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

The_Conductor

Limerick man wrote: »

In the eyes of Liberty (Quinn) once you have paid for it you can considered to be the owner of it, irrelevant to the logbook.

Aviva do not have this policy- Axa apparently do. Its not a standard- and is not something you can rely on. Personally- I'd not like to be trying to make a claim on this basis from Liberty (or Aviva)...........

Kotek Besar

MidlandsM wrote: »

it will not, you are 100% incorrect.....in the event of a claim, you will not be the registered owner on the logbook, so they will not pay out to you......

MidlandsM wrote:

-more tripe in between-

MidlandsM wrote: »

Some insurers will, some will not. That is all.

So you concede you've been wrong all along then. :rolleyes:

Kotek Besar

MidlandsM wrote: »

The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea? The amount of bad informed comment here on this thread is so misleading.

More drivel.

When the vehicle is being exported from the UK, the seller hands the V5C to the buyer in it's entirety. But you probably don't believe that.

MidlandsM

Kotek Besar wrote: »

More drivel.

When the vehicle is being exported from the UK, the seller hands the V5C to the buyer in it's entirety. But you probably don't believe that.

are you a tad slow? re-read what i typed.........:rolleyes:

I said if you look back, that the The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea? So, yes - you are right .....the buyer gets the full V5C in its entirety.......but thats what I said?

what is wrong with you?

Kotek Besar

MidlandsM wrote: »

are you a tad slow? re-read what i typed.........:rolleyes:

I said if you look back, that the The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea? So, yes - you are right .....the buyer gets the full V5C in its entirety.......but thats what I said?

what is wrong with you?

No, you wrote:

The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea? The amount of bad informed comment here on this thread is so misleading.

Perhaps you're just trolling on this thread.

MidlandsM

You sir, need help..........mentally.........

Our man in Havana

Knock it off lads!

vibe666

has the thread covered the legality of someone from elsewhere in the EU working in Ireland driving an EU registered car in the medium to long term?

Just curious, but say someone was over in Ireland for an extended contract job of 6-12 months or more and had a car bought outside of Ireland, would they be expected to register it in Ireland as they could technically be classed as a resident if they are working here and paying for accommodation?

Assuming the car was registered, taxed and insured etc. at their EU based address and the driver had an EU drivers licence, is there anything that customs or whoever could (or would) do about it, or are they only interested in nabbing Irish drivers trying to save a few bob?

It's just that I see a lot of EU based registrations around locally (be it from mainland (mostly eastern) Europe or the UK) that have been here a good while tha don't seem to be getting Irish registered.

awec

I'd say it's just a case that you're more likely to get stopped on a UK reg so more chance of getting caught.

vibe666

but caught for what and is it something they're likely to chase up?

do they really expect someone to pay a ridiculous sum of money to the revenue just to get an Irish number plate on their car?

do they keep a record of every time they stop a foreign reg car and if someone gets stopped more than once do they follow up?

from what I understand (and i'm sure someone would correct me if i'm wrong) if you've owned the car for more than 6 months you don't have to pay the crazy fees to register a car, but that you may not be able to sell it for 12 months after registering it and getting irish plates on it?

Our man in Havana

Correct. Resale is prohibited within 12 months unless the full VRT is paid.

awec

vibe666 wrote: »

but caught for what and is it something they're likely to chase up?

do they really expect someone to pay a ridiculous sum of money to the revenue just to get an Irish number plate on their car?

do they keep a record of every time they stop a foreign reg car and if someone gets stopped more than once do they follow up?

from what I understand (and i'm sure someone would correct me if i'm wrong) if you've owned the car for more than 6 months you don't have to pay the crazy fees to register a car, but that you may not be able to sell it for 12 months after registering it and getting irish plates on it?

It's if you owned the car for 6 months before you move to Ireland you don't have to pay VRT.

The date you import it doesn't matter here, you could buy it tomorrow, move to Ireland on Thursday, wait 6 months but you'd still have to pay VRT.

And yes, you're expected to pay it.

You are most likely to get caught if you are from the ROI IMO. If the guard stops you, you roll down the window and he hears that southern accent you are likely to lose the car there and then never mind getting stopped twice. Onus is on you to prove you don't live in Ireland or you have only just imported it (i.e. VRT inspection booked and within the allowable time period).

When I was down here before when I had a NI reg a guard stopped me at a checkpoint, I rolled down the window and as soon as he heard my accent (nordy) he waved me on. Didn't check anything.

Where you drive is also likely to come into it. They're unlikely to pull over UK reg's on the M1 or the M50 etc, or popular tourist areas, but if they see you driving around local roads / housing areas then you run the risk.

Our man in Havana

It's if you owned the car for 6 months before you move to Ireland you don't have to pay VRT.

Only if you have the reams of paperwork that revenue insist on. Some people who have owned their cars long enough cannot avail of the exemption due to unreasonable demands made in the way of paperwork.

Esel

MidlandsM wrote: »

are you a tad slow? re-read what i typed.........:rolleyes:

I said if you look back, that the The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea? So, yes - you are right .....the buyer gets the full V5C in its entirety.......but thats what I said?

what is wrong with you?

Not trying to resurrect the spat here, and not trying to be a grammar Nazi either.

MidlandsM, your incorrect use of the question mark caused the confusion.

You are not supposed to put a question mark at the end of a statement.

So,

The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea?

reads very differently to

The dealer needed to send no section on the V5 to swansea.

aujopimur

vibe666 wrote: »

has the thread covered the legality of someone from elsewhere in the EU working in Ireland driving an EU registered car in the medium to long term?

Just curious, but say someone was over in Ireland for an extended contract job of 6-12 months or more and had a car bought outside of Ireland, would they be expected to register it in Ireland as they could technically be classed as a resident if they are working here and paying for accommodation?

Assuming the car was registered, taxed and insured etc. at their EU based address and the driver had an EU drivers licence, is there anything that customs or whoever could (or would) do about it, or are they only interested in nabbing Irish drivers trying to sav
It's just that I see a lot of EU based registrations around locally (be it from mainland (mostly eastern) Europe or the UK) that have been here a good while tha don't seem to be getting Irish registered.

Residency is what applies to the drivers of foreign reg. cars.

jjmcclure

aujopimur wrote: »

Residency is what applies to the drivers of foreign reg. cars.

Read the legislation. Residency is determined by where your personal ties are. In simple terms where your immediate family/next of kin lives.
So if your family is in Ireland and you are on a temporary contract here and will return home you can apply for an exemption.
If your ties are in your home country and you return there "regularly" (regularly is not defined in the legislation) then you are exempt from VRT indefinitely. You will need proof of residency in the other country e.g. Phone bills, driver’s license, golf club membership, gas bills etc
I have been in the later position and drove UK cars in Ireland for years while living down here. All cleared by customs. When I got married down here I brought a car in for free!!:)

Kotek Besar

Also, if a student has moved to Ireland from another EU member state, for the sole purpose of pursuing a course of study, he remains ordinarily resident in his country of origin and thus exempt from the requirement to register his car in Ireland.

vibe666

sounds good to me.

here's one. what about someone who is currently living and working in Ireland, but is in the process of emigrating to another country such as Australia or Canada?

ireland wouldn't be their permanent residence then, would it?

Kotek Besar

If they're currently living and working in Ireland and in the process* of emigrating to Australia, then (assuming other factors are not in play) they're currently resident in Ireland.

*as in the visa application process or..?

Esel

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Also, if a student has moved to Ireland from another EU member state, for the sole purpose of pursuing a course of study, he remains ordinarily resident in his country of origin and thus exempt from the requirement to register his car in Ireland.

The opposite also applies: - A person studying abroad does not qualify for the Transfer of Residence VRT exemption if bringing a car they purchased abroad home with them.

jjmcclure

vibe666 wrote: »

sounds good to me.

here's one. what about someone who is currently living and working in Ireland, but is in the process of emigrating to another country such as Australia or Canada?

ireland wouldn't be their permanent residence then, would it?

Yes it would

Kace

I imported an A5 Quattro during the week and following my reading of this thread made some efforts to clarify the situation in relation to insurance when I was doing the transaction.

I am with Chartis Fore and I swapped the insurance from my wife's car to the UK Reg Audi so that I could drive it home.

I quizzed the guy about the fact that I was not yet the 'registered owner' with the Dept of Transport and he told me it didn't matter and that it was the car I was insuring. I pushed him on it but he told me that he does about 50 of these a day and that it didn't matter. That phone call would be recorded so I knew if I had an accident then I would have some recourse with them.

Once I got the car home yesterday I then proceeded to fully switch the insurance from my own car over to the new UK car - this time with Liberty. Once again, when I quizzed the guy on the phone about the fact that I was not yet the registered owner of the vehicle, he confirmed that this didn't matter.

By the way - one other service that made my life very easy was a company called TransferMate. I transferred the money to them before travelling and then called them once I had made contact with the Garage and checked the car over. They had the money transferred into the bank account of the Garage within 90 minutes, so that I could hit the road and head back to the ferry in good time. I couldn't get a bank that could do the transfer anything quicker than 24 hours. Highly recommend.

Anyway - that was my story. Now off to the NCT Centre to re-register and fork over some more cash :-/

Our man in Havana

There is no such thing as a "registered owner" in the UK. There is a registered keeper which is not always the owner.

MidlandsM

Kace wrote: »

Once I got the car home yesterday I then proceeded to fully switch the insurance from my own car over to the new UK car - this time with Liberty. Once again, when I quizzed the guy on the phone about the fact that I was not yet the registered owner of the vehicle, he confirmed that this didn't matter.

did you get that in writing? Cause it when you have a claim the " he said/she said on the phone " stuff is not worth a shyte!

challengemaster

MidlandsM wrote: »

did you get that in writing? Cause it when you have a claim the " he said/she said on the phone " stuff is not worth a shyte!

Difference is, all their phone calls are recorded.

Although yes, having it in writing is a much better approach

derealbadger

Hope this is the place for this I'm looking at buying a car in the UK but I will not be changing it onto Irish plates as it is for a contract across the water the dealer tells me he will 0 the vat rate on me giving him my ROI VAT number is there anything I need to be careful of here
If need be I can open a UK company and the car is vat qualifying over there as well just means I need to pay it first then claim it back
Any info greatly appreciated

Esel

^ Tricky one! Do you have an accountant?

derealbadger

Esel wrote: »

^ Tricky one! Do you have an accountant?

Yes and I have asked him to check it out and he is but I thought somebody here with the collective knowledge might be able to help me

PeterDuggan

ok here's a question which I don't think has been asked before...

Say I buy a car in the UK and drive it to Spain, genuinely stay for six months (I have accomodation there), and then drive back to Ireland. Would I be exempt from VRT?

I know not everyone can do this but I could at the moment.

awec

I don't think so.