Importing a car from Northern Ireland… change of legislation !!

landlord said:
I have recently successfully imported a car from Northern Ireland (VAT/customs free) benefitting from the very recent change of legislation.


From this Revenue page the specific paragraphs I was interested in ….

Vehicles purchased after 30 April 2024 can be registered in the State without being subject to these additional requirements. These vehicles will still require proof of Customs Declaration OR PROOF THAT THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN PRIVATE OWNERSHIP IN NI FOR A REASONABLE PERIOD OF TIME.

Proof of the vehicle’s status in NI prior to purchase will be required, for example:
  • a copy of the V5C showing the last registered keeper in NI and a date of registration to that keeper

The statement above “reasonable period of time” is very vague, so I went into the VRT inspection office at Northpoint2 Ballymun (next to the NCT office) for clarification.

They use 3 months as (reasonable period of time)

So in summary…

Choose your perspective car up the North.

Ask the dealer or private owner to send you a photo of the logbook BEFORE you purchase the car.

Take the photo of the logbook (Even a copy on your mobile phone is fine) to the VRT office. (No appointment was needed at this stage…..Appointment will be required once you import the car)

The VRT office are looking for 3 things on the logbook

  1. Car was registered to a private owner (cannot be in a company name).
  2. The car was registered in Northern Ireland at least 3 months ago.
  3. The address of the previous owner is a northern Irish address.
If these items are satisfied they will confirm you can import the car without paying customs and VAT.

You will only pay the VRT and NOX (nitrous oxide tax). (Nitrous oxide tax for most cars is only a few hundred euros.
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landlord said:
Yes I guess so …

As long as he registers the car in NI in his name and not a company name for at least 3 months and has a NI address.
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What about a car that has a GB mainland reg plate?
 
If it has a UK mainland plate it doesn’t fulfill the 3 criteria (from my first post) for importing it into Ireland VAT free.
 
landlord said:
If it has a UK mainland plate it doesn’t fulfill the 3 criteria (from my first post) for importing it into Ireland VAT free.
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I thought the registration platr didn't matter anymore you just need to be able to evidence its been registered to a private owner in Northern ireland for a reasonable period of time before importing in Ireland
 
If you are able to show evidence that it was once registered to a northern Irish person for more than 3 months think you might be ok, but either way take all this evidence in advance of bringing it over, to your local VRT office and see what they say.
 
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