Tax on bike just sold

[rowanh]

Hello,

I am Irish, I was thinking about going over to the UK to buy a motorbike and riding it home on the ferry.

I have been told that there is a problem with tax as when the bike is sold the tax remains with the previous owner and the new owner needs to tax it. To do this you apparently need a UK address.

So if I bought a bike from a dealer there would be no way to tax it for the ride home and it seems that unlike in Ireland where the garda (police) do not have the internet yet in the UK they are able to tell if the bike is taxed by automatic scans performed in their cars?

In Ireland you have a window to tax a vehicle you just bought, at least a week or two, would reasonable police in the UK use desecration and let you go or would they be more likely to take the bike off you?

The alternative is buying a bike blind from what appears to be a reputable dealer and having a transport company collect it and bring it to Ireland..

[randlemarcus]

Unless you happen across a roadside checkpoint type setup, then nobody on the road will give a monkeys. Swansea will send you an automated letter after a while, but if your address is in the ROI, that might not even happen.

[jjones]

Don't think you need to give an address (give the bike dealers if you do).

Would need a minimum of 6 months, which is cheaper than a fine/transport company I would think.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax

just need the v5 new keeper slip as it has a reference number on it that you need on the tax website.

[syl]

Book an MOT as close to the border as possible on the day you plan to ride the bike home. If the route to the MOT tester takes you into Eire on the way, even better. Obviously, just nip home. Send the MOT tester a little compensation in the post for not turning up.

[BugLebowski]

I wouldn't worry about it to be honest. Any time I've bought a car I've only ever sorted out the insurance before I've driven home.

[rowanh]

Sound, thanks guys.