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Hi Gerry,

Well you won’t have to pay VAT as it’s too old for that, but as for VRT it’s very hard for us to say. There are very few Doblo-based campers on the market for us to be able to try and work out a rough value, and none that we can find in Ireland so quite what view Revenue might take of its value is totally up in the air. Our best guess is that its Irish Open Market Selling Price will be around €7,000, which, with a VRT rate of 13.3 per cent, would suggest a VRT charge of around €800 to €1,000.

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Hi John,

Well, it depends of course on what Revenue decides the Open Market Selling Price is (and there's usually no predicting on that score...),  but they seem to be worth around €15,000 on the Irish market, so with 98g/km and 15 per cent VRT, that suggests a payment of around €2,250. 

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Hi George,

It would depend on the year, but as a commercial vehicle it will be 13.3 per cent of what Revenue thinks the Irish market value is. 

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Hi Chris,

It depends on the total spec of the vehicle but assuming it has the 1.6-litre diesel then I'd say around the €3,000 mark. 

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Hi Lorna,

Do you mean motor tax or purchase tax? If purchase tax (VAT basically) then yes – the VAT must be paid before or when it’s imported. If it’s motor tax, then no. It would help if the car has been declared as legally off the road by the previous owner, and obviously you can’t drive it across the UK to a ferry port to bring it here (you’ll have to put it on a trailer), but the Irish authorities won’t be bothered if it comes in with no tax as long as you pay your VRT properly and then tax it here. Unpaid UK road tax is an issue for the UK authorities and the previous owner.

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Hi Debbie,

No, you shouldn't have to pay VAT. VAT is only payable on vehicles younger than six months and/or with less than 6,000km on the clock. Unless it's a very unusual lease that you're paying off, the vehicle's VAT will have been included in the original lease cost.

As far as the legality of the company selling it is concerned, it's up to them if they want to. The leasing company won't care one way or another as long as they they get their money. Just make sure it's a reputable company from which you're buying and make sure you carry out a history check with Cartell.ie on the car to ensure that there are no other outstanding loans or finance agreements. Make sure you get a letter in writing that the firm undertakes to pay off the lease when you buy the car and insist on having proof of that in writing too.

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Hi Marie,

Theoretically, as you're moving house and you've had the car taxed and insured at your previous address there should be only an administrative fee to pay. But I'm guessing it wasn't your name on the logbook while it was in the UK, which may put a spanner in the works (unless you and your dad have the same name of course...). I think your only option is to talk to someone on the Revenue help desk (and they really are very friendly and helpful) and explain your situation. There might be a loophole through which you can slip. 

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Hi Mark,

With a car like that what really drives the value is the history and condition, so if it’s perfect and if all the stamps in the service history book have a Porsche crest on them then it should be worth around €35-37,000.

The VRT export rebate process isn’t especially difficult but there are a lot of forms to fill out and you’ll need a lot of proof of where the car is going and to whom it’s been sold. You can find all the necessary details here:  http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/export-repayment-scheme/faqs.html

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Hi Ruairi,

Nice idea, but it won't work. Do you really think the good folk at Revenue haven't thought of that particular plan before? The official documents state that not only must the car be insured and taxed, you have to have physically been resident overseas too, in "the place where you usually lived, for at least 185 days in the year ending on the date of transfer, because of occupational and personal ties."

There are a bunch of other restrictions on the transfer of address waiver and you can find them here: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/leaflets/tax-relief-transfer-residence.html

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Hi Brian,

Well, it's all down to the CO₂ emissions because it's that on which the rate of VRT will be applied. You need to do your homework though as cars that can be quite affordable in the UK can be wildly over-priced in the Irish market leading to you paying more VRT than you really should do.

Ideally, you need to be spending above €30k on a car to make it truly worth your while on importing a car, thanks to the exchange rate. The BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class are all well worth looking at, as well as higher-spec versions of the likes of the Skoda Superb, Volkswagen Passat and Mazda6.