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

I can assist you but you need to lay out your proposed facts; some pertinent questions will be:

who will

Identify and decide to purchase the car from the GB dealer?

Who will fund that purchase?

How will the car be moved from GB to NI - which person will drive it and what ferry will be used (this does have a significant impact on U.K. position)?

What will the NI resident do with the car? Will they be insured to drive it? Will it be SORN’d in the U.K.?

How will the putative sale from NI resident to ROI resident be documented? And funded/evidenced?

tax is complex; I have been working it now for 35 years. Answer the questions and I will assist you.

Hi there, I’d appreciate an opinion on buying a car from Northern Ireland which originated in Japan. As I understand it, if the car was imported from Japan directly to NI and customs/VAT was paid in NI, there will be no additional customs/VAT payable and only VRT will be charged.

However, if the car was imported from Japan to England, then subsequently re-registered in NI, this may not be the case. The following statement appears on citizensinformation.ie: “If you buy a vehicle from Northern Ireland, you do not have to make a customs declaration. But you must have proof that a customs declaration was made when the vehicle arrived in Northern Ireland from Great Britain (if applicable).”

Is this statement also true if the car originated in Japan? If so, would a suitable customs declaration be sufficient to avoid customs/VAT charges? Thanks for any advice.

Does anyone know for the proof, if the MOT completed in NI is fine, if the garage had the car when it was completed ?

Car is a trade in from NI customers, but the only main proof right now is an MOT the garage did 3 months ago.

question → if you have relatives living in Ni…and not in a hurry to buy….. does it make sense to purchase up north in relatives name then transfer here after 3 months? Use a skoda kodiaq as an example

~60k euro ROI brand new

~49k euro uk brand new

saving of 11k?

Keep in mind "new" for vat purposes is under 6 months old and under 6,000 km. Even if the car is 1.5 years old but under 6000 km they consider it new.

So if the relatives bought new they would need to keep it for over 6 months and do over 6k km.

Then no vat or customs would be due, just the usual vrt / nox.

thanks for the explanation, the 6k would be more of an issue than anything else!

Only a few weeks ago people were suggesting to make up a name and put it on the v5. So don't know what's changed, maybe revenue have joined the chat 😕.

I have a question though, how is the car going to be paid for?

If it's you giving your relative €49k to buy the car by transfer or cash then that would be a major line in an investigation if one was ever to occur in the first place.