IRLVRT·CALC

Guide · updated 22 September 2026

VRT booking: how to book an NCTS appointment online or by phone

Every imported vehicle is registered at an NCTS centre on behalf of Revenue, and the VRT inspection is the appointment you book for it. Two deadlines matter and people mix them up: you have 7 days from arrival to book the inspection and 30 days to complete registration. Miss the second and Revenue adds 0.1% of the VRT for every day since the car arrived, and the car can be seized. The booking itself is free; what costs money is turning up unprepared.

Book online at ncts.ie (VRT inspection) or by phone on 01-4135975. You need the VIN and the arrival date. Any of the 28 VRT centres listed below will do, so if Dublin is booked out, try Naas, Navan or Dundalk.

The process, step by step

  1. Before the car arrives: know the VRT

    The one number you cannot change at the desk is the tax. Calculate it in advance so the figure is not a surprise, and so you can spot it if the inspector picks the wrong version of the car.

  2. Day of arrival: start the clock

    Keep the ferry ticket, shipping document or customs entry. The arrival date starts both deadlines, 7 days to book and 30 days to register, and it is the first thing Revenue asks about if anything goes wrong.

  3. Within 7 days: book at ncts.ie or on 01-4135975

    You need the VIN. If your local centre is full, widen the search to neighbouring counties: a two-hour drive beats a late charge. Save the confirmation as proof of when you booked.

  4. Chase a cancellation

    Slots free up daily, usually first thing in the morning. Checking ncts.ie at 8am for a few days is the cheapest way to move a three-week wait down to a few days.

  5. Gather the paperwork

    Identity, PPS number, proof of address, VRTVPD2 form, invoice, foreign registration certificate, customs reference for GB imports, and the CO2 and NOx figures in writing. One missing item means a refused registration, a lost slot and the €54.76 surcharge.

  6. At the centre

    The inspector confirms the car matches the declared version, records the mileage, and the VRT is calculated. You pay there, receive your registration number, and buy plates on site or from any motor factor.

  7. Within 3 days: plates, then tax and insurance

    Display the Irish plates, tax the car at motortax.ie using the RF100 form from the centre, move the insurance to the Irish registration, and book an NCT if the car is 4 years or older.

Before you book: know what you will be asked to pay. Check the VRT for your car with a UK reg or Japanese chassis number. Free, no sign-up, on Revenue’s live valuation. The €4.90 breakdown adds the statistical code docket to hand the inspector, so the version on the receipt is the one you priced.

VRT booking phone number and online booking

There are three ways to book, all run by NCTS on behalf of Revenue:

The booking is confirmed by SMS, email or letter. Keep it: it is your proof of the booking date if the first free slot falls outside the 30 days, and you need it in the car when driving on foreign plates.

The 28 NCTS centres that do VRT inspections

Not every NCT centre registers imports. NCTS lists 28 that carry out VRT inspections for Revenue; you can book any of them, and a centre two counties over often has a slot this week when Dublin has none.

Dublin has Ballymount, Greenhills and Northpoint; Cork has Blarney and Skibbereen. Opening hours differ from centre to centre and are on the NCTS VRT FAQ.

The VRT form: VRTVPD2

Every private importer must bring a completed Vehicle Purchase Details form, Form VRTVPD2 (PDF from Revenue). Motor traders use VRTVPD1 instead. Print it and fill it in before the appointment: NCTS calls it mandatory, and a missing form counts as missing documents, so the €54.76 surcharge applies and the car is not registered that day. It asks for the VIN, make, model, version and foreign registration number, the seller (dealer, auction house or private individual), the date of purchase, the date the car entered the State and the price paid including VAT. The invoice or declaration of sale must be attached, and the form is signed with your PPS number.

What to bring: the checklist

NCTS treats the list as compulsory. One missing item and the car is not registered that day, the slot is gone and the €54.76 surcharge applies. Everyone brings:

Then, depending on where the car came from (for a GB car, a UK reg check before you pay shows whether the V5C details, the MOT record and the export marker line up):

Great Britain

The full V5C (the seller keeps only the 'permanent export' slip for the DVLA), plus the customs declaration reference (MRN) and the item number for your VIN. Without a completed customs declaration the NCTS refuses registration.

UK import process

Northern Ireland

The original V5C showing the last keeper at an NI address and the invoice with an NI address. If the car came into NI from GB after 2020, proof it was imported under the Windsor Framework, otherwise customs duty and import VAT apply.

NI import rules

Japan and other non-EU countries

The export certificate (de-registration), a certified English translation, and the CO2 and NOx figures from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport site for a car whose description and weight match the certificate. Plus the customs declaration from the EU point of entry.

Japanese import guide

New car from any country

The Certificate of Conformity must be uploaded to Revenue through myAccount or ROS before the appointment, and the hard copy brought along. The NCTS keeps it, so make a copy first.

The mistake that costs the most

Arriving without written evidence of the NOx figure. Revenue then applies the flat maximum, €600 for a petrol or hybrid car and €4,850 for a diesel, and getting it corrected afterwards means an appeal. The figure is on the V5C at item V.3, on the certificate of conformity, or for Japanese cars on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport site. Print it. What the levy should cost with the figure declared is on the NOx charge calculator.

The second most common: the inspector chooses a different version of the car than you expected, and the valuation jumps. Know your VRT statistical code before you go, and if the figure at the desk does not match, ask which code was used.

Fees at the centre

Everything that goes into the total before you get to the centre, shipping, customs, VAT and VRT, is on the import cost calculator.

VRT booking questions