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

reubenreuben

Isambard wrote: »

i think the original idea was that a GB to NI transfer would undergo Customs procedure . The UK moved the goal posts and this seems to have been abandoned with the result that Revenue are charging for all ex GB cars out of GB from 2021 as if they have been brought into the Republic direct..

If that's the case then buying from a NI dealer now is not worth it if you are expected to pay vat on top of the price.

dave1982

I'd no hassle buying from North last week, car was traded in to dealer mid April and bought by me last week. AFAIK if car has always been in North its normal vrt and nox. Its only if car was in England and brought to North in 2021 you pay the extra vat. That's my understanding of it anyway. Vrt center asked no questions just said cars from North, I said yes

reubenreuben

dave1982 wrote: »

I'd no hassle buying from North last week, car was traded in to dealer mid April and bought by me last week. AFAIK if car has always been in North its normal vrt and nox. Its only if car was in England and brought to North in 2021 you pay the extra vat. That's my understanding of it anyway. Vrt center asked no questions just said cars from North, I said yes

I assume the vrt office checked the ni registered date and address?

dave1982

reubenreuben wrote: »

I assume the vrt office checked the ni registered date and address?

Had the V5 from original owner everything was on that

statto25

reubenreuben wrote: »

Even if the car was already registered to a NI dealer or private NI seller?
Thought Vat was only applicable if car was registered in GB.

When you said registered I figured it was brought over from mainland UK. If the car was in NI before the 31st Dec 2020 its not liable for VAT from what I understand

nialler1978

I've purchased 4 cars for myself in the past from both the north and mainland UK. I am purchasing from north this time but on behalf of a family member.

Does anyone have any advice regarding purchasing on behalf of someone? Does it have to be my name on the V5 and this can be changed during VRT?

Also, anyone know if I could be done for travelling to north to collect or is it deemed as essential travel or whatever.

Thanks.

bazz26

They don't care whose name is on V5 as that is the previous owner. You just put the name down of the new owner on the VRT form you fill out when presenting the car for VRT inspection.

And nobody here can correctly answer the second question for you. The guidelines are there around travelling outside your own county and country. If you meet a checkpoint the PNSI/Gardai won't be interested in what boards.ie posters think is essential travel. It's a judgement call for yourself.

dave1982

nialler1978 wrote: »

I've purchased 4 cars for myself in the past from both the north and mainland UK. I am purchasing from north this time but on behalf of a family member.

Does anyone have any advice regarding purchasing on behalf of someone? Does it have to be my name on the V5 and this can be changed during VRT?

Also, anyone know if I could be done for travelling to north to collect or is it deemed as essential travel or whatever.

Thanks.

Dealer I met wanted my drivers licence as proof of ID but on vrt form there's a section on form asking if you're registering car on someone else behalf. You can download the form off vrt site and have read if it yourself and you'll see section I'm talking about.
Second question obviously if you're caught you'll probably get a fine but I met no guards.

BTW I've learnt for balliff tv shows V5 is not proof of ownership ��

nialler1978

bazz26 wrote: »

They don't care whose name is on V5 as that is the previous owner. You just put the name down of the new owner on the VRT form you fill out when presenting the car for VRT inspection.

And nobody here can correctly answer the second question for you. The guidelines are there around travelling outside your own county and country. If you meet a checkpoint the PNSI/Gardai won't be interested in what boards.ie posters think is essential travel. It's a judgement call for yourself.

dave1982 wrote: »

Dealer I met wanted my drivers licence as proof of ID but on vrt form there's a section on form asking if you're registering car on someone else behalf. You can download the form off vrt site and have read if it yourself and you'll see section I'm talking about.
Second question obviously if you're caught you'll probably get a fine but I met no guards

Thanks very much to you both.

reubenreuben

Spoke to an ni dealer today.
He said that any car imported into NI from 2021 will have to have Irish vat added when imported into republic but the UK vat can be refunded after application to UK revenue.
Rules of origin duty still applies too.

Isambard

reubenreuben wrote: »

Spoke to an ni dealer today.
He said that any car imported into NI from 2021 will have to have Irish vat added when imported into republic but the UK vat can be refunded after application to UK revenue.
Rules of origin duty still applies too.

as far as I can see, that's only for business users.

nialler1978

Any idea what to do if you're certain the model of car is not on the VRT calculator?

Car I'm looking for is:

2019 Peugeot 508 1.5 Bluehdi Allure 5Dr Eat8

Only one available is:

2019 Peugeot 508 1.5 Bluehdi GTI-LINE 5Dr

Which is better model and is pulling up a very high OMSP and marginally higher CO2 emissions. Or is it a case that the VRT calculator is just a guide and they will more than likely have the correct model in the centre when registering?

reubenreuben

nialler1978 wrote: »

Any idea what to do if you're certain the model of car is not on the VRT calculator?

Car I'm looking for is:

2019 Peugeot 508 1.5 Bluehdi Allure 5Dr Eat8

Only one available is:

2019 Peugeot 508 1.5 Bluehdi GTI-LINE 5Dr

Which is better model and is pulling up a very high OMSP and marginally higher CO2 emissions. Or is it a case that the VRT calculator is just a guide and they will more than likely have the correct model in the centre when registering?

A car I imported a few years back wasn't on the list either. The model was, just not the exact version.
I ended up paying very similar to another on the list. I did a few calculations myself and got very close to what vrt office came back with.
But still, it's in the hand of the gods as you hear other people being billed crazy amounts.
It's a terrible system tbh.

nialler1978

reubenreuben wrote: »

A car I imported a few years back wasn't on the list either. The model was, just not the exact version.
I ended up paying very similar to another on the list. I did a few calculations myself and got very close to what vrt office came back with.
But still, it's in the hand of the gods as you hear other people being billed crazy amounts.
It's a terrible system tbh.

this is coming in about €10k more. Do you recall, was your car essentially registered incorrectly as another model then?

reubenreuben

nialler1978 wrote: »

this is coming in about €10k more. Do you recall, was your car essentially registered incorrectly as another model then?

No. It was just version of a Volvo XC90 that wasn't listed on the vrt website. It was a top spec version. I found the actual Volvo prices online from the same year and figured out the difference from the other spec versions. So I was happy, if you can call it that with the amount of vrt billed.

nialler1978

reubenreuben wrote: »

No. It was just version of a Volvo XC90 that wasn't listed on the vrt website. It was a top spec version. I found the actual Volvo prices online from the same year and figured out the difference from the other spec versions. So I was happy, if you can call it that with the amount of vrt billed.

ah right, would lead to believe they have a different or more comprehensive list than the one that's on the calculator. although you'd think it would be as simple as the calculator pulling from whatever database they are using rather than having to update two lists.

reubenreuben

nialler1978 wrote: »

ah right, would lead to believe they have a different or more comprehensive list than the one that's on the calculator. although you'd think it would be as simple as the calculator pulling from whatever database they are using rather than having to update two lists.

Yes. It's as if they make it as difficult as possible for us!

borderfox11

hey, I am currently querying VRT for an NI import on the ROS calculator

On autotrader and on this site https://carfueldata.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/search-new-or-used-cars.aspx the emissions are listed as 114g/km

On the calculator it says the following:

Revenue CO2 Estimate
CO2 Emissions
138
Calculated WLTP CO2 Emissions
170
Calculated WLTP CO2 Formula
D1
Rate of VRT
26%

As far as I can tell the rate should be 14.25% and not 26% :rolleyes: - what to do in this case? thanks

mgn

borderfox11 wrote: »

hey, I am currently querying VRT for an NI import on the ROS calculator

On autotrader and on this site https://carfueldata.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/search-new-or-used-cars.aspx the emissions are listed as 114g/km

On the calculator it says the following:

Revenue CO2 Estimate
CO2 Emissions
138
Calculated WLTP CO2 Emissions
170
Calculated WLTP CO2 Formula
D1
Rate of VRT
26%

As far as I can tell the rate should be 14.25% and not 26% :rolleyes: - what to do in this case? thanks

What emissions are on the V5, or can you ask the dealer.

ginger22

Can anyone advise where I can get a "certificate of conformity" for a Mercedes E220D imported from UKK, VRT office asked for it.

bazz26

Why are they asking for a certificate of conformity? Is it a brand new car? The car's V5 reg document should have all the information on it for them.

ginger22

Dont have the V5, But revenue agreed to register it without V5 and had letter from DVLA saying it was exported as I already paid vat and duty. bought from auction house but they would not supply V5. Only found out no V5 after car was delivered.

TomOnBoard

ginger22 wrote: »

Dont have the V5, But revenue agreed to register it without V5 and had letter from DVLA saying it was exported as I already paid vat and duty. bought from auction house but they would not supply V5. Only found out no V5 after car was delivered.

This may help figure it out:

https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/documents/vrt/ecoc-procedures-manual.pdf

A COC costs £144 here:

https://homologation.mercedes-benz.co.uk/

borderfox11

mgn wrote: »

What emissions are on the V5, or can you ask the dealer.

I will have to contact them, I just did a different car manufacturer and it's way off the reported figure on autotrader altogether

colm_mcm

borderfox11 wrote: »

I will have to contact them, I just did a different car manufacturer and it's way off the reported figure on autotrader altogether

Auto trader isn’t really to be trusted.

You can get the figure by putting the reg number into cartell.

Individual cars vary depending on build month, spec, extras etc. There is no ‘one size fits all’ emissions figure for specific models.

Dazed2020

Peppa Cig wrote: »

Has anyone managed to process a customs declaration themselves for a UK motor import?

I just completed a transfer of residence from UK.
So went through customs at the port (had to provide a tonne of proof ahead of time) and VRT more recently.
Happy to talk through any questions here or by PM.
Found it quite a minefield initially but the revenue were really helpful actually, when i managed to get through on phone/email.

Pretty gutted we only brought one car back, will need to buy a second shortly. Just didn't have time as our landlord terminated our lease 3 months earlier than expected in the UK.

I did ask at the VRT how many cars we could have brought - he said one per person, which I thought was incorrect. I was under the impression it was as many as you owned as long as they were for personal use.

borderfox11

colm_mcm wrote: »

Auto trader isn’t really to be trusted.

You can get the figure by putting the reg number into cartell.

Individual cars vary depending on build month, spec, extras etc. There is no ‘one size fits all’ emissions figure for specific models.

thanks - I'd imagine they are all pulling from the same source? Cartell agrees with the figures on autotrader for both cars

the kelt

Im looking at changing and was looking at a VW Amorak as a possibility.

I found one in the uk but always thought that VRT would be a killer. However when i went through the calculator online it came up with a VRT payment of €2k.

Does that sound right to people? 2 liter diesel Amorak.

reubenreuben

the kelt wrote: »

Im looking at changing and was looking at a VW Amorak as a possibility.

I found one in the uk but always thought that VRT would be a killer. However when i went through the calculator online it came up with a VRT payment of €2k.

Does that sound right to people? 2 liter diesel Amorak.

Check the nox charge. That can be an issue on certain diesels

ELM327

The amarok is an N1 so no nox?