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

Quick question: Can garages here bring in cars from the UK without VAT, ie at the same price they would have been pre Brexit?

I see cars for sale that look like UK imports and am assuming garages are able to bring them in without the extra price private importers have faced since pre Brexit?

Thanks

Ah yes, I forgot about the customs!

So, if I'm a car dealer bringing in cars from the UK it's the same as pre brexit (ie I have to pay for car, VRT) and now customs @10% but otherwise the same basic process?

It has been further freed up in that you no longer need to buy vat qualifying cars. HMRC will write a cheque for 1/6 of invoice price of a non vat qualifying car on export from UK. Dealers only.

Cars are more expensive in uk compared to pre brexit and there is the duty in some cases but cars are mental here so should be big savings on the right car. Phev have tiny vrt.

Trying to figure out costs and tax. Are these NI plates?

A bit confused, dealer suggested I would be paying 3% VAT (the difference) to Ireland. Because the car is after 2021 (3 years). Another dealer said the full whack would be due on a similar car? what makes them vat qualifying or not?

Where are you buying the car?

Is it a uk car or NI registered car?

If a dealer is sourcing you a uk car, it should be all in price registered on irish plate. The dealer will be claiming back uk vat or a similar rebate from uk and then charging vat here on the sale.

If you are trying to source anything without having a dealer import it for you, it must be in NI reg from new or if older car, have been in NI pre brexit.

You are looking for advice but not really answering questions. It's hard to help you.

You will have to pay the dealer invoice in NI which will include vat.

You will have to pay 23 percent irish vat and 10 percent duty, vrt and nox tax.

It's a complete not runner to try to import yourself now unless its a NI car.

If an Irish dealer was to bring in those.same cars and sell them to you, they will claim back the uk vat and pay irish vat so the car is costing you more to bring than a dealer.

If they have, they need to be selling you the car on irish plates and you have no concerns about vat or duty or vrt or nox.

Their Irish branch will be able to reclaim uk vat BUT an Irish dealer cannot sell you a car on uk plates. They have to have it on Irish plates with all taxes paid.

The long and short of it is, get a genuine NI car or get a dealer here to source you a car.

If selling to you on irish plates, I doubt you will make any great saving as they will be doing exactly the same as every other Irish dealer so profit margins should be similar.

Say this car, https://www.usedcarsni.com/2021-Peugeot-208-100kW-Allure-Premium-50kWh-5dr-Auto-314932088. If its only been registered in NI then is it still chargeable for duties and vat?

What dictates that a 2021 car is vat qualifying or not

After seeking clarification- it seems one car i was looking at was owned by a company - and being 3 years old or less, it means paying the difference in VAT - extra 3%, but the other was owned privately, so liable for full Irish VAT on top of whatever is paid to showroom. That sound coherent?

As a recap both 2021 cars are on UK reg in two different NI showrooms.

Yes both Brexit and exchange rates, mainly Brexit.

They could operate in south and still present car with U.K. plates could they not? So what they may mean is add 3% onto the price of the car (and they manage VAT).

It is one of the large reputable dealers.

You have been told multiple times.

It's not a runner. It won't work out like you think. Salesman in NI doesn't care if you never managed to register it in South as long as he gets paid and it drives out the gate.

Original BMW 3 year manufacturer's warranty on a UK is still valid here. BMW Ireland and BMW UK are the same distributor for both countries so technically they are covering warranty work. Most of my BMWs have been used UK imports and never had any problem getting warranty work done or trading them here afterwards.

Ya cars that are registered new in NI after brexit and remained registered there can be brought in here without vat or duty.

He is wrong regarding uk cars being in NI pre brexit. The only thing that might have changed regarding that is the level of proof required.

They were originally excepting ferry tickets and haulage dockets but as time goes by, they may be looking for more info to confirm this as very few cars would still be hanging around NI without having been sold or put to use since 2021 so more proof perhaps required of being in NI genuinely since before brexit. Ideally at this stage, I'd be looking at NI plate cars only with registration to current owner in NI pre brexit. Or cars registered from new in NI after brexit.

The problem with the newer NI cars is that you need to be sure they were first registered in NI and not ex uk pre reg or demo cars. You would need to see V5 and see that there are no previous keepers.

Stock levels are sh1t in NI though.

This would be my understanding re the 2022 car yes.

Re pre brexit Imports to NI, I'd say a car sitting in a NI dealers since Dec 2020 might be lacking sufficient proof at this stage. I'd be happiest buying a pre brexit import to NI that has since been sold to a NI resident and being sold on again as then you will have v5 showing when it came into north.

Good point re the NI car market. You will see a huge amount of used uk cars coming in to north. I'd say a large proportion of original ni cars that will be traded in would come down South but they know what they are worth at the same time.

Re your last paragraph. You are correct as long as a car that originated in NI didn't do a spell registered in mainland uk. That would again make the brexit date relevant.

In my opinion, you need to look for a v5 with NI owner and zero previous owners for NI cars 2021 onwards or v5 with NI owner prior to brexit for other stuff.

Depending on a haulage receipt is imo taking a risk when this far removed from brexit date.

Re private plates in uk etc, well all new cars get a proper age related plate and get swapped onto the private one.

In any event, the v5 should tell a tale. If it was an ex uk car moved to NI with same owner, at the minimum the updated v5 with northern address would have the later date so would need looking into.

In that case, the car should be on NI plate and the V5 registration document should show the owner with an NI address and importantly the section with number of previous owners should show zero.

If all that is correct, the car is good for coming south. If not, you need to look deeper. If there was 1 previous owner recorded for example, you would need the date of ownership of that owner to be pre brexit as who is to know whether it would have been an ex uk car in that scenario.

The one thing you dont do is take the salesmans word for anything.