Expert answer

Hi Nestor,

We'd need a lot more information to be able to give you any estimates of the costs involved, but generally speaking, if the car is coming from England, Scotland or Wales, you will be liable for VAT and import duty on top of VRT and the NOx levy. Cars coming from Northern Ireland usually (though not always) only attract VRT and the NOx levy.

To estimate the VRT you will need the official CO₂ rating and a guess at the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) according to Revenue. Give us the car's engine details and we should be able to make a good guess at all that. 

I highly recommend you read our guides on the subject first:

Guide to Importing Cars from the UK
Guide to Importing a Car from Northern Ireland

And it isn't really possible for us to estimate your insurance cost as there are so many factors involved. Best bet is to ring around with a registration number of a very similar existing car in Ireland to get a feel for the price.

One final thing to be aware of: your Indian licence is only valid in Ireland for 12 months after you arrive in the country, regardless of whether you have access to a car.

Expert answer

Hi Steven,

We can help you estimate it, but please do note that it is only an estimate and you're kind of at the mercy of Revenue.

First up, we can be certain that car will be in the top band for VRT due to its CO₂ emissions, so that means VRT at 41 per cent.

That's 41 per cent of the so-called Open Market Selling Price (OMSP), which is the value Revenue reckons the car is worth following registration in Ireland.

It's a tricky thing to guess for a rare car such the F-Type, but for the purposes of our calculations let's say it's €45,000. That would mean VRT of €18,450.

The NOx levy is separate to that, but small in comparison.

And if you're bringing the car from England, Scotland or Wales them you'll also be hit with VAT at 23 per cent and import duty at 10 per cent (though these are calculated from the 'customs value' of the car, not the OMSP).

Most cars coming from Northern Ireland shouldn't be liable for VAT or import duty, within certain restrictions.

Make sure you do your homework on all this before committing to bringing the car in.

Expert answer

Hi Cathal,

We'd be fools to suggest that you can be 100 per cent sure you won't have a problem if you do x, y and z, I'm afraid as there's just no guarantees with DPFs.

Saying that, modern cars such as the Tucson and Octavia you mentioned have way better DPF regen logic than they used to, along with more sophisticated exhaust monitoring than before so that's a good start, as is knowing the type of driving that's needed for diesel cars with DPFs – as you've indicated you understand.

You could ask the dealer selling the car (assuming you're not buying privately) for a diagnostic readout with the DPF information, but they're under no obligation to do that and some may not even know how.

My advice would be to insist on a detailed service history, scrutinise that for anything related to the DPF, then ask the seller if any work on the DPF has ever been done. Finally, take it for a decent test drive and, if possible, get someone else to drive it while you follow to observe the exhaust for any excess and obvious regen activity. You may see nothing with such modern cars, however.

The key thing here is to only buy a DPF-equipped car if you spend a portion of your normal driving at higher speeds, allowing the whole exhaust to get hot and work effectively.

Expert answer

Hi Daniel,

As it goes by engine size in that scenario, then the annual motor tax bill would be €1,034.

Expert answer

Hi Homg,

Yes, ownership by a company counts as private ownership, but only if the vehicle was actually registered and used in the North after importation for, as Revenue puts it “a reasonable amount of time”. If that's the case then no VAT or import duty should be payable on importing it south of the border.

If the company in question is a car dealer, however, and they have not brought the car into the North according to the Windsor Framework, then VAT and import duty may indeed be payable.

Expert answer

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.

Expert answer

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.

Expert answer

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.

Expert answer

Hi Mary,

Rather bizarrely, there is no published rule on this situation as yet so electric vans are subject to the same annual motor tax as electric cars - i.e. €120 per annum.

Expert answer

Hi Danny,

First up, as a 2.0-litre van taxed for private use the annual motor tax would be €710. 

If you convert it to a camper and get it certified as that then the annual tax could drop to just €102.