When to import a Mercedes E 300 de?
I'm bringing in a Mercedes E 300 de AMG Premium diesel plug-in hybrid from the UK with 6,400km on it and I would like to know would it be more beneficial finance-wise, to bring it in in December of this year or January of next year? It was registered in January of this year, but I am also finding it difficult to find out the OMSP of the car. Any insight into my queries would be much appreciated.
Regards,
Maurice
Robbie O'Driscoll (Cork)Nov 2020 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
Hi Maurice,
If you can't find the car on Revenue's own website, then you're going to have to work to your own estimate and hope that you're close. You can appeal the value Revenue comes up with at the car's inspection, but you must pay the VRT it deems is applicable first. And bear in mind that the OMSP will go up if the car has lots of extras. Based on what you've said, we'd estimate it to be about €50,000.
As the car is already over six months old and has done more than 6,000km, you won't have any VAT to pay.
I believe the WLTP CO2 rating for that car should be under 50g/km.
So, going on that €50,000 assumption, if you register it before the end of December, it's in VRT Band A1 at 14 per cent, which is €7,000. A used plug-in hybrid up to two years old gets a €2,250 VRT rebate, so the net VRT cost to you would be in the region of €4,750.
If you wait until 2021, the VRT rebate won't apply, but the VRT rate will come down to seven per cent, which works out as €3,500, which would suggest that, if our assumptions above are correct, you'll save money if you wait.
Note that I've not included the NOx levy in these calculations, as I can't quickly find what the NOx is for that model. The levy will increase slightly for you if you wait until 2021 registration, but not by a significant amount. You can read more about that in the relevant articles below:
How Much VRT is Paid in Ireland?
Guide to Importing Cars from the UK
Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor@Shane_O_D