Driving a Car with UK plates

shabbyroad

you can have 5 passports... it won't make any difference.

when I brought a car back from the USA I had to prove my residency in the US before they would allow me bypass the VRT.

SoBe

afaik you will have to prove you had lived there for the past 6 months while owning the car

ps. i know eth0_

BrianD

That is correct. You have to prove that you owned the car for at least six months before moving to Ireland.

The only big problem with the VRT is that if we remove it the tax is going to have to come from somewhere else.

Mac 3

I often wondered how long you could drive a car here before paying the duty.

A mate of mine brought in a car left it a few weeks, had every intention of paying the duty, just let it go a few weeks. He had planned to clear the car on wednesday, tuesday he was having a hands free kit fitted and the next thing there was a man asking about the car. For a finish, this man was from Customs and excise and to cut a long story short, the cops were called and the car was seized on the spot. To get it back, fine, impound charges, VRT and then tax the thing for road use.

Dont even try the old "I didn't know" thing if you have brought in something before, they can find these things out and they take a dimmer view of things if youve imported before, bacause they know you know the score..

Bottom line, the law is there and if you are driving round on english plates or whetever, it's only luck that keeps you from getting caught. These guys are out there and they do perform spot checks..

Mac

Matt Simis

kc66 wrote:

Its a long story. The latest hold up is with the DVLA in Swansea. Waiting on them 3 weeks now and they tell me it will be at least another week.

When importing a car, what exactly do the DVLA have to do and what are they holding up? DVLA arent mentioned in Robertrs "18 point" guide to importing..


Matt

Cynos Tac

My Mate is from the north lives down here but has a skyline with english plates just uses his mothers address in Derry he hasn't had any problems at all and he's been doing this for the last 6yrs also he doesnt have to fall into the Rip-Off that is irish insurance category,another plus is penalty points dont effect him,Yet

lomb

i think if u have a northern accent/ drivers license and have a genuine connection to the uk, the only way they can do u, is if they follow u around. as long as the car returns once every 6 months even if its only for one full day then legally u can sue them for false impounding of your car and legal costs/ incidental expenses. i think legal residence/ordinary residence is needed there and if this can be proved they are screwed and heads roll, so customs/cops leave people like this alone, and intimidate easily spotted scammers.

if u study residence, there are 3 forms of it- domicile, ordinarly resident, and resident.
one can be ordinarily resident even if u havent been there for 3 years. domicile can exist as long as u intend to return to country of origin or connected country (eg ownership of a residence, or even grave plot) for up to 16-18 years of non residence.
residence is described as something like 180 days in any tax year.
obviously a cop isnt going to know his domicile from his residence(a very complex legal area) and if a license and accent is flashed and he has some story hel get away with it.

i know a guy driving a british car here for the last 5 years and he has now no connection for 5 years with the uk other than his relations address. but he has a uk driving license, and a foreign accent.
he gets stopped all the time but they cant do jack about it.

Cynos Tac

thats the thing he has the accent and a uk full licence so der is sweet f*ck all they can do about it but it can be hard for them to prove that you dont live somewhere especially when technically its a different country,i was in derry myself over xmas i dont hav a full licence(ur supposed to if your driving in the north and your from the south) but if the coppers had of stopped me i would have been given ten days to produce my licence of course i wouldn't be there at that stage so der is not much they can do about it

murphaph

Cynos Tac wrote:

i was in derry myself over xmas i dont hav a full licence(ur supposed to if your driving in the north and your from the south) but if the coppers had of stopped me i would have been given ten days to produce my licence of course i wouldn't be there at that stage so der is not much they can do about it

....and I'm guessing you weren't accompanied by a fully qualified (with an Irish licence) driver in the south so were breaking multiple laws in multiple countries on the same day-well done :rolleyes:

Cynos Tac

Thanks,wasn't really looking for compliments though, it was only when i got there that i realised and i suppose i got my come upons cos on the way home my car overheated,which has led tothe head gasket being on its way out the engine bearing is on its way out and i have to stop every 3/4 of an hour to put water ino the rad, so now i have to try and find a decent engine to put into it

tech

You d get a good deal on a second hand engine up north

shabbyroad

lomb wrote:

i think if u have a northern accent/ drivers license and have a genuine connection to the uk, the only way they can do u, is if they follow u around.

They do follow people around. I know of two people who were done having thought they were getting away with it.
It's a matter of whether you think the risk of getting caught is worth it.

lomb wrote:

if u study residence, there are 3 forms of it- domicile, ordinarly resident, and resident.
one can be ordinarily resident even if u havent been there for 3 years. domicile can exist as long as u intend to return to country of origin or connected country (eg ownership of a residence, or even grave plot) for up to 16-18 years of non residence.
residence is described as something like 180 days in any tax year.
obviously a cop isnt going to know his domicile from his residence(a very complex legal area) and if a license and accent is flashed and he has some story hel get away with it.

i know a guy driving a british car here for the last 5 years and he has now no connection for 5 years with the uk other than his relations address. but he has a uk driving license, and a foreign accent.
he gets stopped all the time but they cant do jack about it.

All well and good until he pisses someone off and they report him and his car. And if you think a Garda or a member of the Revenue/Customs don't know the laws of domicile then you're being naive :-)

Cynos Tac wrote:

thats the thing he has the accent and a uk full licence so der is sweet f*ck all they can do about it but it can be hard for them to prove that you dont live somewhere especially when technically its a different country,i was in derry myself over xmas i dont hav a full licence(ur supposed to if your driving in the north and your from the south) but if the coppers had of stopped me i would have been given ten days to produce my licence of course i wouldn't be there at that stage so der is not much they can do about it

It's not that hard for them to do it at all. Both of the chaps I know who were caught out thought they were getting away with it. When they were stopped there was no question of producing anything later. The car was siezed there and then.

kc66

Matt Simis wrote:

When importing a car, what exactly do the DVLA have to do and what are they holding up? DVLA arent mentioned in Robertrs "18 point" guide to importing..


Matt

In a normal case- nothing. Previous owner in this case lost the log book. Have to apply to the DVLA for a certificate of permanent export if you dont have the V5. The hold up is the security check according to them.

Richard

toad wrote:

Whats the situation for a dual passport holder regarding VRT? For example say I hold an Irish passport and a british one and I live in Ireland, if I buy a car in the UK and present myself to the VRT offices with my UK passport would I still need to prove I had been living there for 6 months to avoid VRT?

I once owned a car registered in Northern Ireland which I took with me to the South a week after I bought it.

Although I initially got it insured in the South, i had great difficulty taxing it in NI and I eventually had to re-register it. Although I had owned it for over six months before i re-registered it, I still didn't get out of paying the VRT. Even if I had owned it 6 months before moving to the South, I presume I would have had to have proved that I'd never taken it across the border, which would have been difficult.

Some people who are from NI move to the South without changing their plates or telling their insurance company. If they then have an accident they could be in big trouble. So don;t risk doing something similar.

Richard

tech wrote:

You d get a good deal on a second hand engine up north

I'm guessing this is a joke? VRT still applies!

Gatster

Hibernian will insure UK plate cars for a full year at an Irish address and you are definitely fully covered.

Iv been driving an English reg car since early September. I am in the process of getting it registered here. My insurance company has me covered fully

If anyone gets away with this, fair play.

Litcagral

Richard wrote:

Some people who are from NI move to the South without changing their plates or telling their insurance company. If they then have an accident they could be in big trouble. So don;t risk doing something similar.

Insurance Policies usually cover the island of Ireland. Otherwise a driver making regular trips to Donegal or into NI would have a lot of hassle to go through each time they travelled.

IrishRover

Richard wrote:

tech wrote:

You d get a good deal on a second hand engine up north

I'm guessing this is a joke? VRT still applies!

On an engine? Have you paid VRT on an imported engine? I haven't.

Richard

Litcagral wrote:

Insurance Policies usually cover the island of Ireland. Otherwise a driver making regular trips to Donegal or into NI would have a lot of hassle to go through each time they travelled.

True - they will also cover travel to Great Britain and further afield - but you need to be insured at the address where you are resident. And you cannot be resident in Northern Ireland if you don't spend more than half the week there. The same applies vice versa.

But if you are normally resident in ROI and have a car registered, taxed and insured in NI, then the insurance is invalid. The same is true between NI and Great Britain. Travelling between any of these places is covered, including holidays. But if you don't normally reside at the address where you are insured, then your insurance is invalid.

The phrase normally reside is open to interpretation, but someone driving to work in Athlone in a car registered in Belfast could get themselves into trouble. I know of people in that very scenario who got into trouble with the motor tax authorities in Co Westmeath who sat waiting for ''yellow plate'' drivers to turn up for work.

Richard

IrishRover wrote:

On an engine? Have you paid VRT on an imported engine? I haven't.

Sorry, I thought you meant 'car'. My mistake!