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

Don’t know why it’s a good thing. Unless you’re part of the car sales industry they maybe that’s a good thing. I got a car from NI before brexit, if I went with the dealership in ROI I would be €10k extra out of pocket than what I paid over in NI plus VRT and for lesser spec’d version. The joke was that it had NI plates in the boot.

Even the level of customer service was miles ahead of the ROI dealership. I got picked up from the train station, got some extra goodies and tank full of petrol for the drive back to Dublin.

more importantly, if it is widespread and an abuse of U.K. internal market rules (ie GB to NI transfers) then you can guarantee that there will be prosecutions on the NI citizenry who engage in it. That’s exactly what HMRC and CPS/DPP(NI) like doing.

Yes you could have. It's illegal but you could have.

How is it illegal?

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.

In 2022 I bought a 5 year old high spec Seat Ateca in England for the equivalent of €15.5k at the exchange rate at the time. I was living in London and planning to move home. That happened recently and I availed of the exemption. Everything above board etc. etc.

I will keep it for the mandatory 12 months. Looking at Done Deal I reckon (after 3 years of ownership and having put an estimated 100,000km up on the clock) as a trade-in it'll worth somewhere between 12 to €14k next summer. 2017 Seat Ateca's with similar mileage are currently on sale north of 16k. My point though is when I bought the car 2022 the equivalent Ateca was 22/23k here while I paid 15.5k.

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!

It’s a minor enough one though, only up to 10 years in jail.

Imagine getting 10 years for that offence. There are people who killed someone who would have got less jail time than you.

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.

I get your point, so car paid for by the initial purchaser with their money is ok then. thanks for claryfying

I am thinking of switching car, and I am considering going to NI, but this is all new to me, so I appreciate any advice.

I want to check am I missing something.

I am looking for Skoda Karoq 2020.

I am somewhat aware of the Windsor Framework.

I looked up www.usedcarsni.com, and I searched for 2020 Karoq models with 1.0 L engines.

I find a SE model with a 1.0L TSI petrol engine asking 12,800 GBP, which is equivalent to 15,100 euro approx.

I then check the Revenue VRT calculator, and the combined VRT and NoX is 3,539.

Added together, that is 18,700 approx.

When I look on DoneDeal for similar 2020 models, they are asking from 24k upwards.

Am I missing something? Is it really 5k cheaper? Is there some catch that I am missing?

Does anybody know what the story is with an ex demo car up the North? It has a Northern Irish registration but it was never privately owned. It is over 6 months old and over 6000km. Is vat and customs due on that scenario.

Oh, that's interesting, I was looking at a car but it was previously owned by a company, is that different?

The salesman says it isn't an issue when he told me this, (from a Charles Hurst dealership), has given me a copy of the spec page of the V5 but won't give me any more so I'm getting wary, but maybe unnecessarily so?

Thanks for that, much appreciated.