Advice

Your VRT appointment for a car from Northern Ireland: what to bring

The VRT appointment is where your car and its paperwork are checked against each other, Revenue works out the VRT, you pay, and a registration number is issued. It is carried out for Revenue by the National Car Testing Service (NCTS), and it isn't an NCT. You can't just turn up: you need a confirmed booking. A missing or mismatched document (other than the emissions papers, see below) means the car won't be registered.

Our guide to importing an electric car from Northern Ireland covers the whole journey and the dealer questions; our guide to VAT and customs duty on a car bought in Northern Ireland covers which customs proof applies to your car. This page doesn't repeat either.

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About this guide. General guidance, not legal or tax advice. It reflects the official sources named here as of the date above, and anything it advises you to do next is based on the checks you've confirmed. SimplyEV can't see your car or documents and doesn't verify any check for you. Rules change, so use the official service for the final answer. No payment or commercial arrangement influences what this guide says. Links go to the official services' own pages, which SimplyEV doesn't control.

Before you book

Check what the dealer gave you. You need the V5C, a dated invoice and the customs paperwork that applies to your car, plus any emissions paper the dealer holds. If something is missing, ask for it in writing now, not at the centre.

Know the two deadlines. The appointment must be booked within 7 days of the car entering the State, and the car registered within 30 days. Revenue's pages attach the extra VRT to the registration deadline, but what happens if you miss only the booking deadline isn't published, so book inside it. SimplyEV advice: book as soon as the car is here. Revenue says the extra VRT usually arises when the date the car entered the State can't be shown.

What to bring

Put everything in one folder.

You need all of these

  • The V5C. Registration is refused without it. The NCTS keeps it, so Revenue says to copy it before you go, and the NCTS FAQ asks for original documents. Our guide to the V5C covers what to do if it's missing.
  • The invoice. It must clearly show the date of purchase. SimplyEV advice: it should also show your name, the car's VIN, the price and any VAT.
  • Form VRTVPD2 (Revenue's vehicle purchase details form, on its VRT forms page). Print it, complete it in full before you arrive, sign it and write in block letters. Attach the dealer's invoice and fill in the date the car entered the State. It is a declaration and a false one is an offence, so don't guess a date or price.
  • A passport or driving licence.
  • Your PPSN and official evidence of it, for example a Revenue letter or P60 showing the number. These are examples, not a full list.
  • Proof of your address. Bring an original paper utility bill or bank statement dated within the last 6 months. Parts of the NCTS FAQ say it accepts only a P60, bank or financial institution statement, credit card statement, or utility bill (electricity, gas, TV provider, landline, or mobile bill-pay). If you only have online statements, bring two from different providers, one of them a bank statement. Revenue's own page is looser and sets no age limit, and the FAQ is undated, so SimplyEV advice is this stricter version.
  • Proof of your confirmed booking.
  • The car, with the VIN easy to find.
  • Emissions papers. Revenue's list asks for CO2 and NOx emissions confirmation for a used car, and the published guidance doesn't clearly say how that applies to an electric car. Bring what your V5C and the dealer's paperwork show, and ask the dealer now for a Certificate of Conformity, which Revenue advises where the V5C has no NOx figure.

Your customs paperwork (which one depends on who imported the car; see our guide to VAT and customs duty on a car bought in Northern Ireland)

  • If the seller imported the car: a copy of the customs declaration lodged in Northern Ireland, clearly identifying your car. Revenue says no other documentation is acceptable.
  • If the seller didn't import it and Revenue's Northern Ireland history route applies to your purchase (see the guide linked just above for who qualifies): the documents Revenue asks for as a minimum, which are the original V5C from the last registered keeper showing they lived in Northern Ireland, a Northern Ireland service history and, where the car is liable to an MOT, its Northern Ireland MOT history. They must identify your car, and Revenue checks them and may ask for more.
  • Proof of the date the car entered the State. Revenue gives shipping details or travel documents as examples. For a car driven across the border, SimplyEV advice is to keep dated paperwork from the day you collected the car.

Bring this if it applies

  • Evidence of where the car was kept, if the invoice is dated more than 30 days before the day you present the car. Revenue says it may be asked for. SimplyEV advice is to bring original documents rather than a text message; the NCTS FAQ asks for original documentation for shipping and similar evidence.
  • A signed letter of authority, and the owner's ID as well as yours, if you are registering the car for someone else.
  • Revenue's exemption letter, if you are claiming an exemption. Any electric car relief the car qualifies for is applied automatically, with nothing to apply for.

More SimplyEV advice

  • Photographs or copies of every page of everything you hand over.
  • The declaration's reference number (MRN) and line number. SimplyEV advice: ask the dealer to write down the reference number and which line covers your VIN. Revenue's Northern Ireland page doesn't mention either, but its general list says an MRN "must be provided" for transport from outside the EU, and it doesn't say whether that covers a declaration lodged in Northern Ireland.
  • A debit or credit card that works for a large payment (not American Express), and a check of its daily limit. Revenue also names a bank draft; ask about the payee when you book.
  • The car charged, with the keys. The published guidance mentions neither.

Booking, and what happens on the day

Book online through the NCTS import vehicle page, by phone, or by post. You get a confirmation by SMS, email or post. Only customers with a confirmed booking have their car inspected, and you must show the confirmation when you attend.

Before the day, settle two things if they apply to you. If the car is driven across the border, the published guidance doesn't clearly say what counts as proof of the date it entered the State. If you are on the history route, it doesn't clearly say whether those documents are shown at the appointment or sent to Revenue first. Ask the NCTS before you attend; its contact details are on its website.

On the day, there are two stages. First, the NCTS checks that your documents are complete and meet the requirements of registration. Then it examines the car against them, checking details such as the VIN, registration number, make, model and variant.

The NCTS doesn't work out the VRT. That is Revenue's calculation, made when the car is presented, so treat any calculator figure as an estimate. NCTS staff can't discuss the charge.

Paying, and what happens next

You sign a document confirming the car's details, then pay what is due at the centre, including the tyre charge (€2.80 per tyre, spares included). Revenue and the NCTS both name debit and credit cards (not American Express). Revenue's guidance describes no separate charge for the registration service. Our guide to the charges and when you pay them covers the other charges.

A registration number issues after payment. Revenue says registration might not be completed on the day in some cases, for example if your model isn't on its system and Revenue has to value the car individually. The centre then follows up with you. Revenue says that isn't a second appointment, but other published guidance says you may have to return on another day.

If you think the VRT is wrong, pay first, then appeal to Revenue within 2 months of registration for a valuation dispute.

If something is missing

If documents (other than the emissions papers, see below) aren't supplied, or the car doesn't match them, it won't be registered. A second visit is at your own expense, and a re-test fee is payable on return. A surcharge may also apply if you attend without the required documents, cancel or rearrange close to the date, or don't show up. No amount for the re-test fee is published.

A customs document is missing. Where the seller imported the car, a copy of the declaration is required. Where the seller didn't, Revenue may ask for more on the history route, and if it isn't satisfied the car is treated as if it had been imported directly from Great Britain. Without the proof, the car can't be registered on the Northern Ireland basis, and our guide to VAT and customs duty on a car bought in Northern Ireland explains the alternative. Don't go ahead until you have what applies: ask the dealer for it in writing.

Emissions papers are missing. Published guidance points both ways: some Revenue pages mention the highest rates or a flat charge, others say a missing compulsory document means the car isn't registered. It isn't published which applies to an electric car, so get whatever exists before the day.

What to do. Check the folder the night before. Fix what you can. If a dealer document is missing, tell the dealer in writing before the appointment, and if you can't get it in time, rearrange as early as you can.

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