# Importing a new car from Northern Ireland



## soulman

Given the current strength of the euro against sterling I am thinking about importing a new vehicle from Northern ireland into the south, given the higher spec on UK vehicles. I know I need to pay 21% vat and vrt on the new vehicle once I import it but my question relates to registration of the vehicle in the north. Some dealers up north have told me that the vehicle must be registered first in the north before it can be imported in the republic. Is it possible to import without registering the vehicle in the north? I know that for the reverse situation where someone from uk is buying a new car in the ROI, that temp registrations are available to allow the vehicle to be imported into the UK.


----------



## soulman

I have investigated the process for buying a new unregistered vehicle from Northern Ireland and importing it to the ROI.

At purchase the NI car dealer contacts the DVLNI local office in NI and request the issue of an export mark, this will be supplied and the car dealer will be responsible for the licensing and registration of the new vehicle. 

If the new vehicle is to be used in NI until export, there is a 2 month period from registration, to allow for the export to be completed. 

The purchaser of the new vehicle should be registered as the first keeper when full registration takes place in the ROI. The new vehicle would have a mark with the designation ZIA, Which denotes a personal export vehicle.

The purchaser of the vehicle will receive a registration document V5c showing the registration number as ZIA ****. This document is handed in to the Revenue Commissioner at the time of registration in the ROI.

The purchaser pays vat and VRT on the new vehicle in their friendly VRO office in the ROI and will receive a ROI registration number. The new registration documents should be received shortly thereafter from Shannon, Co. Clare.


----------



## RS2K

Economically this idea simply doesn't work. VAT/VRT and possible cost of a new speedo in km/h makes it unattractive.


----------



## soulman

Disagree with you completely. I brought in a new Hyundai Santa Fe with a much higher spec than that available in the ROI for the same cost as the higest spec vehicle here. The spedo is in KMH and MPH. The vehicles up north have also a much better safety equipment kit out. A lot of those feature are stripped out here to keep the vehicle cost down.


----------



## SISSOKO

Soulman is correct,friend of mine is bringing in a Nissan Qashqui brand
new just as outlined above cleared €4'500 cheaper than the main dealer down here.Dealers in the north are willing to do this.

Spread the word................................


----------



## contractor

Anyone got a NI postcode?


----------



## soulman

One of the main reasons for the attractivness right now is the exchange rate. £20000 cost me €25400. I could have possibly done better if I had gone to XE.com.

Also, I got a 5 year, no milage limit warranty with the vehicle which is a european warranty i.e. it applies here in the ROI as well. The dealers here are giving only a 3 year, 100,000km warranty.


----------



## Clohass

Hi Soulman

Well done on your purchase, sounds like an option worth looking into. On what basis was the VAT and VRT charged, was it on a standard price by VRO or based on the invoice price in the UK?


----------



## soy

This does not make sense. Can you tell us what the VRT & VAT payments were?


----------



## Mahons

Hi,

Are you sure you have to pay VAT as well as VRT? Wouldn't you be paying 17.5% british VAT? 

Mahons


----------



## soulman

You have to pay VAT at 21% in ROI irrespective of whether you paid VAT elsewhere (if the vehicle is less than 6 months old). However the way that it worked for me was that I signed a VAT exemption form at the dealer in NI so I did not have to pay the 17.5% NI/UK VAT. In the ROI you then pay your 21% vat on the dealers invoice price (converted to euros). For my purchase, the vehicle cost £20,000. This converted to €25400. 21% VAT on this brought the price to €30734. I had to pay €13807 in VRT which left the car at €44541. The top spec version of the same vehicle here is list at €48750 and the best cash price quote I got was €45000. As I mentioned below, the top spec version here has considerably less equipment than the UK version and that was my main reason for purchasing up north.


----------



## Clohass

Thanks for the detailed explanation Soulman and well done again. The extra 2 years Warranty is certainly useful also. Was the 20k sterling the List pre VAT price or was this the actual amount the dealer invoiced you for? Essentially I'm wondering if you pay VAT on the book price or the actual invoiced price?


----------



## soulman

Useful tip. Keep the currency exchange slip showing what you paid for the vehicle in euros. The currency exchange slip, the NI dealers invoice plus the v5c NI registration document is what you will need when clearing the vehicle in the ROI.


----------



## soulman

You pay VAT on the invoice price converted to Euros. The NI dealers invoice showed the pre-vat price which is what I paid i.e. £20,000. This is why it is important to keep your currency exchange slip as it showed what you paid for the vehicle in euros. If you are thinking of buying up north get a price from Hursts. They are dealers for several makes.


----------



## Mahons

When paying your VRT, had you used the VRT Calculator on the Revenue website. If so, how close was the figure you got on the website compared with the actual figure payed.


----------



## Megan

soulman said:


> You have to pay VAT at 21% in ROI irrespective of whether you paid VAT elsewhere (if the vehicle is less than 6 months old). However the way that it worked for me was that I signed a VAT exemption form at the dealer in NI so I did not have to pay the 17.5% NI/UK VAT. In the ROI you then pay your 21% vat on the dealers invoice price (converted to euros). For my purchase, the vehicle cost £20,000. This converted to €25400. 21% VAT on this brought the price to €30734. I had to pay €13807 in VRT which left the car at €44541. The top spec version of the same vehicle here is list at €48750 and the best cash price quote I got was €45000. As I mentioned below, the top spec version here has considerably less equipment than the UK version and that was my main reason for purchasing up north.



How would this work if you were registered for Vat and if the vehicle was a commercial ie: €50.00 to bring it in to ROI?


----------



## soulman

I rang two VRO offices to get a VRT quote and I also used the VRT calculator and they were the same. Online VRT calc is good but its still best to double check. 

I am no VAT expert so I cannot comment on Megan's query.


----------



## ktwo

soulman
This sounds to good to be ture!  I would be very interested in doing this myself as i am getting ready to buy an 08 car. I always taught you had to pay VAT up north and again down south with all new cars under 6mths or 6000 miles. Has this always been the case that we can avail of the vat exception up north  & then pay the 21% vat here? do all dealers allow you to avail of the tax exemption form or just certian dealers.

Also did you have to pay extra VAT on the higher spec from up north? what maybe standard up north would be considered extra's here

 Would really appricate any advise here.
thanks


----------



## ccraig

thread may be some use for those buying in Northern ireland or uk
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=78778


----------



## roadrunner

Is there any vat payable for importing a 1 year old car or is it just the VRT payable? I think importing cars from UK will become a real issue if the rate remains the same.


----------



## sam h

Do you have to have a certain status to get the VAT taken off up North?


----------



## roadrunner

no status - I saw previous post saying cars under 6 months need to pay vat. 
so is vat payble on over 6 months too? or will vat on top the VRT calculation in ROS need to be paid when importing?


----------



## bloodshotI

Hi there... I have a Feb 2008 car held for me in the north, Im paying ex UK vat so the dealer has told me all i need do is pay him the ex UK vat price get an invoice from him take it to the VRO office pay the irish vat (21%) then he can release the car to me ex vat. He needs proof that ive paid the Vat in ireland 1st. Then within 24hrs i'll take it to the VRO office to pay the VRT.


Anyone else done this before sounds fairly simply to me?

I'm holding off till july to pick it up as i save 2500 on VRT by doing so


----------



## Jo90

Hi soulman -- which garage did you use up north as looking to do a very similar purchase. you can PM me if you wish as would be very keen on advice from yourself !


----------



## doogo

Roadrunner, no VAT payable on imports of cars older than 6 months from anywhere in the EU


----------



## roadrunner

thanks for clarifying that doogo.


----------



## anjest

When importing goods (I imagine vehicles are seen as goods) from another EU country where VAT has been paid then the VAT payable in the country of import is the difference between that paid and that due. VAT UK is 17.5%, VAT in Ireland is 21% therefore VAT payable on import is 3.5% on the purchase price. 99% sure of this.


----------



## ccraig

picking up a car in northern ireland today.
Saved 3-4k

Viewed it last week and put a deposit down
called currency.ie on Friday, booked the exchange rate and and used their same day payment service, saved 150 euro compared to the bank.

Dealer included an RAC test. Might not be a bad idea getting your dealer to do the same seeing as it probably costs them less than the £200 it would normally cost you. Highlighted that 2 new tyres and wiper blade needed replacing which dealer did on the spot. Otherwise the wife is happy


----------



## roadrunner

ccraig said:


> picking up a car in northern ireland today.
> Saved 3-4k
> 
> Viewed it last week and put a deposit down
> called currency.ie on Friday, booked the exchange rate and and used their same day payment service, saved 150 euro compared to the bank.
> 
> Dealer included an RAC test. Might not be a bad idea getting your dealer to do the same seeing as it probably costs them less than the £200 it would normally cost you. Highlighted that 2 new tyres and wiper blade needed replacing which dealer did on the spot. Otherwise the wife is happy


 
what sterling rate did you get?


----------



## mooney76

think it was 1.263, bank quoted 1.289


----------



## bambam

Dear All,

Thank you, there is some very helpful information here and I would just like to clarify the following then:

1) As you are exporting the car from the north or the UK you can get an exemption on the VAT in that zone and essentially buy the car VAT Free (-17.5% of the total cost negotiated).

2) Then pay the VRT and VAT in Ireland on importing the car.

3) Is the VRT a percentage of the on the road cost of the car in the South or is it simply a percentage of the net (vat free) cost of the car you have paid in the UK/North?

4) Is the VAT in Ireland levied after the calculation of VRT, i.e. is it based on the cost of the car plus VRT @ 21%, or is the VAT levied only on the purchase price before VRT?

5) I have been checking on the price of an Audi A5 and it seems to be the same in the North as in the UK, in general is this considered the case as I thought the North was more expensive.  Woudl seem a lot easier to get one from the North!

Apologies if these have been answered before on other threads.  

BR


----------



## ubiquitous

bambam said:


> Dear All,
> 
> Thank you, there is some very helpful information here and I would just like to clarify the following then:
> 
> 1) As you are exporting the car from the north or the UK you can get an exemption on the VAT in that zone and essentially buy the car VAT Free (-17.5% of the total cost negotiated).



I would seriously doubt if this is possible. ROI tax rules forbid the reclaim of VAT incurred on cars. Check with Revenue and/or your professional advisor before acting on the above information.


----------



## Car Mad

Soulman I am looking at purchasing a new car in NI in the the new year. Can you let me know or anyone else on the forum have experienced if the dealers in the North would be happy to trade in a Irish registered car thats 2 year old?  Thanks


----------



## chico27

1234 said:


> Has anyone had any problems getting their NI/UK purchased car serviced under warrently in Republic? Spoke to an Irish Main dealer who said that they will not touch a car purchased in NI/UK,


i bought a car from dreamcars.ie and after 2 months the sunroof packed in i brought it back to dreamcars as they told me that it was a pan european with the car so they took it to a local main dealer and got it sorted under warranty i had to get the sunroof replaced no issues and i even got a replacement car so no issues with import dont know if its the same with all brands though


----------



## StoneyBurke

1234 said:


> Has anyone had any problems getting their NI/UK purchased car serviced under warrently in Republic? Spoke to an Irish Main dealer who said that they will not touch a car purchased in NI/UK,



The warranty on all UK cars should by European Law be honoured here in Ireland.  Warranties are a European thing and not just based in the country the car was purchased in.  Albeit Irish dealers will only give you a 2 yr warranty, but UK give 3 years.  
I contacted Audi Ireland regarding warranties and they said an Irish dealer would honour my warranty for 2 years regardless if i bought the car in UK or Ireland


----------



## theoneill

Hi Guys

I'm in the process of importing a new motorbike from NI.
I called HM Customs and they told me to download and fill in Form 411 get it signed by the dealer and I wouldn't be liable for UK VAT but will pay VAT in the republic. This form is valid for cars also.

Here is the link...

[broken link removed]


----------



## Car Mad

soulman said:


> I have investigated the process for buying a new unregistered vehicle from Northern Ireland and importing it to the ROI.


 
Soulman, I had went to Donnelly and Taggart, Mitisubishi dealer and he said that he cannot sell me a car unregistered. He has to registered it and put on N.I plates or it wont go on his books. 

Can you please clarify what you mean by unregistered?


----------



## Car Mad

soulman said:


> You have to pay VAT at 21% in ROI irrespective of whether you paid VAT elsewhere (if the vehicle is less than 6 months old). However the way that it worked for me was that I signed a VAT exemption form at the dealer in NI so I did not have to pay the 17.5% .


 
so you signed a VAT exempt form in N.I dealer, What is your status that you could do this?


----------



## theoneill

All you need to do is download the declaration form that states you intend to remove the vehicle from the UK within 2 months and that you intend to pay VAT in the destination country. Once both the purchaser and the dealer have signed the form you may purchase the vehicle free of UK VAT


----------



## walker34

Hi Folks,
I have a friend who is a disabled driver and is exempt from paying VRT or Vat in the Republic.Are there any pitfalls to buying up North,and will they have any difficulty getting service in the south because its an import.Any good information is welcome, as they have never done this before.TIA John


----------



## Car Mad

theoneill said:


> All you need to do is download the declaration form that states you intend to remove the vehicle from the UK within 2 months and that you intend to pay VAT in the destination country. Once both the purchaser and the dealer have signed the form you may purchase the vehicle free of UK VAT


#

thanks O' Neill. Whats the name of that form a where do you download it from? What site>?


----------



## mooney76

Dont forget to shop around for best exchange rates, banks, xe and currency.ie


Also make sure that theres no finance owed on the vehicle other than that by the car dealer. I have heard a case of someone buying a car from a dealer with finance owed by the client they bought from. They hadnt bothered to check


----------



## Car Mad

theoneill said:


> All you need to do is download the declaration form that states you intend to remove the vehicle from the UK within 2 months and that you intend to pay VAT in the destination country. Once both the purchaser and the dealer have signed the form you may purchase the vehicle free of UK VAT


 
As the car can be up to 2 months old before it is registered in the Republic do the customs and revenue recognize the car a 'new' or 'used'.?

Also will there be N.I/U.K plates on the car up until the time that you take it to the customs in the south?


----------



## soy

walker34 said:


> Hi Folks,
> I have a friend who is a disabled driver and is exempt from paying VRT or Vat in the Republic.Are there any pitfalls to buying up North,and will they have any difficulty getting service in the south because its an import.Any good information is welcome, as they have never done this before.TIA John



Since your friend is VAT & VRT exempt I do no see any financial incentive to buy in the North

If he insists, there 'may' have more hassle since the car was not bought in the south. Have heard stories of some dealers not being too co-operative when it comes to imports - but that was back when the economy was good.
Being an import will definetly have a negative effect on the resale price. Also check that the warrenty is valid in the south.


----------



## walker34

Thanks for the reply Soy,the main advantage I can see is that cars are significantly cheaper in NI,and are better cared for. Is the service history or lack there of, a reliable way of verifying the mileage?


----------



## extopia

walker34 said:


> Thanks for the reply Soy,the main advantage I can see is that cars are significantly cheaper in NI,and are better cared for.



If you take VAT/VRT out of the equation, you will find cars may well be cheaper in the Republic as the manufacturer often reduces the "base price" in high tax markets.


----------



## soy

walker34 said:


> Thanks for the reply Soy,the main advantage I can see is that cars are significantly cheaper in NI,and are better cared for. Is the service history or lack there of, a reliable way of verifying the mileage?



This may be true for second hand cars - but surely your friend would be buying new. Otherwise they do not get the benefit of the VAT exemption


----------



## anjest

The VAT payable on all vehicles is 21% soon to  be 21.5% however if you have paid VAT on the goods already then you pay the balance.
Buying a UK car if you have paid 17.5% VAT in the UK then you have to pay the balance 3.5% although you will need to show a VAT receipt from the UK seller, or proof that UK VAT has been paid,
Reference Megans question a vehicle is a capital asset therefore as I understand it you cannot actually claim the VAT on your  bi-monthly return, you have to claim it back as a percentage over the write off period.
The best advice is to ask the tax man, I have always found them extemelly helpful and they are the experts. Also cost a lot less than an accountant.


----------



## anjest

Another helpful place is www.transfermate.com this is a site for a company who specialise with money transfers worldwide.
They do however have a section on buying and importing cars from the UK.
Take a look.


----------



## Car Mad

walker34 said:


> Hi Folks,
> I have a friend who is a disabled driver and is exempt from paying VRT or Vat in the Republic.Are there any pitfalls to buying up North,and will they have any difficulty getting service in the south because its an import.Any good information is welcome, as they have never done this before.TIA John


 

Is your friend buying new of Second hand. Have they downloaded the VAT 411 form? Also as they are a disabled driver they wont have to pay VRT here in the south so that seem like a sufficient saving they could make. 

Correct me if I am wrong, but is it possible to claim the VAT back through the 411 VAT form and also claim the VRT here are revenue in the republic as he/she is a disabled driver??


----------



## jphealy

I'm thinking of importing a new car from the North too, but I was wondering about the VRT payment:

How much effort does the VRO put in to checking out what optional extras are in the car, to increase their OMSP?  Are they fairly lax about those details, or are they strict?


----------



## Macromp

Can any one answer the following?

I am self employed and VAT registered. I want to go to the Uk and purchase a 2008 van for my business. I will purchase the van ex of vat in the uk. I pay 50 euro vrt as is standard for a van when I register it here. What happens then, regarding the VAT. Do i still need to pay the VAT in the ROI and reclaim it later? Surely I do not have to for out for the VAT and go claiming it back over the following months or do I?

Any one been through this before?


----------



## pingin

Have heard that NI dealers are desperate to shift second hand vehicles. Might be interested myself but what do you do if something mechanical goes wrong? Belfast is an awfully long way away to go see a mechanic....


----------



## timoney

*cost to bring in a van from U.K or N.I*

I would like to import a second hand van from the u.k or n.i and heard that its only 50 euro vrt on a comercial vehicle. Is this true . any advice


----------



## Briancm

Hi Timoney...I believe you are correct that VRT obligation on commercial cehicles is €50 - 

[broken link removed]

If you google VRO locations Ireland you'll get an email for your local VRO office who should be able to confirm

Brian


----------



## Paddy199

Hi All,

Procedure for buying car in the UK tax free.
1. Buy car in UK.
2. Complete VAT 411 form with garage and send off to UK inland revenue (address will be on form).
3. Garage will zero rate the VAT invoice. You must export car within 2 months or zero rate does not apply.
4. Get full car registrar (not car registrar receipt as is usually issued by UK garages) 5. Get car log book from garage 
6. Present car at local VRT office. You have one working day to clear VRT.
7. Pay VRT. You can check in advance with your local VRT office what VRT is payable by supplying the chassis number. VRT check with Rosslare for 'extras' on which VRT is seperately applied . Rosslare have access to all car records. It can take upto 10 working days for this, so have it done in advance.
8. VRT office will also apply VAT if new i.e. < 6k kilometres AND < 6 mths old. If over both, no Irish VAT!!!!!

O'KellySutton, No. 1 for professional tax advice. www.okellysutton.ie

Regards
Patrick O'Rourke
Patrick


----------



## jashar99

Just after reading last message, I am self employed in Ireland but do not have a VAT number. I have agreed a price in Belfast on an 09 AUdi, can i go about buying the car "tax-free" as stated. All advice greatfully appreciated


----------



## jashar99

Paddy199 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Procedure for buying car in the UK tax free.
> 1. Buy car in UK.
> 2. Complete VAT 411 form with garage and send off to UK inland revenue (address will be on form).
> 3. Garage will zero rate the VAT invoice. You must export car within 2 months or zero rate does not apply.
> 4. Get full car registrar (not car registrar receipt as is usually issued by UK garages) 5. Get car log book from garage
> 6. Present car at local VRT office. You have one working day to clear VRT.
> 7. Pay VRT. You can check in advance with your local VRT office what VRT is payable by supplying the chassis number. VRT check with Rosslare for 'extras' on which VRT is seperately applied . Rosslare have access to all car records. It can take upto 10 working days for this, so have it done in advance.
> 8. VRT office will also apply VAT if new i.e. < 6k kilometres AND < 6 mths old. If over both, no Irish VAT!!!!!
> 
> O'KellySutton, No. 1 for professional tax advice. www.okellysutton.ie
> 
> Regards
> Patrick O'Rourke
> Patrick



Just after reading last message, I am self employed in Ireland but do not have a VAT number. I have agreed a price in Belfast on a used 09 AUdi, can i go about buying the car "tax-free" as stated. All advice greatfully appreciated


----------



## user2012

*importing from belfast*

Hi guys,

This thread has been innactive fro a while but hoping someone might see this and give me some info. I've heard a certain time where if you own a car in the north, use it there for a certain amount of time and then bring it down south you dont have to pay to import, would this be correct? The reason i ask is, i live in belfast and my dad is thinknig of buying a car and bringing it back to dublin. If i bought the car, registered and used it up north for 6 months and then brought it south and registered it there would that mean i would avoid paying the ROI VAT? Then i could simply change the ownership of the vehicle to to my dad when it has been registered in the ROI. This way we would get the car at UK price and pay the lower Uk VAT of 17.5%? 
Im not sure if my information is correct maybe someone can tell me if im onto something here or am i completely mis-informed.
Thank you


----------



## vandriver

user2012 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> This thread has been innactive fro a while but hoping someone might see this and give me some info. I've heard a certain time where if you own a car in the north, use it there for a certain amount of time and then bring it down south you dont have to pay to import, would this be correct? The reason i ask is, i live in belfast and my dad is thinknig of buying a car and bringing it back to dublin. If i bought the car, registered and used it up north for 6 months and then brought it south and registered it there would that mean i would avoid paying the ROI VAT? Then i could simply change the ownership of the vehicle to to my dad when it has been registered in the ROI. This way we would get the car at UK price and pay the lower Uk VAT of 17.5%?
> Im not sure if my information is correct maybe someone can tell me if im onto something here or am i completely mis-informed.
> Thank you



As I'm sure you won't be surprised to find out,its just not that simple.

Read this: http://www.vrt.ie/vrtDetail.php?page=21


----------

