4

I am moving to Ireland under freedom of movement of labour rules for work. I am a British citizen. I will be bringing my UK registered car. It is taxed and insured in the UK at the moment. It's about 10 years old and it's been in my family the whole time, although I only had registered ownership transferred back to myself this month. To be clear there was no financial transaction, just a change of registered keeper and I was previously insured to drive it.

UK cars can simply drive in to Ireland, either over the land border or via the ferry from Wales. But since I will be living in Ireland permanently, I presumably need to re-register the car in Ireland eventually.

The government web site is a bit confusing on this issue. How long can I go on UK plates and insurance? Presumably I eventually need to re-register the car as Irish and get new number plates for it, as well as new insurance, so how do I go about doing that and what issues might I encounter?

To be clear as to the question, I am looking for an explanation of the rules and the procedure I need to follow. An indication of costs would be helpful too.

user
  • 301
  • 3
  • 6

1 Answers1

4

I only had registered ownership transferred back to myself this month

That's unfortunate. According to the Irish Revenue Commissioners you need to have owned the car for six months before moving to Ireland. Otherwise you will be liable for Vehicle Registration Tax (but you will only have to pay it on the value of a 10-year old car).

This page seems to be a useful starting point for your research. Also this page from the National Car Testing Service.

Costs shouldn't be too bad (in particular, you won't need the new headlights we needed for Germany - because Ireland drives on the left too).

You need to make an appointment to have your car checked within seven days of importing it.

Martin Bonner supports Monica
  • 2,133
  • 7
  • 21
  • 1
    Thanks. The IRC website says "in your possession", well it was, just the name on the registration document was a family member rather than myself. I was insured to drive it, and did drive it. I originally bought it back in 2009. So I guess it depends if they mean "possession" in the normal sense of possessing an object or who is registered with the UK DVLA as the owner. – user Aug 06 '18 at 10:13
  • NCTS say they need an invoice for the car... Well, I might have one from 2009, but it might well have been lost now. That's when I bought it and it's never been sold, just the registered owner changed with the DVLA for insurance purposes. – user Aug 06 '18 at 10:16
  • And speaking of insurance... Do you have any idea of the timing required for ending UK insurance and getting Irish insurance on it? Thank you for your help. – user Aug 06 '18 at 10:18
  • 1
    Get Irish insurance first (that should be quick), then try to cancel the UK insurance and get a refund (it probably won't be much). – Martin Bonner supports Monica Aug 06 '18 at 11:16
  • 4
    "According to the Irish Revenue Commissioners you need to have owned the car for six months before moving to Ireland" - It should be noted that the "registered keeper" isn't necessarily the owner of the vehicle. Whether that will be good enough for the Irish authorities is another matter. – ProgrammingLlama Aug 06 '18 at 11:54
  • 1
    @john I was being sloppy when I said "owned" - it should have been "possessed", (which is much closer to "registered keeper" - but the OP will have to ask the Irish authorities themselves. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Aug 06 '18 at 11:56
  • OP might also get away with not registering himself as an Irish resident for a few months. – JonathanReez Aug 06 '18 at 17:53
  • @JonathanReez unfortunately I need to register so my wife can get her visa sorted out. – user Aug 08 '18 at 15:28