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

ThreeLineWhip

Another UK dealer who knows nothing.

They can tax it in their name on your behalf. Not rocket science. You pay him the money, he sends his errand boy down the post office to get the tax. Simples.

DVLA will not register it in your name as you do not have a UK address.

Marcusm

ThreeLineWhip wrote: »

Another UK dealer who knows nothing.

They can tax it in their name on your behalf. Not rocket science. You pay him the money, he sends his errand boy down the post office to get the tax. Simples.

DVLA will not register it in your name as you do not have a UK address.

The dealer can definitely tax it provided you get him n insurance certificate. The car is not in the dealer's name but he has the V5C and the signature from the prior owner.

Certainly don't send anything to Swansea except a letter once you have exported it. This is all on the guide at DVLA.gov.uk if the dealer continues to act like a tit.

Kace

Agreed - don't let the dealer send away the V5. You need to take this away with you in its entirety.

When you re-register the car in Ireland the NCT Centre needs this - they also do the communication with Swansea as part of their process, so you don't need to do anything relating to macking contact back to the UK.

DieselPowered

iognaid wrote: »

Im collecting a car from a maindealer at the weekend. I understand that I require the full V5 cert so that I can re register it here? So far no problem, I realise that I require road tac disc. It does not have one. I agreed to pay the 6 month fee, but he says he cannot obtain the licence since it isn't registered in my name. To do so he would have to send the documents to Swansea, which means I wouldn't have the V5.
All advice most welcome.

Are you importing the car to Ireland?
If so...
I would not recommend paying any 6 months road tax fund on the car in the UK.
Buy it and head straight for the ferry, chances of getting stopped are nil, but if you do, as long as you have your ferry documents and indicate you are leaving the country with the car for export, there should not be any issues.

This is a very common question, and the answer is always as above.
unless the car already has some road tax on it, its a waste of money.

As also stated, do not buy that car without the V5 form in your pocket leaving. this is the most important piece of paper you get with your car.

Unrealistic

DieselPowered wrote: »

Are you importing the car to Ireland?
If so...
I would not recommend paying any 6 months road tax fund on the car in the UK.
Buy it and head straight for the ferry, chances of getting stopped are nil, but if you do, as long as you have your ferry documents and indicate you are leaving the country with the car for export, there should not be any issues.

I thought though that there have been situations where the dealer has refused to allow the car to be driven off their premises until car tax is purchased? The dealer I bought from (in Belfast) didn't mention it when I picked up my car, and I just drove to the border without any problems, but I thought others had had problems with this issue.

DieselPowered

Unrealistic wrote: »

I thought though that there have been situations where the dealer has refused to allow the car to be driven off their premises until car tax is purchased? The dealer I bought from (in Belfast) didn't mention it when I picked up my car, and I just drove to the border without any problems, but I thought others had had problems with this issue.

UK dealers are I think required to have a tax disc on the car leaving their showroom as they can be held accountable (Think they also have to confirm the car is insured), but if you explain the car is for export, they usually dont have an issue with that.

There are reports of some dealers insisting on it, hence the situation you describe, but I have imported Cars a couple of times and never had any issues.
If you experience otherwise, I think you should buy your car elsewhere....

ThreeLineWhip

You get dealers all the time insisting they post the V5 to Swansea and they won't back down. They send the V5 away, you have no documents to register the car in Ireland so you are stuck. The only option is to seek a certificate of permanent export from the DVLA which can take weeks. In the meantime you are racking up VRT penalties.

I would take a chance on the tax if you are heading straight to the ferry and the dealer is willing to give you the full V5. If they won't give you the documents buy elsewhere, it is that simple.

corktina

buy elsewhere then is th thing to do, no shortage of dealers who CAN read the procedure to follow.

Kace

ThreeLineWhip wrote: »

You get dealers all the time insisting they post the V5 to Swansea and they won't back down. They send the V5 away, you have no documents to register the car in Ireland so you are stuck. The only option is to seek a certificate of permanent export from the DVLA which can take weeks. In the meantime you are racking up VRT penalties.

I would take a chance on the tax if you are heading straight to the ferry and the dealer is willing to give you the full V5. If they won't give you the documents buy elsewhere, it is that simple.

Agreed. This is a complete waste. You are paying 6 months tax for a 4 hour drive. Customs at the Ferry could not care less and will only check what's in your boot when you get to them. Your only risk would be being stopped by the Police. Turn on the Irish charm, tell them you are driving to the ferry and you will have a smile on your face and £100 in your pocket.

yop

Folks
Tried search for the answer but no joy! But if your bringing in a new motor and trying to get a VRT rate off the ROS website.
BUT its a limited edition and even though they have 2 or 3 models close the difference in VRT is over 1500 euro!
How would one go about discovering the black magic that is a rate of VRT

DieselPowered

yop wrote: »

Folks
Tried search for the answer but no joy! But if your bringing in a new motor and trying to get a VRT rate off the ROS website.
BUT its a limited edition and even though they have 2 or 3 models close the difference in VRT is over 1500 euro!
How would one go about discovering the black magic that is a rate of VRT

Ring the VRT office directly before you go and get a quote for the closest model you can get from them. If you are still not happy you will need some letter or paperwork from the manufacturers (usually the V5 form) for the spec, model of the car and then VRT will deal with it separately. You need to be prepared to pay above or below the rate you find online. That's just the way it is with them.

Esel

yop wrote: »

But if your bringing in a new motor and trying to get a VRT rate off the ROS website.

Are you asking about a brand-new, previously unregistered vehicle? If you are, you will also have to consider VAT.

'New' according to the regulations means less than 3 months (from memory) since first registration AND less than 6,000 km on the clock...

The catch is that the vehicle can be older than 3 (or 6?) months, but if it has less than 6K km, it is still liable for VAT. However, if VAT has asready been paid in the UK, you can have this (i.e. the UK VAT) refunded.

DieselPowered

Esel wrote: »

Are you asking about a brand-new, previously unregistered vehicle? If you are, you will also have to consider VAT.

'New' according to the regulations means less than 3 months (from memory) since first registration AND less than 6,000 km on the clock...

The catch is that the vehicle can be older than 3 (or 6?) months, but if it has less than 6K km, it is still liable for VAT. However, if VAT has asready been paid in the UK, you can have this (i.e. the UK VAT) refunded.

Its 6 months (and/or less then 6,000km's as described)

Esel

DieselPowered wrote: »

Its 6 months (and/or less then 6,000km's as described)

Are you quite sure on the 3 months issue?

It used to be 6 months....

Kace

This is what I used - you enter the UK reg.

http://www.motorcheck.ie/blog/vrt-calculator/

I also got a nice surprise when I paid the VRT as they charged me less than the calculator showed. Unfortunately if your motor is high end they will not be able to tell you how much you have to pay on the day - they have to apply to Revenue for the exact amount and you have to come back.

Then if you have a bank draft for 1c more than the required amount they will reject it as they can't accept more than the required amount or 'give change'. I had to attend the office three times in order to pay - nightmare.

yop

Esel wrote: »

Are you asking about a brand-new, previously unregistered vehicle? If you are, you will also have to consider VAT.

'New' according to the regulations means less than 3 months (from memory) since first registration AND less than 6,000 km on the clock...

The catch is that the vehicle can be older than 3 (or 6?) months, but if it has less than 6K km, it is still liable for VAT. However, if VAT has asready been paid in the UK, you can have this (i.e. the UK VAT) refunded.

Ah ya, I know all the permutations but can't nail the VRT correctly.
Thanks

mark316

Got a car last Saturday in the uk and am getting it test done for the vrt does anyone know what way it works? Does it matter how much I've paid for the car?

Thanks

aujopimur

Vrt is calculated on the open market selling price (OMSP).
If you logon to Revenue/VRT website it will tell what VRT is due, and what you need to bring with you.

DieselPowered

mark316 wrote: »

Got a car last Saturday in the uk and am getting it test done for the vrt does anyone know what way it works? Does it matter how much I've paid for the car? Thanks

Doesn't matter how much you paid for the car in the UK, it does not affect your Irish VRT price as that is charged on Irish car price guidelines.

Saying that, you need to produce a receipt for the car to show how much you paid in the UK, as that along with your PPS number gets noted on your revenue account.

What car did you pick up?

mark316

08 audi a4 great car top spec, flew over sat night back home on boat sun morning, garage picked me up from airport and all, vrt.ie says its 2587. That's only a estimation so how can I pay with a bank draft?

ThreeLineWhip

That's why it takes 2 trips at least.

mark316

Alright what do they do the first time so?

ThreeLineWhip

Hopefully you get the price on the first trip, so you go get a draft so you can pay on the 2nd trip.

mark316

Alright thanks, how long should each trip last to test centre and what do they do each time?

aujopimur

The first trip will take about 20mins.
Make sure you have the following,
UK MOT
V5
Ferry ticket
Receipt (you can write this yourself)
Photo ID
PPS no. on official doc.
Proof of address (bank statement)
Money.
If you need to make a 2nd trip it should take about 10mins.

DieselPowered

aujopimur wrote: »

The first trip will take about 20mins.
Make sure you have the following,
UK MOT
V5
Ferry ticket
Receipt (you can write this yourself)
Photo ID
PPS no. on official doc.
Proof of address (bank statement)
Money.
If you need to make a 2nd trip it should take about 10mins.

Don't know how you can bring money on the first trip when that trip is to find out the cost of the VRT to be paid and the best way to pay is by bank draft which you will need to get for the exact amount.
Other way is credit card, but there is a service charge on that.

Best to get price on first trip and pay with bank draft 2nd trip.

mark316

Lovely was just thinking that, do I get the reg number on the second trip? And do I still have to nct the car?

ThreeLineWhip

If it is over 4 years old yes you need the NCT.

The UK MOT is not worth a feck here and is really not needed.

mark316

Will they nct when there doing the test or will that be a third time to go up there

ThreeLineWhip

That is trip 3 normally.