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Hi Diarmuid,

If you've owned the car and used it in Australia for at least six months before moving home, then you should have no taxation to pay on importing it into Ireland. Obviously, you'll have shipping costs and a small fee for re-registration, but no VRT, VAT or import duty should apply so long as you are eligible according to the official Transfer of Residence (ToR) rules. Check out Revenue's Transfer of Residence website for full details.

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Hi Pat,

As it's an EV and likely to be valued well within €40,000 by Revenue, then there should be no VRT to pay on importation. That's the easy part.

If this car has been imported properly by the dealer according to the Windsor Framework, then no VAT or import duty will be payable on importing it south of the border. The dealer will understand what you mean when you ask them about that and they should be able to provide paperwork to prove it. You will need that proof.

The other way the car may not attract VAT and import duty is if it was actually an original Northern Ireland car from day one or imported into the North and used there for a “reasonable amount of time” (Revenue's wording) by someone.

If, however, the dealer brought the car in from England, Scotland or Wales purely to sell on, without going through the Windsor Framework process first, then you are likely to be liable for 23 per cent VAT and 10 per cent import duty, so make sure you have all the paperwork and facts before committing to buying the car.

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Hi Albert,

The only way you could benefit from importing the car to Ireland first is to then keep the car here and use if for at least six months before moving to Spain. This would then allow you to bring the car with you as your personal possession without any other taxation. Obviously you would have to pay VRT and the NOx levy on importation to Ireland.

If you don't have that timeframe to work with, it's just as easy to bring a car straight from Northern Ireland to Spain as you'll be going through the rigmarole of reregistering it just once and you can't avoid the tax that the Spanish authorities will place on it regardless.

If the car has been used in Northern Ireland – and you'll need paperwork to prove it – then yes, it should be exempt from VAT on importation to Spain (or Ireland). That is of course assuming we are talking about a car not considered to be new.

One final thing: are you happy to drive a right-hand-drive car on the 'wrong' side of the road in Spain? It will be difficult to sell on in the future there.

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Hi Bernard,

The UK and Ireland cars are more or less identical and, according to this official MG Europe document, the 55-litre tank is standard across the board in the new MG HS.

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Hi Paddy,

The only new MGs on sale in Ireland right now that have four-wheel drive are the high-performance cars, i.e. the dual-motor MG Cyberster GT and the MG4 XPower. All the SUVs are two-wheel drive.

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Hi Noel,

Going on the information you've provided, the only importation costs should be the flat-rate VRT for classic cars (€200). You will need paperwork to prove that the BMW has been registered and used in Northern Ireland. Book the car in for a VRT inspection with the NCTS within seven days of bringing the car south and they will talk you through it all.

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Hi Tad,

The cable plugs into the left-hand side of the 2025 HS PHEV above the rear wheel (the passenger side of the car in Ireland) and yes, the petrol filler is on the opposite side. The flaps covering them look identical. 

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Hi Brian,

There is no stipulation that the vehicle must have been privately owned, but it must have been owned and used by someone/a company registered in Northern Ireland for “a reasonable amount of time” (according to Revenue) – and you'll have to prove that if you wish to avoid paying customs duty or VAT.

No matter what, of course, you will still be liable for VRT.

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Hi Marco,

Revenue says that it treats every car individually depending on circumstances, but our feeling is that there would be no customs duties or VAT payable on this car so long as you have paperwork to prove all of the above. The key thing here is that the car was used in Northern Ireland already and not just imported there to be sold on.

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Hi Adam,

That's correct so long as the car was actually used in Northern Ireland – and not just imported by a dealer from the rest of the UK for sale. If it's an original Northern Ireland car then it's fine as well. Don't forget about the NOx levy as part of the VRT payment.