# bringing car from uk to ireland



## sherchar (1 Aug 2007)

Im coming to live in ireland next week with the kids but my husband will stay with his parents and come over every few weekends.  I need to buy a car this week but am aware of VRT and am hoping to avoid this.  I have 2 options - 1 buy it in my name and keep it for 6 months before registering it or 2 registering it in my husbands name in scotland and use is temp til after the 6 months then change it over - this way he will be able to prove he has had it 6 months and also will be able to show he has lived in the uk too ie bank statements pay slips etc.

Can anyone help me here please?


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## gar123 (2 Aug 2007)

hi there, good luck with the move, as far as i know the vrt hits if you own the car for less than 6 months in the uk, ie it might make more sense to have a higher spec car that you can register here and sell for more of a profit here after

check out car websites like www.buyandsell.net and www.carzone.ie to give you a rough idea of what a car would sell for here compared to uk


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## seantheman (2 Aug 2007)

i'd say it has to number 2. if you're moving here next week then you cant prove uk ownership for 6 months. they're strict on this. in an ideal world anyone moving to ireland should have two fairly high spec cars (his n hers)which are sought after in ireland. you only get one chance at avoiding vrt


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## quinno (2 Aug 2007)

I brought a car from the UK,. They will use your P45 from the UK to oficially determine when you left.

On hindsight, I would agtree with buying a higher spec car. They are usually better lookied after and spec'd there.


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## ang1170 (2 Aug 2007)

There's such a difference in price due to VRT, it's well worth trying to do, but on the other hand don't think you'll fool them. If you're looking for exemption from VRT they will look at (a) were you a full time resident outside the country (b) when the car was bought and (c) are you moving permanent residency

Is the move permanent? will your husband be joining you over here at some stage in the future?

One scenario that would work would be to buy and register in the UK in your husbands name, use it here without re-registering and then re-registering it when he moves. If he's not moving though, I can't see how it could be made to work.


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## Nige (2 Aug 2007)

I'm not sure option 2 will work either. The VRT section of the Revenue have mobile units on the road who stop cars with foreign registrations to check that all is in order. If you are driving a UK reg car here that you can't prove you owned for 6 months, they will require you to VRT it.


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## ang1170 (2 Aug 2007)

That can't be correct, can it?

What abvout someone living in the UK and comes to live and work here for say nine months (intending to return). Do they need to register their car on Irish plates? I can't believe they would.

If what you say is correct, and they happened to have avar less than 6 months opld, they'd have to re-register when the come here, pay VRT and then re-register back again when they returned (with no VRT refund).


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## Persius (2 Aug 2007)

AFAIR, if you move to Ireland for less than 1 year (though it may be just 6 months), you can bring your vehicle to Ireland with you without the need for registering it on Irish plates.

If you're stopped, you could easily claim to be just over here on holiday. But if the guards (or customs, or whoever does the spot checks) notes the car reg, your husband may have difficulty importing the car 6 months later. And of course if you're stopped with your kids in the back, wearing their school uniforms, I'd say it'd be hard to claim you're only over here on holidays.


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## ang1170 (2 Aug 2007)

I'd say it's not an issue. People spend time in different countries all the time on six or twelve month contracts/placements before deciding to move permanently. This isn't to suggest evasion, just that circumstances exist where it's perfectly reasonable to avail of the VRT exemption.

It all depends on what the OPs exact circumstances and plans are.


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## seantheman (3 Aug 2007)

sorry, i mis read the first post regarding option 2. i thought you meant your husband was going to buy and keep the car in the uk for 6 months, which would be fine. revenue really do look for a lot of proof of permanent move, p45, bill of sale of house, ferry tickets etc.you also will possibly be claiming child benifit when you move here, with co-operation between depts. now they can tell when you moved. imo you should buy a fairly cheap runaround for now and let your husband buy a high spec and import in 6 months time. failte go heireann (still dont know how to do a fada)


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## mprsv1000 (7 Aug 2007)

Moved over from England 3 months ago and have yet to register my motorbike over here (VRT 800 Euro) I checked it out and I have up to 12 months to do this as I lived in the U.K for 10 years and honestly haven't decided weather the move back will be for good or not also have a 12 month probation period with new job so if that god forbid didn't work out I would definitely move back, house prices the biggest deciding factor though.


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## Persius (7 Aug 2007)

When did you buy the motorbike? If you bought it more than 6 months before moving over to Ireland, then no VRT is due.


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## slamdunkin (7 Aug 2007)

Persius said:


> When did you buy the motorbike? If you bought it more than 6 months before moving over to Ireland, then no VRT is due.


 
has someone got a link to the VRT criteria information


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## pk79 (11 Aug 2007)

Hi all,

I have been reading through this post with interest as some of you have actually imported vehicles from the UK and have first hand experience of this sham tax. 

My English girlfriend moved here to Ireland in March. She bought car in the UK last Oct (2002 Golf) and in June of this year brought it over here. She has not registered it here or paid any VRT as it is still on English plates/insurance (on the basis that you can have a car here temporarily and not register it). 

The original plan was to return home with the car but she has now decided that she would like to stay in Ireland. She would like to register the car here but obviously could do with not paying VRT. 

To sum it up. She owned the car for over 6 months when she imported it. However she only owned it for 5 months when she moved here. As she has been in receipt of gov payments (FAS course) since she moved here in March they will know when she officially moved. Her last paycheck in UK was Jan.

Can anyone advise this poor English girl if there is any way to get her out of paying VRT?


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## pk79 (11 Aug 2007)

Whoops sorry. I posted the same post twice by accident.


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## z108 (11 Aug 2007)

Well.. hmmm .. Im quite good at thinking /imagining up fantastic ideas whos only flaw is reality  but heres a question...
Is it possible to set up a company in the Isle of man or elsewhere for example . call it a car rental company  and rent a foreign car (to which vrt did not apply) off your own company (at no taxable profit)  thereby dodging vrt while having permanent use of a high spec car?


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## mprsv1000 (14 Aug 2007)

Persius said:


> When did you buy the motorbike? If you bought it more than 6 months before moving over to Ireland, then no VRT is due.



Only had the bike for 3 months before moving back so if I decide to stay I will have to pay VRT, crazy really as I did live there for 10 years..the government wants it all their own way as I am also not considered a FTB as had house in U.K. VRT STamp Duty....what next ...would you like to bend over sir so we can properly s***w you!


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## Persius (14 Aug 2007)

pk79 said:


> My English girlfriend moved here to Ireland in March. She bought car in the UK last Oct (2002 Golf) and in June of this year brought it over here. She has not registered it here or paid any VRT as it is still on English plates/insurance (on the basis that you can have a car here temporarily and not register it).
> 
> To sum it up. She owned the car for over 6 months when she imported it. However she only owned it for 5 months when she moved here. As she has been in receipt of gov payments (FAS course) since she moved here in March they will know when she officially moved. Her last paycheck in UK was Jan.
> 
> Can anyone advise this poor English girl if there is any way to get her out of paying VRT?


 
I don't think there is a legal way to avoid paying VRT in this case. AFAIR, you must have owned the vehicle abroad for at least 6 months before both your and the vehicle's first entry into ROI. Since she arrived in ROI 5 months after buying the car, the VRT will be due. When looking to avoid VRT, the revenue will ask for all sorts of proof of date of entry into the country etc. You should find the exact wording on the revenue website.

Well actually there is one way to avoid VRT - sell the car. I don't know how much success you'd have trying to sell it private or to a dealer in ROI. But it might be easiest to sell it back in UK.


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## funcrusher (26 Aug 2007)

Somewhere on a goverment website I read that driving on EU foreign plates and licence is Ok providing the person is returning home at reasonable intervals - hence the swarms of Polish plated cars etc. 

To re-register and avoid VRT all you have to show is that the car came with you when you finally settled in Ireland. So you can keep it on UK plates, return to Scotland (or just N Ireland perhaps) and bring it back again. I know cases where officials have been incredibly suspicious of genuine cases and demanded masses of documents, and others where they havn't even bothered to look at the car or any paperwork at all except the UK reg document!


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## garythegreat (11 Sep 2007)

what a joke of a tax. I bought my UK car 5months ago and am living here in the Uk 6months, when i move back i'm not going to pay the VRT till the latest possible date (so as to ensure the market value reduces, therefore reducing the crazy tax i have to pay). If i get stopped i'll have UK ID, letters with my ex UK address, bank statements (which will still be getting delivered to my UK address and will be forwarded onto me) etc to try and prove to them that I still live in the UK. I'll just say i live over there for 2 weeks and 1 week over in ireland.

Ive even thought of forging documents and trying my luck at getting away with VRT, but i dont think its worth the time if i get caught.


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## SNOWBALL (12 Sep 2007)

I have a friend in the uk who is going to buy a 04 Bmw in the car auction she will have it insured in her name but will garage it in the uk.After 6 months she will bring it home.She is self employed has her own company and does private work in uk , ireland, paris.she is going to keep it in her name and then add me as a named driver.She regulary comes back to dublin has a house rented her.So the car will be in her name and i will be a named driver.she can use it when she is home.she has lived in the uk for 13 years.because she is self employed she will not have a p45 or a letter to say she is moving here.But i cant see why this cant be done?


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