Importing camper into Ireland

sno_fun3

Hi just wondering if anyone has imported a camper into Ireland lately, have been trying to gather some information on how much the V.R.T. might come to, have tried talking to both customs + excise and local tax office but neither can help.
Ive been told i will need to pay 13.5% of the open market selling value of the van i bring in but no one can tell me how much that will be before i roll up to rosslare to register it on Irish plates. There is an extremely complicated form that involves comparing the prices of vans for sale in Ireland with similar vans for sale in the UK but i cant make sense of it really.

Would be interested to hear if any one has brought in a camper and much you were charged for VRT to try and get some idea of what it might cost if we were to bring in a van.

thanks

Wayne

Doom

Google the model at Irish dealers, that should give you an indication of the value

niloc1951

sno_fun3 wrote: »

.......................... There is an extremely complicated form that involves comparing the prices of vans for sale in Ireland with similar vans for sale in the UK but i cant make sense of it really. ................................................

The VRT which is supposed to be based on the Open Market Selling Price is very difficult to assess for motorhomes because unlike for ordinary cars the Revenue have no database of actual sales prices.
To overcome this, as you say, the Customs refer to advertised prices of vans for sale, but those prices are only inspirational or what the sellers would like to get on a good day. In reality at the moment, if you can find a buyer for a van, the actual selling price will probably in the region of only 75% of the advertised asking.
I know of two modern vans from '06 and '07 which only made about 75% of what they would have made in the UK or Europe.

The Revenue really only seem to be 'winging it' themselves so how are you to make sense of it. It must be the only tax where one can not know their liability before a transaction, which is probably illegal if it was tested in the courts.

Aidan_M_M

I can officially confirm they are "winging it"

We , as a main dealer , buying direct from the factory , can show them the purchase price of a typical new MH . They have a convoluted formula , but it's daft , they mostly look up something that looks similar , on Autotrader etc and work from there , irregardless of the fact that the one they are looking at may well be of a much higher spec .

And they aren't even consistent! We registered 2 new factory builds , about a month apart . same chassis , same engine , same interior , same colour even! Genuinely identical . 1200 euro more VRT on the 2nd one , and they couldn't explain why...

sunchaser

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Squ

sunchaser wrote: »

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Who do you work for????

John Dough

Squ wrote: »

Who do you work for????

Dearest place in EU for motorhomes is here saving jobs and all that a load of popycock they are long gone!!
VRT Hike killed them off.

niloc1951

sunchaser wrote: »

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

I would agree.

Examples of my motorhome (a '05 upperend A Class) are currently listed in the UK are priced in the region of £32k thats €40k at current rates, add a VRT of 13.5% of say the Revenue's notional OMSP of €45k which would be €6k bringing the total cost of importing to €46k, not including ferries flights etc.
Going on examples of private sales which I personally know of if I were insane enough to put mine on the Irish market I would probably get somewhere in the low €30k's for, it if anyone was buying .
If I had to sell I would probably do an export to the European market (it's LHD) where similar models are listed for €40k.

So, if you look in Ireland in the current climate you should find better value than importing and get the satisfaction of not having to hand over a wedge of your hard earned to the Revenue.

niloc1951

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

I can officially confirm they are "winging it"

We , as a main dealer , buying direct from the factory , can show them the purchase price of a typical new MH . They have a convoluted formula , but it's daft , they mostly look up something that looks similar , on Autotrader etc and work from there , irregardless of the fact that the one they are looking at may well be of a much higher spec .

And they aren't even consistent! We registered 2 new factory builds , about a month apart . same chassis , same engine , same interior , same colour even! Genuinely identical . 1200 euro more VRT on the 2nd one , and they couldn't explain why...

Firstly let me say that I accept fact that your industry is hard pressed like so many others and is probable not flush with funds.

However, is it not time that as an industry you form a lobby group or action committee to take the Minister to task on the issue of VRT on motor caravans.

OMSP criteria being applied to such a low volume market where actual selling prices are not recorded by Revenue to be taken into account and instead notional asking prices from magazines are used must be against the regulations.

Surely if VRT must be levied then the purchase invoice should be acceptable, as it is for VAT on imports.

Finally, as I have said before, requiring a transaction to take place before its tax liability can be assessed must surely be against the rights of the taxpayer to know in advance his/her tax liability for a transaction before the transaction is embarked upon.

sno_fun3

sunchaser wrote: »

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Not sure where you come to this conclusion when you have no idea what kind of van im looking for, the fact is there isnt a van of the make, model,layout and year im looking of in Ireland and even if there was a van from the UK will usually come with more of the accessories solar panel,towbar,air sus etc which im looking for.

And to be honest i think me buying a van in Ireland as opposed to the UK or europe isnt going to make that much different on the jobs front.

Anyway am i not going to pay the VRT isnt that making a contruibition

sno_fun3

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

I can officially confirm they are "winging it"

We , as a main dealer , buying direct from the factory , can show them the purchase price of a typical new MH . They have a convoluted formula , but it's daft , they mostly look up something that looks similar , on Autotrader etc and work from there , irregardless of the fact that the one they are looking at may well be of a much higher spec .

And they aren't even consistent! We registered 2 new factory builds , about a month apart . same chassis , same engine , same interior , same colour even! Genuinely identical . 1200 euro more VRT on the 2nd one , and they couldn't explain why...

That confirms what i had suspected, the method for calculating VRT is rubbish, even if i did all i could to get an idea of how much it could cost i could roll up in rosslare and get hit with a large bill on a whim

sno_fun3

niloc1951 wrote: »

I would agree.

Examples of my motorhome (a '05 upperend A Class) are currently listed in the UK are priced in the region of £32k thats €40k at current rates, add a VRT of 13.5% of say the Revenue's notional OMSP of €45k which would be €6k bringing the total cost of importing to €46k, not including ferries flights etc.
Going on examples of private sales which I personally know of if I were insane enough to put mine on the Irish market I would probably get somewhere in the low €30k's for, it if anyone was buying .
If I had to sell I would probably do an export to the European market (it's LHD) where similar models are listed for €40k.

So, if you look in Ireland in the current climate you should find better value than importing and get the satisfaction of not having to hand over a wedge of your hard earned to the Revenue.

Thats all well and good and i understand your point but the fact is Ireland is a very small market and the way things are no very few are up grading vans, there is not a camper of the model, layout and year which im looking for so what choice do i have except to look outside the country which it seems as the thread going on means being subject to the whim of a custom and excise office

spaceHopper

Get a list of vans for sale it will give you an idea of what to expect, the price set by Roslare, wither go down there or go to your local VRO office. If they over value the van you can argue it on the day with them or if you can't agree you appeal.

Aidan_MM can you not appeal after you sell each van you have proof of the OMSP you could save up a few and send them in at the one time, after they have had to wast time processing them and either payout or say no they may cop on and let you sell the van first the pay vrt?

karmaan

sno_fun3 wrote: »

Hi just wondering if anyone has imported a camper into Ireland lately, have been trying to gather some information on how much the V.R.T. might come to, have tried talking to both customs + excise and local tax office but neither can help.
Ive been told i will need to pay 13.5% of the open market selling value of the van i bring in but no one can tell me how much that will be before i roll up to rosslare to register it on Irish plates. There is an extremely complicated form that involves comparing the prices of vans for sale in Ireland with similar vans for sale in the UK but i cant make sense of it really.

Would be interested to hear if any one has brought in a camper and much you were charged for VRT to try and get some idea of what it might cost if we were to bring in a van.

thanks

Wayne

Hi Wayne,
We brought one in in 2006, at the time it was 50€ vrt for vehicles over 3 ton, so we made the weight (Literally ) thats all finished know afaik, what are you after? if you know what you want there is good value here, the good stuff on done deal sells very fast if the sellers value is realistic.

sno_fun3

Ye those were the days karmann, sadly long gone now !!

We are after a hymer E510, S520 or at a push a B584 of a 99/2000 vintage. Its a very narrow search band hence the reason was looking to bring something in from the UK where there is a lot more available.

Looks like we may have to suck it up and roll the dice with customs either that or sit and wait and hope something similar appears in Ireland.

There is nothing really that suits at the moment and i'm not the wait and be patient type so ill probably have a go at figuring out what customs may charge us. Tricky task though as there is not many vans to use as a comparison, only a couple of hymer A class on done deal and a another 1 r 2 with a couple of dealers.

karmaan

good luck!
we bought a B584 from donaghys last year, this has come up on done deal recntly, you probably saw it
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/campers/4095583

sno_fun3

Ye have seen that one alright is that not a 544 though ?

sunchaser

Quote:




Originally Posted by sunchaser

Why bother importing.
Ireland appears presently to be the cheapest place to buy a motorhome.
There are many sites with motorhomes abroad and compare these with Irish site and you will find that I am right.
Buy in Ireland and you may save a job.
Then you can enjoy your motorhome.

Who do you work for????

Squ was never in the motorhome trade, now retired & enjoying life.

karmaan

tis ye, we looked at a few of thm until i saw the 584

sno_fun3

Ye we had a 544 a few years ago they are a nice van, we like the layout of the 584 as well as the separate shower

Irishgoatman

I imported my camper from the U.K. paid the V.R.T. and then appealed the amount.

I quoted, with printouts, similar campers on Adverts.ie and ebay that were dearer than mine showing them what I could have bought for the value they put on my camper.
I did not say whether the prices quoted were asking or selling!!.

I received a refund of, I think it was, around 20%.
This subject came up on a thread some time ago and what ever the % was others had received the same.

sno_fun3

Cheers irishgoatman that sounds a bit more promising, i was looking at the customs and excise again last night they have a sample form on how to calculate your own VRT, its for a car but the same principles apply. They have four different cars listed.

Irishgoatman

By the way, I brought mine in through Dublin Port then went to my local Customs and Excise office a couple of days later to register it.
At no time was I told that I should have gone to Rosslare.

It was the chap I dealt with who told me to appeal as, his words, "I've no idea how the V.R.T. is calculated".

niloc1951

Ever think of Germany 1996Hymer S520 it's the only one of any year advertised

Its got loads of extras, including four solar panels, and looks in great condition and it's on Merc chassis.

karmaan

nice bus alright, dont think its viable to land it here and pay the vrt

sno_fun3

niloc1951 wrote: »

Ever think of Germany 1996Hymer S520 it's the only one of any year advertised

Its got loads of extras, including four solar panels, and looks in great condition and it's on Merc chassis.

Ye ive seen that 520 and have been looking at vans in germany but i think they are holding there value much more there than here or the UK, there seems to me to be beter value in the uk at the moment, I think we could get a 00 van for the same price in the UK.

sno_fun3

Irishgoatman wrote: »

By the way, I brought mine in through Dublin Port then went to my local Customs and Excise office a couple of days later to register it.
At no time was I told that I should have gone to Rosslare.

It was the chap I dealt with who told me to appeal as, his words, "I've no idea how the V.R.T. is calculated".

Oh right i had heard people talking about rosslare i just thought that was the only place to register it, what your saying makes sense though.

That kind of sums it up really though, there is no set formula to calculate VRT and therefore is impossible to know if you are going to end up paying over the odds which makes a bit of a mockery of the whole process in my opinion.

killalanerr

sno_fun3 wrote: »

Oh right i had heard people talking about rosslare i just thought that was the only place to register it,

OP Afaik it works like this you buy the van you have no clue what the VRT will be other than it will be based on what they might think the OMP is,you then contact your local NCT office yes thats right the nct and make an appointment,they will inspect the van and send you away telling you they will contact you when they have contacted revenue,in a few days you will get a call from the nct at that stage you will be told how much the VRT will be,you pay the vrt and tax it only after that can you appeal
As was said some good deals at home at the moment best of luck what ever way you go

sno_fun3

Ye i have no problem buying something here, in fact in a lot of ways it would be much easier. Its only a matter of finding the model we are looking for, we could go for a different layout but we are planning on keeoing this van for a number of years so it should be worth the extra hassle importing to get exactely what were after.

Irishgoatman

I've just seen the repeat of a Customs programme on RTE which jogged my memory.

You have 30 days, from importing a vehicle, in which to re-register it as Irish.

Aidan_M_M

First of all, we in the industry have tried, numerous times to reason with the Vrt/Vro but they don't want to listen. We fight them on every registration. And another thing people dont realise, they don't hold a data base of Mhs, if your neighbours buy a model x, version y, chassis a, and a month later you buy an identical one, they don't use ones previously registered/vrt'd as a comparison.

I would have thought the 584 would be relatively easily bought in the country? I've seen a good few here. Unless people aren't selling them on.
We haven't imported a S/h MH in over a year iirc, they're cheaper here than abroad.