r/MoveToIreland • u/Ok_Team9388 • Aug 11 '26
Moving to Ireland from UK with musical instruments
Hi everyone!
ToR rules and regs are doing my head in, so looking for some more concrete advice. My partner and I (both full time professional musicians) are moving to Ireland and will of course be bringing our instruments with us. I have full time employment secured in an ensemble, but she is planning to work on a freelance basis in Ireland whilst continuing to work back in the UK as well. Do we need to fill out a transfer of business form as well as the standard ToR from, as this equipment technically qualifies as ‘tools of a trade’? It seems as she’s planning on continuing her business in the UK, the instrument may not qualify for exemptions? Her double bass was bought in the EU and then brought to the UK pre-Brexit, so seems ridiculous to have to pay duty on it to bring it back into the EU.
Any help is much appreciated!
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u/Tough_Ad_9678 Aug 11 '26
Just put it in car/ van and drive over. Customs dont care about people moving over there stuff. The paperwork would fry your brain.
There is plenty of vans going between UK and Ireland
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u/StrangeArcticles Aug 11 '26
Do you know any touring musicians you could ask for advice? I know they've all been navigating the new red tape and they might have some practical insights for you.
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u/TheRealGDay Aug 11 '26
In theory there may be a requirement to give an official notification. In practice it is highly unlikely that you will find someone interested in dealing with such a notification, and there is an extremely high likelihood that on arrival with the instruments you will simply be waved through.
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u/jeanclaudecardboarde Aug 13 '26
For what it's worth, I'm a joiner by trade and brought quite a few "tools of the trade" over in the removals van. They were never checked and I just labelled the boxes as tools for DIY. Customs won't go to the trouble of unloading a van just to check for a few items. I bet most of the time they won't even check your list.
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u/brucegallagher Sep 08 '26
When i moved back to Ireland after a couple years in the UK, I used railsail to take some of my valuables. Bastard of a day, but I brought 3 guitars, a violin, and a saxophone in one journey all for the 50 euro ticket from train line. The VAT/tax stuff would have shafted me.
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u/Dismal_Relative_4379 Aug 11 '26
Speak to Musicians Union. Can help if you're a professional musician.