VRTVPD2 sorted before your NCTS slot register your import in Ireland, 2026
Enter your UK, NI or EU vehicle details in the form to the right and get the statistical code, the OMSP Revenue will apply, and a full VRT estimate — the exact figures you copy onto your VRTVPD2.
Run your car here first, then complete the form in block letters and sign it before your appointment. Get the variant and emissions right and a private import can move by more than €2,000 in VRT.
68K+
Forms completed
€47M+
VRT estimated
98.4%
Match rate
The form, in plain English
VRTVPD2: the Vehicle Purchase Details form for private car importers in Ireland
VRTVPD2 is the Revenue Vehicle Purchase Details form that a private individual completes to register an imported vehicle and pay Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) in Ireland. If you have bought — or are about to buy — a car in the UK, Northern Ireland, the EU or Japan for your own use, this is the single piece of paper the NCTS needs from you before it will put Irish plates on your car. Motor traders use a different form (VRTVPD1); everyone else uses VRTVPD2.
The form itself is short and free, but it trips up thousands of importers every year because it must be filled in a very specific way and arrive with the right supporting documents. Get one field wrong — the variant, the emissions, an unsigned declaration — and you either overpay your VRT or get turned away at the counter with the registration clock still ticking. This page confirms VRTVPD2 is your form, shows you the official download, walks you through it block by block, and links each field back to the VRT calculation. Use the calculator at the top of the page first: it produces the statistical code, OMSP, CO₂ and NOx figures you will copy straight onto the form.
In brief
- VRTVPD2 is the Revenue form for private importers; traders holding a TAN use VRTVPD1.
- It must be printed single-sided, completed in BLOCK LETTERS and signed in ink before your NCTS appointment.
- It travels with a document pack: original invoice, proof of identity and PPSN, and the Certificate of Conformity.
- The vehicle, emissions and value details you enter decide your statistical code and therefore your VRT bill.
- A single variant difference on the same model can swing the VRT by more than €2,000 — check your figures before you print.
What is the VRTVPD2 form?
VRTVPD2 is the "Vehicle Purchase Details" form for Persons other than Authorised Persons — the paperwork a private importer hands to the NCTS so Revenue can assess and charge VRT on an imported vehicle. It is a fillable PDF published by the Revenue Commissioners, roughly 175 KB in size, and it exists for one purpose: to capture, in Revenue's own format, exactly what you bought, from whom, and for how much.
VRT is a substantial and closely watched tax in Ireland. Revenue collected €938 million in VRT receipts in 2025, down about 1% on the previous year, across 167,875 new vehicle registrations (Revenue, VRT Report 2025). Every used import registered alongside those new cars starts with a completed VRTVPD2, which is why the form is treated as a formal declaration rather than a box-ticking exercise.
Where the VRTVPD2 sits in the registration process
The VRTVPD2 is the bridge between buying a car abroad and registering it in Ireland. Once your vehicle physically arrives in the State, you book an appointment at an NCTS centre, which registers vehicles and collects VRT on behalf of Revenue. At that appointment the officer inspects the car, checks its identity against your paperwork, and calculates the VRT due. The VRTVPD2 feeds that assessment: make, model, version, VIN and emissions, plus the price you paid and the date of purchase.
You cannot complete the process online in advance and simply collect plates — the form and the vehicle are presented together, in person, and the OMSP (Open Market Selling Price) that drives your VRT is confirmed on the day. Think of the form as your side of the story; the NCTS inspection is Revenue verifying it.
Why the form is mandatory
Without a properly completed VRTVPD2 and the original invoice, the NCTS centre will not register your vehicle — there is no discretionary route around it. The form is required under the VRT regulations administered by Revenue, and the vehicle stays legally unregistered (and un-taxable, un-insurable on Irish plates) until it is submitted and accepted.
That is why "which form, filled in how" matters far more than importers expect: it is a hard gate, not a formality.
Which form
VRTVPD1 or VRTVPD2: which form is yours?
If you are a private individual importing a car for your own use, VRTVPD2 is yours; VRTVPD1 is only for authorised motor traders holding a TAN (Trader Account Number). That single distinction — authorised person versus everyone else — is the whole test, and it accounts for the overwhelming majority of private imports. Because the two codes differ by a single digit, they are the most commonly confused part of the process, so confirm which side of the line you are on before you download anything.
VRTVPD2 vs VRTVPD1 at a glance
The two forms share the same backbone of vehicle and purchase details. VRTVPD1 simply adds the trader-specific fields Revenue needs — the TAN, the Revenue Customer Number, and the trader's vehicle disposal records — that a private buyer has no reason to hold. The table below settles it.
| VRTVPD2 | VRTVPD1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | Private individuals ("Persons other than Authorised Persons") | Authorised motor traders |
| Revenue label | Vehicle Purchase Details — non-authorised | Vehicle Purchase Details — authorised |
| Extra data required | PPSN and personal details | TAN, Revenue Customer Number, disposal records |
| When | Registering a personal import at the NCTS | Trade registrations under a TAN account |
The rule of thumb: importing a vehicle from outside Ireland as a private person means VRTVPD2, every time.
Edge cases: joint buyers, gifts and third-party importers
A few situations blur the line. If a third party physically imported the vehicle on your behalf, you still complete VRTVPD2 as the purchaser, but you also record that importer's name, address, Eircode, contact details and Revenue Customer Number in the relevant fields. For a car bought jointly, register it in the name of the person who will hold the PPSN-linked ownership and appear on the logbook. A gifted vehicle is still declared with its purchase details or a realistic value — a gift does not exempt it from VRT. When in doubt, the person whose name goes on the Irish registration is the person who signs the VRTVPD2.
Step by step
How to fill out the VRTVPD2, block by block
The VRTVPD2 is built around three blocks — vehicle details, purchaser details, and the purchase declaration — and every field must be printed in BLOCK LETTERS and signed in ink. Once you have confirmed VRTVPD2 is your form, the job is to complete it so cleanly that the NCTS officer has nothing to query. Work from your documents, not from memory: the V5C (UK logbook), the Certificate of Conformity and your calculator output between them contain every value the form asks for.
Block 1 — Vehicle details
This block identifies the exact car. It is where accuracy pays off most, because these fields decide your statistical code and OMSP. Fill in:
- VIN / chassis number — the unique 17-character identifier, copied character for character from the logbook.
- Make, model and version — the manufacturer, the model name, and the specific version/trim (this is the field most often wrong).
- Engine capacity in cc and transmission type — manual or automatic.
- WLTP CO₂ emissions and NOx emissions in mg/km — take these from the Certificate of Conformity, not from a rounded brochure figure.
- Statistical code — the Revenue reference for that exact specification, generated by the calculator when your details match the database.
Case in point — Aoife, importing a 2021 hatchback from England. She copied "automatic" from the seller's advert, but her V5C showed a manual. Correcting the transmission before printing moved her into a lower band and saved her a re-print at the counter — a two-minute check against the logbook.
Block 2 — Purchaser (and third-party importer) details
This block is about you. Enter your full name, address with Eircode, contact details and your PPSN. The PPSN is what ties the registration to you for future motor tax and any correspondence, so it is not optional for a personal import. If someone else imported the vehicle for you, add their name, address, contact number, email and Revenue Customer Number in the third-party fields so Revenue can see the full chain from seller to registered owner.
Block 3 — Purchase details and declaration
The final block records the transaction and closes with your signature. Enter the date of purchase, the price paid, and the seller's name and address, then read and sign the declaration confirming the information is correct. The purchase price should match your invoice exactly — a mismatch between the figure here and the invoice is an immediate red flag. The declaration is a legal statement, so the signature is not a formality you can skip or scan in later.
Formatting rules that keep it valid
Revenue is strict about how the paper looks. Print the form single-sided, complete every field in BLOCK LETTERS using a black ballpoint pen, and sign the declaration in ink. A form filled in pencil, typed-then-unsigned, or printed double-sided can be rejected on sight regardless of how accurate the content is. Bring the physical, signed copy — the NCTS staff will not register the vehicle without a properly completed paper copy on the day.
Before you go
Documents to bring to your NCTS appointment
The VRTVPD2 travels with a document pack: the original invoice or declaration of sale, proof of identity and PPSN, the vehicle's Certificate of Conformity, and — for UK imports — the customs and VAT paperwork. A perfectly completed form still gets you turned away if it arrives on its own, so assemble the form and its supporting documents as one pack before you book.
The mandatory document pack
Bring the following to the appointment, originals rather than photocopies where possible:
Deadlines: the 30-day rule and UK import extras
You must register the vehicle within 30 days of it arriving in the State — the clock starts on entry, not on purchase. Miss that window and Revenue can apply a late-registration penalty on top of the VRT. For a car imported from the United Kingdom, there is an extra layer before you even reach the VRT stage: the import must clear customs, and VAT at 23% applies on the import value. Northern Ireland and EU imports follow their own customs treatment, but the 30-day registration deadline is the same for every private import.
Worth noting: the 30-day deadline applies to the physical vehicle, not the paperwork. Book your NCTS appointment as soon as the car lands — appointment slots can be several days out, and a delayed booking is not accepted as an excuse for late registration.
Your VRT in numbers
Where the VRTVPD2 figures come from
The numbers you write on the VRTVPD2 — statistical code, OMSP, CO₂ and NOx — are exactly what decide your VRT, and a single variant difference can move the bill by thousands of euro. Those emissions and value fields are not just admin: they are the inputs Revenue turns into your tax, which is why it pays to get them from a calculator before you ever print the form.
The formula in one line
VRT on a passenger car (Category A) is built from two parts: a CO₂ component and a NOx levy. The CO₂ component is a percentage of the OMSP set by your car's WLTP emissions, running from 7% (≤50 g/km) up to 41% (>190 g/km) across 20 bands. The NOx levy is charged per mg/km on a rising scale: €5 per mg up to 40, €15 per mg from 41 to 80, and €25 per mg above 80 (Revenue, 2026). In short:
(CO₂ band % × OMSP) + NOx levy = total VRT.
Worked example: one Mazda CX-5, two very different bills
To see why the variant matters, take one model — a 2021 Mazda CX-5 2.2 Skyactiv-D — in two real-world specifications. The base SE-L manual and the higher GT Sport automatic AWD are the "same car" to a casual buyer, but they carry different OMSPs and sit in different CO₂ bands, so Revenue treats them very differently.
| Variant | OMSP | WLTP CO₂ | CO₂ band | NOx levy | Total VRT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2 SE-L, manual 2WD | €24,000 | 148 g/km | 23% (146–150) | €230 | €5,750 |
| 2.2 GT Sport, auto AWD | €28,500 | 158 g/km | 27% (156–170) | €290 | €7,985 |
Reading the result: the higher trim costs about €2,235 more in VRT — and only part of that is the higher OMSP. Crossing from the 146–150 band into the 156–170 band lifts the rate from 23% to 27%, which is why an automatic AWD with a few extra grams of CO₂ is punished twice. If you select the wrong variant on the VRTVPD2, you either overpay or get corrected at the counter.
Run your own registration through the calculator above to get your real OMSP and emissions, then apply the formula. These figures are indicative for 2026 and should be confirmed on the official Revenue calculator before you commit.
Pitfalls
Common mistakes that get a VRTVPD2 bounced
Most VRTVPD2 rejections come down to five avoidable errors: wrong form, wrong variant, missing invoice, pencil-or-typed entries, and an unsigned declaration. Knowing the figures is half the battle; the other half is not tripping over the handful of mistakes the NCTS counter sees every day.
-
1
Using VRTVPD1 instead of VRTVPD2.
A private buyer reaching for the trader form. Confirm you are a "Person other than an Authorised Person" and use VRTVPD2.
-
2
Selecting the wrong variant or transmission.
The single most expensive error, because it changes the statistical code, the OMSP and often the CO₂ band. Cross-check every field against the V5C and Certificate of Conformity.
-
3
Turning up without the original invoice.
Revenue then has no proof of the price you paid, so the assessment cannot proceed and the appointment stalls.
-
4
Filling it in pencil, typing it without signing, or printing double-sided.
A formatting fail that gets the paper refused before the content is even read.
-
5
Leaving the declaration unsigned or the price blank.
An incomplete declaration is not a declaration. Sign in ink and make the price match the invoice to the euro.
Case in point — Cian, a first-time importer. He completed everything correctly but printed the form double-sided to save paper and left the declaration unsigned, planning to "sign it there". He was sent home to re-print and lost his slot. Two minutes of formatting cost him a full week's delay against his 30-day deadline.
Questions
VRTVPD2 FAQ
The questions below cover the practical points the form itself doesn't spell out — cost, PPSN, online submission, deadlines, EU imports and vehicles missing from the database. Beyond the form's three blocks, a handful of recurring questions decide whether your appointment goes smoothly.
Do I need a PPSN to complete the VRTVPD2?
Yes. Registering an imported vehicle in your name requires a PPSN, and the form asks for it directly. The PPSN links the registration, and all future motor tax correspondence, to you. If you have recently moved to Ireland and don't yet hold one, arrange it before your NCTS appointment.
Is the VRTVPD2 form free?
Yes — the form is free to download from Revenue and free to submit. There is no charge for the paperwork itself. What you pay is the VRT assessed on the vehicle, plus, for UK imports, customs and import VAT. Third-party tools that offer to "fill it for you" are optional and separate from the free official PDF.
Can I submit the VRTVPD2 online or by email?
No. The VRTVPD2 is presented as a signed paper copy in person at the NCTS centre, together with the vehicle, at your registration appointment. There is no online or email submission route for the form — the inspection and the paperwork happen together on the day.
What happens if I miss the 30-day registration deadline?
Registering later than 30 days after the vehicle enters the State can trigger a late-registration penalty on top of your VRT, calculated in proportion to the VRT due and the length of the delay. The vehicle also remains unregistered — and therefore not legally usable on Irish plates — until you complete the process, so the practical cost is more than just the penalty.
Do I still need VRTVPD2 for an EU import, not just the UK?
Yes. VRTVPD2 is required for any private import, whether the car comes from the UK, Northern Ireland, an EU member state or further afield such as Japan. The difference is what sits around it: a UK import must also clear customs and pay 23% import VAT, whereas an EU import generally does not attract that customs-and-VAT layer. The VRT declaration on VRTVPD2 is the same in every case.
What if my vehicle isn't in Revenue's valuation database?
Some vehicles — very new models, rare specifications, motorhomes and classics — aren't in the automatic valuation system. In that case you request a manual valuation from Revenue (through the MyEnquiries service) rather than relying on the calculator, and Revenue assigns a bespoke statistical code and OMSP. Start this early, because a manual valuation takes days rather than seconds.
Can someone else present the VRTVPD2 and the car for me?
Yes. A third party can present the vehicle and your completed VRTVPD2 at the NCTS on your behalf, provided the form is filled in with your details as the purchaser and signed by you, and the third-party importer's details are recorded where required. The registration is still made in your name against your PPSN.
In summary
The VRTVPD2 is the Revenue Vehicle Purchase Details form every private importer completes to register a car and pay VRT at the NCTS. Get the form, filled in block letters and signed in ink, plus the mandatory document pack, and your appointment goes through cleanly.
Run your vehicle through the calculator above first to lock in the statistical code, OMSP, CO₂ and NOx. Cross-check the variant and transmission against the V5C, use the WLTP CO₂ figure, and remember the 30-day registration deadline — plus 23% import VAT and customs on a UK car.
If your vehicle isn't in Revenue's database — a motorhome, a classic, a rare spec — request a manual valuation through MyEnquiries rather than guessing a figure onto the form.
Verified against the Revenue Form VRTVPD2, Revenue's "Procedure at the NCTS centre", the Revenue VRT Report 2025, the NCTS VRT FAQ and Citizens Information's guidance on bringing a vehicle to Ireland. Reviewed by our vehicle-import editorial team. Last updated: 2026.
This website is independent and is not affiliated with Revenue, the NCTS or any government authority. VRT figures shown are indicative estimates for 2026; the final amount is determined by Revenue when the vehicle is presented for registration. Always confirm your figures on the official Revenue calculator before your appointment.