Moving to Northern Ireland with a car

[Lwoody]

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone here can help. I can't seem to find any clear information on this anywhere, they all seem contradictory of each other.

I live in Wales and will be moving to Newry with my fiance. Here is where it gets a little complicated. I'm actually out of the country for a few months and was planning on sending my parents to buy the car for me (obviously they would have to buy and register it in their name). Once home, I will register the car in my name. What I want to know is, would I incur any VAT charges if I registered it in an NI address or would it be best to register it to my Welsh address and change it at a later date or does it need changing to an NI address at all?

Second thing I'm confused on is taking it to N.I. As I'll be living there, do I need to declare the car at the port when I bring it over or do I just take it over like I would on a visit? There seems very little information available on this, especially post Brexit.

Just for some background, the car is second hand from a dealership. I've read all sorts of things, some saying VAT isn't a thing, some saying it is, others saying it isn't if the car already has VAT paid in GB, some saying you don't pay if you've owned it for 6 months. Basically, I haven't got a clue and wondered if you could help me out.

Thanks to anyone who can help with this 👍🏼

[nicanary]

Newry is in the UK. I can see no reason for any taxes being due. You're simply moving from one address in the UK to another.

BTW I hope your new home isn't under water...........

[Bobupndown]

No vat, no tax, no issues.
If you're moving permanently to NI register it at your new address.
If you wish you can have a NI plate allocated to it but there is no need. 3 of our family cars have mainland cherished plates and the old classic mini has its UK number still.

[Earthdweller]

It’s in the U.K.

It’s no different from moving to England from Wales or even from Cardiff to Swansea

[Decky_Q]

I live in Newry its in the UK. You dont have to do anything more than update your address as you would have to do if you moved anywhere else.

[Lwoody]

Really appreciate all of the replies. Just an FYI, I do know that Newry is UK haha. I hadn't questioned it until my ma being a ma asking if I'd checked what it entails. The guidance online is all over the place so just thought it best to check. Thanks again guys, big help!

[Earthdweller]

The only real difference is MOT tests as they are run by the NI Gov in special test centres and not local garages like everywhere else

The problem is you need to book an MOT months in advance and you get allocated a time/centre

It doesn’t seem the best or easiest way of doing things, you have to log on to the NI GOV portal and create an account then try and book the test online which isn’t easy!

Certainly you need to be doing it at least three months before your MOT expires