit closer to the EU again. Britain was a great source of cars.

The main problem is not and has never been the Brits. Its always been the grabbers in Revenue who have had a decades-long aversion to the 90% being able to drive in (albeit older) cars that the 10% are able to do. Its part of a long-standing 'let them eat cake' attitude that wont change UNLESS a political party takes it on as a policy. The latest nOx charges on top of already disgusting VRT are simply a big phuck-U to Irish motorists. The post-Brexit VAT issues are far more legitimately levied, but also could be fought if there was any appetite for doing so. Irish motorists have NO lobby group worth talking about, so are an easy target for being bled by the State.

Aplhonsus10 · 26-01-2021 9:48am

I bought a car up the North post-1 January. It was in Northern Ireland since new so I had mistakenly presumed it is an NI reg, while it is actually a GB reg. The car dealers are unable to provide the T2L document or the customs declaration for me to be able to bring it in without VAT etc.

Is there anything else that be done bar trying to get the seller to take the car back? Should have probably checked whether it was a GB reg bit it does say on the sellers website that they provide all VRT documentation.

pale rider · 26-01-2021 4:01pm

Aplhonsus10 wrote: »

I bought a car up the North post-1 January. It was in Northern Ireland since new so I had mistakenly presumed it is an NI reg, while it is actually a GB reg. The car dealers are unable to provide the T2L document or the customs declaration for me to be able to bring it in without VAT etc.

Is there anything else that be done bar trying to get the seller to take the car back? Should have probably checked whether it was a GB reg bit it does say on the sellers website that they provide all VRT documentation.

Does the V5 not show the last owner being a NI resident ?

UrbanFret · 26-01-2021 5:10pm

Revenue payment portal down. Was in for VRT today, have to return to process payment.

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

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