Do I pay VAT on a 2017 car imported via the North?
Hi, looking to buy a 2017 car from a dealership in NI. Car has been imported from GB by the dealership and a Customs Service Supplementary Declaration document has been provided (dated 14/04/2025) stating the number plate of the car. Would I be required to pay VAT if registering in Ireland?
Fiachra HenryApr 2025 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
Hi Fiachra,
From the information you provided, you should not have any VAT or customs duty payable on this car when importing it into Ireland.
Just make sure you have proof of that customs declaration document, as that's the key piece of evidence that shows Revenue that the dealer has already completed customs procedures and the car entered the EU customs territory before you bought it and brought it to Ireland.
How much BIK on a Volkswagen Amarok?
I'm looking at buying a new VW Amarok Aventura for around €80k including VAT. It will primarily be used for work, but I will on occasion use it for personal use. How do I work out the BIK?
Paul (Athlone)Apr 2025 Filed under: benefit-in-kind
Expert answer
Hi Paul,
Revenue is likely to treat that vehicle as a company car – not a van – due to it having rear seats, a high specification and suitability for use as a regular car. That's irrelevant of what you actually do with it.
BIK is calculated using the Original Market Value (OMV), a percentage determined by the car's CO2 emissions and the annual business mileage. In the case of the Amarok Aventura, the CO2 is 267g/km, and the retail-on-the-road price is €76,820 before options.
Such a high emissions rating puts this vehicle into the highest band for BIK, category E, and the percentage then depends on the annual business mileage from a high of 37.5 per cent for up to 26,000km to a low of 15 per cent for over 52,001km (it's 30 per cent for 26,001-39,000km and 22.5 per cent for 39,001-52,000km). You must keep records.
Say for example you do 25,000km a year for business reasons. That means 37.5 per cent of €76,820 as the calculated “cash equivalent” (€28,807.50) and that is then added to your total pay from a tax calculation point of view.
You can bring that down by doing more business mileage or choosing a more efficient – or cheaper – vehicle.
There are plenty of other bits and pieces to take into consideration, so it's worth taking a look at Revenue's own Private use of employer provided vehicles page for up-to-date information.
Does a UK citizen working in Ireland have to import their car?
Hi,
My daughter lives/works in Maynooth but goes to the North occasionally for work. She wants to buy a Volkswagen Polo from the North (cheaper obviously) and use it mostly in the Republic. She is from the UK (Kent) and has residency to work/pay taxes etc. Will she need to import it?
Chris Steward (Kent)Apr 2025 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
Hi Chris,
Unless your daughter has a permanent address in the North where she can register the car, then yes, she will have to import it.
Can I convert a VW Tiguan van back into a car?
Hi,
Is it possible to put seats back into a VW Tiguan commercial van and change its use from commercial back to private and insure it as private vehicle?
Thank you
Eimear (Monaghan)Apr 2025 Filed under: commercial vehicle
Expert answer
Hi Eimear,
That would be technically possible, yes, but we'd expect it to be prohibitively expensive to do and rather pointless when there are so many examples of the Tiguan already available.
Will I have to pay VAT on importing this EV from the North?
I paid a deposit on a 2024 electric car in Northern Ireland. The car is being sold by a motor garage, registered in June 2024 with 2,600 miles on the clock. I am now worried I will be charged VAT in Ireland as the car was a demonstration model with the garage.
I have tried to get an answer with Revenue, and they have said it is decided on a case-by-case basis. I do not know what to do now.
Do you know if i will be charged?
Brenda (GALWAY)Apr 2025 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
Hi Brenda,
From the information provided, it does indeed sound as if VAT and customs duty could be payable on this vehicle being imported into Ireland. That is unless the Northern Ireland dealer imported the car from GB in accordance with the requirements of the Windsor Framework. If they did there would be a customs declaration lodged in Northern Ireland by them. Ask the dealer about this. Without it, I'd certainly be worried that VAT and customs duty will be due.
VRT on a converted commercial vehicle?
Hi there,
I am thinking of importing a car that has been modified to become a First Call Hearse/Private Ambulance. What charges would this incur, and will it fit into the VRT category of a hearse or otherwise?
Thank you for your time.
Eoghan Dunleavy (Kerrykeel, Co. Donegal)Apr 2025 Filed under: VRT
Expert answer
Hi Eoghan,
A normal hearse attracts VRT at a flat rate of €200, but a “First Call Hearse” is not likely to be given that status so it will most likely be treated as the commercial vehicle it's based on. Depending on what that is, it could still be €200, or it may be 13.3 per cent of the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP - the value Revenue believes the vehicle is worth in Ireland).
Likewise, while regular ambulances are exempt from VRT, a private ambulance won't be, and it will be taxed as mentioned above.
Extra care is needed for modified vehicles so make sure you have full documentation of the conversion, including an engineer's report if one exists. Anything you can do to simplify the process once the vehicles lands in Ireland and goes for an inspection with the NCTS will save time and hassle.
Also, if the vehicle is coming from England, Scotland or Wales, you will have to pay customs duty and VAT. It's unlikely you will have to if the vehicle is coming from Northern Ireland and it has been registered and in use there for some time.
My relative's cars have been off the road a long time...
I'm in a pickle. I have a 2005 car. An elderly relative has a 2002 VW Transporter and VW Passat and I want to take ownership of both, possibly take mine off the road and in time convert the VW Transporter to a camper. Both have been off the road for over two years now and the van was commercial. Will it cost me big money to tax and insure both? Where is best to get insurance how do I put both in my name?
Leona Costello (Roscommon )Apr 2025 Filed under: taxation
Expert answer
Hi Leona,
From what you've told us, the easiest thing to do here would be to change ownership of your relative's cars to you. This is simply a case of filling in section C on the back of the Vehicle Registration Certificate (VRC) for each of the vehicles and sending the VRCs off to the Vehicle Registration Unit (the address is on the VRC). This can be done online as well via www.motortax.ie.
When a vehicle changes hands, its tax arrears are wiped out, so you won't need to worry about that. And if you don't intend to use the vehicles for a time, you can declare them off the road using the Statutory Off Road Declaration (SORD). This can be done online at www.motortax.ie or at your local motor tax office.
Note: this must be done ahead of time, not after the fact, and can only be submitted for periods of up to 12 months (though it can be renewed).
That would avoid the need for motor tax if you're not using the vehicles or if you're in the midst of converting the Transporter, for example.
If that's not an option, then motor tax for the van in particular could be expensive as it will be taxed according to its engine size (read our Motor Road Tax Prices In Ireland Explained feature for full details).
In terms of insurance, multi-car policies are not common in Ireland, unfortunately, so you'll need to do some ringing around or employ the services of a good insurance broker. And be aware that it can be tricky to get private insurance on a commercial vehicle.
Come back to us if you want us to go into more depth on any of this.
Are these VRT estimates on a Transit Custom right?!
Hello,
I am looking to buy a family nine-seater like the Ford Tourneo Custom in NI. Unfortunately, Revenue's VRT calculator can't find anything from the years I've searched (2018, 2019, 2020), giving me a "No vehicle found for combination selected" error.
I tried vrt.ie, but it's giving me very high estimates. Could they be true?
For example, for a Feb 2019 Ford Tourneo Custom 2.0 EcoBlue 130hp Titanium, asking price £20,000, it came out at €16,493.48 CO2 (WTLP CO2 emissions: 215.867g/km, which seems crazy?) and €2,625 NOx charge.
For another specimen, a Jan 2020 Ford Tourneo 2.0 EcoBlue 130hp Titanium, they came at €8,979.6 CO2 (WTLP CO2 emissions: 164g/km) and €2,625 NOx.
Are these estimations even realistic? NOx is most certainly not right, but even the CO2 part seems excessive. But it's my first rodeo, so I really don't know! I would be very grateful for any clues.
Slawek (Lucan)Apr 2025 Filed under: VRT
Expert answer
Hi Slawek,
We've found Revenue's VRT estimator to be lacking in a lot of ways and it certainly doesn't list all makes and models for all years.
Let's break down the figures.
First up, the NOx levy quoted by vrt.ie (€2,650) is actually the maximum possible charged for a vehicle with a diesel engine. Neither of the examples you provided will emit enough NOx to warrant that, though you will need to have proof of their official figure to avoid paying the maximum. We'd estimate that a NOx levy of about €250 is more realistic in this case.
Be careful with the CO2 figures. The 164g/km rating quoted for the second vehicle appears to be the old NEDC figure and Revenue will actually apply an “uplift” formula (see our Guide to Importing Cars from the UK feature for that) to bring it up to an equivalent WLTP rating. It comes out as 204g/km, meaning VRT at 41 per cent.
In your first example, this appears to have been done already, resulting in the 215g/km rating.
In both cases, that would mean VRT at 41 per cent of the OMSP, the Open Market Selling Price.
Now this is where things become less clear. The OMSP is not the asking price of the car, or even the price you pay for it, but the value Revenue places on it as a vehicle registered in Ireland and on sale here. It's not easy to estimate for relatively rare vehicles. For the purposes of our calculation, let's say €45,000. At 41 per cent, the VRT on that would be €18,450.
Obviously that could go up or down depending on how much Revenue believes the vehicle is worth, but we're certain of the 41 per cent VRT rate, unfortunately.
Looking at importing a panel van from the North...
Hi,
I'm looking at buying a Mercedes Sprinter panel van from Northern Irelan. I've been told it's a flat rate of €200 for VRT in the South for one of these but that doesn't look like that in your article unless I'm confused. Could you please clarify?
Also do you know exactly what documents are needed if it's coming from a company? They are a servicing company for a supermarket so I'm not sure if they would have access to official import customs information regarding me avoiding paying additional VAT.
The van has been registered in the north since 2018 and never returned to England since.
Thanks
Claire (Lucan)Apr 2025 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
Hi Claire,
For some vans the VRT is 13.3 per cent of the Open Market Selling Price, but for larger vans such as the Sprinter it should be the flat €200 rate.
As for the paperwork, ideally, you'd have the customs declaration paperwork for when the van entered Northern Ireland, but if that is not available then the vehicle registration certificate (V5C) showing previous owners and the van's MOT history should be sufficient to prove its use in the North since 2018. Get as much information and paperwork as possible from the seller.
Will there be a plug-in hybrid Dacia Bigster?
Will the Dacia Bigster come as a PHEV in any of the trim levels?
Francis Gannon (Tuam)Apr 2025 Filed under: choosing new car
Expert answer
Hi Francis,
I'm afraid not. There is no plug-in hybrid version of the Dacia Bigster in existence, and Dacia hasn't said anything about creating one in the future.