Import taxes and charges

[CJ]

I'd like to start a thread relating to the importing of cars into Ireland and would appreciate some feedback from people who have do so along with tgheir experiences. I'm at pains to undestand how Common Customs Tarrifs are employed with regard to the CIF price, section 1 of the text from the VRO talks about a 10% duty, are they deliberatly tring to confuse me?! (wouldn't be too hard mind you ) I'd appreciate if someone could explain the process in lay mans terms from the point that the car hits the docks.

CJ

The following is a broad outline of the Customs & VRT requirements for
IMPORTING a car from OUTSIDE the EU:

(1) Common Customs Tariff (CCT) known as customs duty is payable on the
IMPORT of motor vehicles at a rate of 10% and motorcycles at the rate of 6%
or 8% (based on CC of engine) of the CARRIAGE, INSURANCE & FREIGHT INVOICE
PRICE from the country of EXPORT to Dublin (i.e. the first point of entry
into the EU). It is chargeable on the invoice price plus the freight (CIF)
charges converted to Euro. Customs duty payable = Invoice Price + CIF
multiply by 10 percent.

The CUSTOMS MONTHLY EXCHANGE RATE is used for the conversion into Euro. The
rate in operation for the month in which the vehicle is landed in Dublin is
the rate used.

(2) Value Added Tax (VAT) is chargeable at the rate of 21%. VAT payable
= Invoice Price + CIF + Customs Duty all converted to Euro multiply by 21%.

The CCT duty and VAT is collected on a SAD import form (obtainable from the
New Custom House, Promenade Road, Dublin 3 Tel: 00 353 1 8776200). You may
complete this form yourself or you may want to employ a Customs Agent to deal
with all the paperwork. A handling fee is charged. When the car is released
from Customs control in Dublin Port you have 24 hours or the end of the next
working day to produce the car at a VRO (Vehicle Registration Office) there
are 3 in Dublin as follows:

(1) Furry Park Industrial Estate, Santry, Dublin 9 Tel: 01 8579800.

(2) 111 Lr. George's Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Tel: 01 2020850 /
01 2020860 Inclusive.

(3) St. John's House, High Street, Tallaght, Dublin 24 Tel: 01 4149777.

The VRT is payable at these centres.

If you are not in the Dublin are you must deal with the Vehicle Registration
Office in your County.

The VRO office will then register the car with an Irish registration number.
He/she will give you an RF100 (first motor tax application form) for payment
of road tax to the relevant Local Authority. Within 2/3 working days you
will get a document in the post called a VEHICLE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE
(VRC). You bring the VRC, RF100 and a CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE to the MOTOR
TAX OFFICE (there is one in each County and three in Dublin City). The
vehicle will then be "road taxed". They will then forward you a VEHICLE
LICENSING CERTIFICATE which you will then use for all subsequent occasions
when RENEWING your ROAD TAX.

Remember CCT duty and VAT is payable at the point of import into the EU
whether or not the vehicles are for use in the State. VRT is also payable
on all motor vehicles for registration in the State.

[soc]

looks to me like you have to pay the following:

10% customs duty (which is charged on the cost of the car + the cost of transporting it to Ireland)

21% VAT (charged on the cost of the car + the cost of transporting it to ireland + the customs duty)

VRT



This looks very much like a bloody scam to me - Not only is VRT illegal but you also have to pay VAT on the import duty!!!!

And you pay customs duty and VAT on the cost of transport to Ireland - surely you're already paying VAT via the transport company (just not to the Irish goverment I suppose).... next thing you know there'll be a breathing tax or a child tax or even a scratch my ar$e tax......

....once again I'm feeling a deep loathing for this country.

[Speedyboy]

Charlie McGreedy is now in charge of ensuring free trade inside europe in his new role It will be interesting to see how he deals with VRT which is well against EU policy

[kevinod]

Collecting the FTO tomorrow in Dublin port, so been learning all about it...

You buy the car for X euro (ok, Yen but convert it), and pay Y to ship it over. => total cost of the car as the ship arrives in Dublin = X + Y

Next the govt get their hands on it:
* firstly 10% customs is added on (not charged for internal EU shipments I think) => total so far X + Y + (10% of X + Y)
* then, they charge you VAT, how they can justify this I don't know but 21% of the TOTAL SO FAR from last step, note this INCLUDES the 10% customs they charged you (taxing their tax)
=> X + Y + (10% of X + Y) + 21% of ( X + Y + (10% of X + Y) )

* Lastly, the Vehicle registration office gets their cut for 5 minutes paperwork... this amount is a percentage of the Open Market Value (OMV), for cars > 1900cc I think its 30%. The VRO determines the OMV (effectively charging whatever they like), and you can't see this value anywhere, that I'm aware of. You can ring them and they'll give you an estimate, but its not finalised until the car arrives and they've had a look. For my GR the last estimate I got a week or 2 ago is €1633.

Just to make it clearer, here's an example (amazing how clear things become when you put figures to it):
Say the price of car is €4000, and shipping is €500. => total as it arrives in dublin port is 4500.
Customs add 10% of that
=> total is 4500 + 450 = 4950.
VAT of 21% on that again, INCLUDING the 10%!
=> total is 4950 + 1039.50 = 5989.50
VRT on top of that, lets just use my 1633,
=> total is 5989.50 + 1633 = 7622.50

Does that help clear it up? Pay for road tax on top of that + insurance etc as usual...

Kev.

[CJ]

Armed with some data from the Revenue, the VRO and some Japanese export companies, this is my understanding, its pretty much the same as Kevins example but the OMSP has a bigger impact in this case.

Calculations based on a grade 4 manual 1998 GPX with 50,000kms

Purchase price @ auction - €5000 (yes, really!)
Charges, fees & insurance @ source - €1500
CIF price - €6500
Customs duty on €6500 @ 10% - €650 => €7150

Vat on €7150 @ 21% - €1501 => €8651

Now, assume OMSP (Open Market Selling Price) less VRT is €10000

VRT on €10000 @ 30% - €3000

Final price = €8651 + €3000 => €11651

Which in conclusion means that you pay a total of €5151 to the goverenment to get your car into the country.

While I agree that the above charges are scandlous, I accept that they are in for the foreseeable future. After going thru the above calculations, I can understand why later model FTOs command silly money, the OMSP determined by the VRO kicks the overall price thru the roof.

At this stage, what I really want to understand is what procedure needs to be followed the arrival of the car at the port.

CJ

[Dave]

why all the interest Ciaran, you thinking of changing up a few years?

[kevinod]

At this stage, what I really want to understand is what procedure needs to be following following the arrival of the car at the port.

CJ

Tried to get that info from the customs guys, but hard enough to get them to answer their phone, never mind get info from them. Dublin port is looked after by the guys at (01) 8776200, ask for the information line, I think thats the best way to go with them.

The car is unloaded by the shipping company (at a cost of €60), same day in my case, prob nearly all cases. It's kept in the customs area until customs clear it, and you need an SAD form filled in, they inspect the car, and clear it, assuming its all in order. The customs guys I'm told assign the registration # to the car, but you can get it changed later if you like.

Note that when the car arrives on the dock after being unloaded, its your responsibility to ensure its secure. Also, you have 7 running days (i.e. 1 week) free for the car to be parked on the dock, and it costs €17 a day thereafter.

For VRT, the VRO want to inspect the car, and you have until the end of the next working day (presumably after customs clearance) to present it to them for inspection, or there's some penalty I think. I've been told if you're paying by cheque they want the cheque certified (i.e. a stamp by the bank to confirm you have sufficient funds in your account to pay).

The exporters should provide you with:
- original bill of lading,
- invoice,
- and certificate of deregistration + english translation

I ended up getting one of the agents to do it for me, Avant Air & Sea (aka Avant Shipping) in Santry, 01 8425844, were the ones I was pointed to, very happy with them. Gave them the docs as above, and they calculated the customs + VAT for me. Sent them a bank draft, and they're sorting it all out, SAD form and all. They also made sure the car was secure when it arrived on the dock, all for €60, so pretty happy I'm getting value for € there.

Kev.

[CJ]

why all the interest Ciaran, you thinking of changing up a few years?

Yes, considering it at the moment, but nothing more than than. I think it would be useful for people to understand the process as theres a lot of misunderstanding around the whole area in my view.

I ended up getting one of the agents to do it for me, Avant Air & Sea (aka Avant Shipping) in Santry, 01 8425844, were the ones I was pointed to, very happy with them. Gave them the docs as above, and they calculated the customs + VAT for me. Sent them a bank draft, and they're sorting it all out, SAD form and all. They also made sure the car was secure when it arrived on the dock, all for €60, so pretty happy I'm getting value for € there.

Thats handy to know Kevin, for €60 you can't go wrong.

CJ

[Dave]

thought as much, who were you thinking of going through??

[Diddler]

The VRO office will then register the car with an Irish registration number.
He/she will give you an RF100 (first motor tax application form) for payment
of road tax to the relevant Local Authority. Within 2/3 working days you
will get a document in the post called a VEHICLE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE

Okay Guys,

Just so you all know and aren't waiting like a pack of half wits The law has changed and you will no longer receive your VEHICLE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE in 2/3 days!!!

When you get your RF100 from the Vehicle Registrations office, you will have to ensure the vehicle is Tested before you can tax it Yes Just take the testing cert along with your RF100 and your insurance cert to the tax office and ONLY after the vehicle is taxed - You will receive your Vehicle Registration Cert.

Its only 1 cert now as opposed to 2 previously.

Hope this helps. Supprised the Revenue Office hasn't up-dated their info.

[CJ]

you will have to ensure the vehicle is Tested before you can tax it

As in NCT tested?

CJ

[Diddler]

Yeah, you need to have it NCT tested before you can tax it. You have to take the RF100 along to the test centre and they'll just use that.

It's because of the European union.

[CJ]

If you're thinking of importing, the following figures from the Revenue reflect current VRT rates for a grade 4 manual GPX with 50,000kms on the clock:

1995 => €1617 (chargeable value €5391)
1997 => €2772 (chargeable value €9242)
1999 => €4389 (chargeable value €14633)

The above chargeable values are a reasonable indication of value in my opinion.

CJ

[Mustang]

I was doing a few sums yesterday on this front, and came back to this post for some clarifications:
Contacted my local VRO for an estimate.
Based on a '98 DE3A with 80,000km on the clock
Manual: OMSP=€11817 => VRT @ 30% = €3545
Automatic: OMSP =€9000 =>VRT @ 30% = €2707

They didn't ask for model type; GX, GPX, etc just the chassis no. type, in this case DE3A. For the purposes of VRT do they make a distinction between models? I.e could I expect to pay less for a GX than for a GPX?

In addition to this the guy told me that mileage accounts for only 5%of the OMSP valuation. In which case the effect on VRT is 0.05x0.3= 1.5%. I.e. The difference in VRT payable between low and high mileage cars will be negligable.



CJ Wrote

While I agree that the above charges are scandlous, I accept that they are in for the foreseeable future. After going thru the above calculations, I can understand why later model FTOs command silly money, the OMSP determined by the VRO kicks the overall price thru the roof.

I have to agree. Reluctantly. The odd time you do see a '97 facelift for sale in the trade, the price always seems scandalous, and I'm always inclined to think these traders are taking the p!ss.
Especially compared to 2nd hand values on the Irish market.
But the OMSP and corresponding VRT, really do drive the cost up hugely

Mustang

[Dave]

the thing about this is, you're never guaranteed an exact price because they are the ones that determine the market value, so if you have a GPvR coming in with a nice body kit on it, and big alloys you'll pay a lot more than for a standard GPvR.... hence my reason for not bothering with it! i rang up two offices four times and got three different prices for the same car.

[Mustang]

You can't beat state bodies for consistency

[kevinod]

so if you have a GPvR coming in with a nice body kit on it, and big alloys you'll pay a lot more than for a standard GPvR....

Dunno, didn't find that when I imported mine, the 'inspection' was pretty minimal. I was all set to point out the sheared bolt on my left front wheel and whatever else was wrong with the car, but all the guy was interested in was to check that the chassis number on the car matched what was on the form, took all of about 20 seconds.

This was in Cork, maybe the Dublin VROs do more but I'd wonder. I'd ask someone who's brought a car into a VRO in Dublin and see how much notice they actually paid to the car or did they just want to see the chassis number too.

Kev.

[kevinod]

Yeah, you need to have it NCT tested before you can tax it. You have to take the RF100 along to the test centre and they'll just use that.

It's because of the European union.

Hi,

no, don't need to have it NCT'd before you tax it. I'm still waiting for the car to appear in the NCT system so I can book it in for a test, hopefully Monday but the VR are slow to update things apparently. I have my Vehicle reg cert and all after taxing the car.

Didn't try using the RF100, and the motor tax office took that off me when I taxed the car.

Sorry to be contradicting but not what I've found...

Kev.

[kevinod]

They didn't ask for model type; GX, GPX, etc just the chassis no. type, in this case DE3A. For the purposes of VRT do they make a distinction between models? I.e could I expect to pay less for a GX than for a GPX?

Not in my experience, they only differentiated between DE2A and DE3A but not GR/GPX/GPvR.

Kev.

[MIVEC]

I paid €2750 on a 1997 Manual GP version R in Dun Looirghe VRO. It really is ridiculous money.

[Dave]

did you have that price guaranteed before it landed?