Tax and VRT on an imported Defender?

Hi.

Really useful site. I want to import a Land Rover Defender 90 from the North. It was made in June 2008; does this mean it falls under the old or new tax system? I am using it for personal purposes. As far as OMSP for VRT, do you know how the revenue calculates that?

Thanks and best regards

Ger

Gerard Mooney (Dublin)

Aug 2018 Filed under: VRT

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Expert answer

Hi Gerard,

It depends on whether you’re registering it as a commercial vehicle or a passenger car. If it’s a commercial vehicle, it’ll qualify for the standard €333 annual van-rate tax, but if it’s a private car then it’ll actually (and oddly) revert to the old engine capacity system, which could be a bit pricey. The Defender (annoyingly) doesn’t feature on Revenue’s VRT ready-reckoner, so an OMSP is tricky to predict, but given the way Defender values have gone of late, it will probably be between €10-18,000.

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Advisor
@neilmbriscoe