Japan, Britain or Northern Ireland
Import a car from Britain, Northern Ireland or Japan: the landed cost compared
One car, three sources, every line side by side. Enter the car and the prices you know; the columns you leave blank show the price at which that route would match. Pricing one car from one place? Use the landed-cost calculator.
The three routes
They appear here side by side as you type.
Still needed: Make, Model, First registered, Irish market value (OMSP), and at least one price.
- Japan: 0% duty with a Statement on Origin on a Japanese-built car, 23% VAT, sea freight
- Britain: 10% duty unless UK origin is evidenced, 23% VAT, a customs declaration, transport in days
- Northern Ireland: no duty, no VAT for a car in use there, transport in an afternoon
- VRT and the NOx levy are the same from all three
Under the hood
What differs between the routes, and what does not
The same engine prices all three; only the customs rules and the way the car travels change.
- 1Duty follows the build plant and the paperwork
- A Japanese-built car is duty-free from Japan with the exporter’s Statement on Origin and pays 10% from Britain, because the EU–Japan rate needs direct consignment. A British-built car is duty-free from Britain with the seller’s UK-origin statement and pays 10% from Japan. A German-built car pays 10% from both.
- 2VAT is 23% from two of the three
- Import VAT is charged on the customs value plus duty for a car from Japan or Britain. A car in use in Northern Ireland pays none, provided it was registered there before 2021, first registered there, or brought in from Britain with a customs declaration completed there; otherwise Revenue treats it as a car from Britain.
- 3VRT and NOx do not care
- Both are charged at registration on the car: the CO2 band on Revenue’s Irish valuation, or €200 at 30 years, and the NOx levy on the certified figure or the default. The route changes nothing here, except that a British V5C usually carries the CO2 figure and saves the disclosure fee.
- 4Transport and time
- Sea freight from Japan is four to six weeks and eight to fourteen to plates; a transporter or the ferry from Britain is days; Northern Ireland is an afternoon. The British and Northern Irish transport figures are placeholders until you enter a quote.
The rules and four worked examples with break-even prices are in Britain, Northern Ireland or Japan: the same car from each.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, importing from the UK or from Japan?
It depends on where the car was built and what it costs on each market. Japanese-built cars usually win from Japan because they pay duty from Britain and none from Japan. British-built cars with an origin statement win from Britain. German-built cars pay duty from both, so the sticker decides. Northern Ireland beats both when the car exists there and its history qualifies.
What does “price to match” mean?
The price at which that route would land at the same total as the reference column, found by the same search the maximum bid calculator uses. If a Golf from Japan lands at €17,886, the Britain column might say £8,200: pay more than that in Britain and Japan is cheaper.
Does a car from Northern Ireland really pay no VAT?
Yes, if it was in use there under Revenue’s conditions: registered in Northern Ireland before 1 January 2021, first registered there, or brought in from Britain with a customs declaration completed there. Bring the V5C or the declaration; without proof it is a British import with duty and 23% VAT.
Can I leave a column blank?
Yes. Enter the prices you know; the blank columns show the price at which they would match the reference. The comparison needs the car, its Irish value and at least one price.