Your car to Ireland: the VRT, the exemption and the seven days
Without an exemption you pay the registration tax VRT when registering in Ireland, a percentage of the market value that rises with emissions. The Transfer of Residence exemption prevents that, with six months' ownership as the condition and a series of clocks on arrival: claim and book the inspection within seven days, register within thirty days, and don't sell for twelve months. Keep the ferry ticket.
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Yes, your car may come to Ireland. With the Transfer of Residence exemption, the relief for people moving their residence to Ireland, you pay no registration tax on it.
Without that exemption you pay the Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), the Irish registration tax, on registration. For a car that is a percentage of the market value. The percentage rises with CO₂ emissions: from 7% for the cleanest cars to much more for the thirsty ones.
The trap is the clock. From the moment the car enters Ireland, three deadlines run:
- Revenue, the Irish tax authority, wants your claim within seven days.
- The inspection appointment must be booked within those same seven days.
- The car must be registered within thirty days.
Whoever registers late risks a penalty and, in the worst case, seizure.
Do you qualify for the exemption?
If you move your normal residence to Ireland, and your car meets the conditions. Revenue describes normal residence as the place where you live for at least 185 days a calendar year because of occupational and personal ties, and you must show that it was first abroad and is now in Ireland.
| Condition | What Revenue requires |
|---|---|
| Possession and use | at least 6 months before the move; possession in Ireland doesn't count |
| Bringing it in | within 12 months of the move |
| Taxes | the car is fully tax and duty paid in the country of origin, and not commercial |
| Selling | not within 12 months of registration, otherwise the VRT becomes payable in full |
| Used before | not if you were abroad on a task of definite duration and got such a relief in the last 5 years |
You collect the evidence before leaving, on both sides. For the car:
- your registration document;
- your insurance certificate;
- the purchase receipt;
- the ferry ticket, as proof of the arrival date;
- service records and paid road tax, as proof that you used the car in the Netherlands.
For your residence Revenue asks for evidence of giving up and taking up a home, of employment, of day-to-day living (such as bank statements and utility bills) and of your travel.
Which deadlines run from arrival?
| Deadline | What |
|---|---|
| Within 7 days | apply for the exemption to the National VRT Service, via MyEnquiries |
| Within 7 days | book an appointment with the NCTS, the testing and registration centre |
| Within 30 days | register the car and, without an exemption, pay the VRT |
| Within 3 days of registration | display the Irish registration number |
| 12 months after registration | only then may you sell without paying the VRT after all |
Wait to register until Revenue has decided on your exemption. If you register earlier, you do pay VRT at registration; if the exemption is granted afterwards, you get that amount back within five working days. For registration you also need your PPS number, ID and proof of address, so your PPS number must be there by then.
What do you do with your Dutch registration?
Here two rules collide, and the order decides whether it goes well.
The RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority, says: only deregister your car for export once you know which documents the new country requires. Only after the export notification do compulsory insurance, the APK obligation (the Dutch roadworthiness test) and road tax stop.
Citizens Information, the Irish government's information service, says: don't return your foreign registration documents in full before the Irish registration is complete. Without the foreign registration certificate Ireland refuses registration.
The export certificate is your Irish key. When you notify export, the RDW gives you an indemnity certificate, your registration card with a corner cut off and the export certificate, registration certificate part II. You need those last two together to register the car abroad. After deregistering you may drive in the Netherlands for 14 more days with an export plate. Also check with the Belastingdienst whether you get part of the BPM back.
Does the car have to be tested?
Irish cars four years and older go to the NCT, the Irish roadworthiness test. If you have a valid roadworthiness certificate from an EU country, the remaining period is recognised and you only go to the NCT when it expires. After registration you get a form for paying motor tax, and for that the car must be insured in Ireland.
Take it or buy in Ireland?
With the exemption, bringing the car is cheap: registration then costs no VRT. VAT doesn't come into it for a used car from the EU. Only a car that has been in service for six months or less, or has driven 6,000 kilometres or less, counts as new. That car carries Irish VAT, even if you already paid VAT in the Netherlands. Whoever wants to sell the car after all once they've arrived must wait twelve months or pay the VRT after all.
How you get the car across the sea to Ireland, and why the route via Great Britain costs extra paperwork, is covered in your household goods to Ireland. A Dutch driving licence is valid in Ireland until it expires; what happens after that is covered in your driving licence in Ireland.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Ireland or go straight to step 3.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Revenue — the Transfer of Residence exemption and the deadlines — revenue.ie
- Citizens Information — importing a car into Ireland — citizensinformation.ie
- RDW — exporting a vehicle, and only deregistering once you know what the new country requires — rdw.nl
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