Buying a car for cheaper abroad? How does it work?

mfield

Hello all! This is my 1st post, how exciting! Anyways, I am curious to know about importing a car from the continent, as we are all well aware of the savings that can be made, but what I want to know is what do you have to do in order to save the big bucks? Is it to be left off the road for 6 months? Has anyone done it? Any help is greatly appreciated!


mfield.

ButcherOfNog

i've 3 letters for you, V, R and T. If theres a way around it I'd love to know.

mfield

I thought leaving the car that you had just bought abroad off the road for six months would then make it exempt from VRT, could be totally wrong though! Can anyone shed a little light on this??



mfield.

Mayshine

You'ld think VRT would kill you but I did some calculations and found that saving can still be made

for instance

A Subaru Impreza WRX is listed at €40,681 otr over here (carzone.ie)

In the Uk the same car can be got for £17995 otr

Now
- deduct the UK VAT 17.5% I think
£15300 ish
- conver to euro
€24979
- add irish vat 21%
€30224 -

Now here is the bit I am unsure of> I think that VRT is calculated on the listed base price of the car in Ireland + VAT That means that no matter how cheaply you source the car VRT is applied at the SIMI irish list price (hello, can the scum in charge of our country rip us off any more)

Anyway, assuming base price + VAT is €35000 which is an educated guess based on the post tax+VAT34 price the VRT is €34000*0.25(25%) = €8500

Add this on

an you get you grand total of €38724

Still a saving of about €2ks, which is better than nothing. No shiping from the UK either, just go over and pick it up
I believe the savings are more substancial on smaller volume makes and models. I guess it boils down to whether it is worth all the hassle to do this

Samson

Originally posted by Mayshine

Now
- deduct the UK VAT 17.5% I think

On what basis do you say that ?

I was under the impression that only VAT registered businesses in Ireland were exempt from paying the VAT on goods purchased in another EU state.

Mayshine

Hmmm, good point. Well if that is that case then you are well and truely shagged unless you can find a irish company that specialises in importing new from europe. Either way there has to be a business opertunity somewhere

Either way this all relies on bein able to source a car at a cheaper base prices in the EU than here. If the EU have there way this will soon dissapear

So I suppose if you see any politicians over the next few weeks, better let you feelings be known

Neil3030

Originally posted by mfield
I thought leaving the car that you had just bought abroad off the road for six months would then make it exempt from VRT, could be totally wrong though! Can anyone shed a little light on this??



mfield.

AFIAK you need to purchase the car and keep it in the country you bought it for at least 1 year. That's all i know. I don;t know how you obtain proof of time of purchase or whether you must be living there yourself or anything.

At any rate i'll leave the door open now for Samson to prove me wrong.:) I'll go get some tequila

NeRb666

Nope, Neil is correct. You have to be living in the country you bought it for a year. I'm not sure how they check this out, but they do anyway, just in case some evil non-double tax paying scumbag leaves it there for a year then collects it when it becomes exempt.

Winning Hand

Originally posted by Mayshine
[B£15300 ish
- conver to euro
€24979
- add irish vat 21%
€30224 -

Now here is the bit I am unsure of> I think that VRT is calculated on the listed base price of the car in Ireland + VAT That means that no matter how cheaply you source the car VRT is applied at the SIMI irish list price (hello, can the scum in charge of our country rip us off any more)
[/B]

Same for vat, its not what the car is worth its what the revenue commissioner thinks its worth, i.e. the irish price. Its as if we dont have enough assholes already to get done up by

Some sites which will put you off the idea completely, five minutes on the net will have you wanting to do a military coup
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/importing_car_into_ireland.html
http://www.amireland.com/move/movepage/car.html

Originally posted by NeRb666
Nope, Neil is correct. You have to be living in the country you bought it for a year. I'm not sure how they check this out, but they do anyway, just in case some evil non-double tax paying scumbag leaves it there for a year then collects it when it becomes exempt.

A mate of mine brought one in , after leaving it in Germany for six months-that was last year.
He drove it a few times in Germany and the Garage held onto it for the six months for him.
When he brought it in, there were a few thousand miles on the clock and altough it was only six months old it was classed as a second hand car and therefore qualified for a lower rate of VRT.
This saved tousands, the only downside was having to pay for the car six months before he could take it home.
I'd explode if I had to wait that long....especially after having seen it,driven it and having to go home and leave it there.
mm