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Hi Richard,

I agree that it's ludicrous that Revenue can't give you a clear and definitive answer ahead of time and that it could come down to "who you get" on the day.

Nonetheless, I'd be confident that you should not be liable for VAT or import duty on the car as described. 

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Hi Wendy,

I'm afraid the Inster is not rated for towing at all.

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Hi Seraphina,

Either of those cars should serve your needs well, especially if you remove the rearmost seats from the Jogger to allow space for your dogs (it's an easy thing to do).

However, the Bigster – aside from being the newer and more impressive vehicle overall – comes with the added advantage of a higher driving position and so-called “hip point” so it should prove to be easier to get in and out of.

About the only downside to the Bigster that I can think of is that its boot lip at the back is higher up than the Jogger's, though that'll only affect small dogs or those that struggle with jumping up.

I highly recommend you pop along to a Dacia dealer for yourself and take both for a test drive.

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Hi Edward,

That's not so easy to answer definitively, but I suspect the Toyota could be a little cheaper to run. It does depend of course on which version – and year – XC70 you have. The latest GR Yaris costs €790 a year to tax, for your reference.

Unless you're doing track days, wear and tear in the Yaris should be no more than it is in the Volvo and with a new-car warranty you're isolated from high-value maintenance costs for a few years in any case.

The big unknown is insurance, but only you can determine that by ringing around and getting quotes.

We'd be interested in the outcome if you want to drop us a line after.

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Hi Rachel,

We'd certainly recommend the Tucson over the Kona. It's a larger, but crucially, more comfortable and refined vehicle. What's more, there are loads of them available in the classifieds within your budget - though we'd suggest seeking out one with the newer 1.6-litre diesel engine as it's a bit quieter and more efficient than the 1.7-litre.

What you might not know is that the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson share the same mechanicals, so it's worth taking a look at examples of both so you can choose which you prefer.

Note that most of these vehicles are front-wheel drive only, which is perfectly fine for driving on the road most of the time. Don't buy a four-wheel-drive one unless you reckon you need the extra traction and ability during winter months on slippery surfaces, as they are not as economical.

Both Kia and Hyundai have a great reputation for reliability, though the Kias were sold with a longer new-car warranty so there may even be a portion of that still active, depending on how old a car you go for and its mileage. Ask the seller about that.

Our top tip to buyers of used cars is to test drive several different examples from different sellers so you get a feel not only for which you prefer, but also for how good – or not – a given car is.

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Hi Jason,

First up, whether a used car coming from Northern Ireland is subject to VAT or not is purely to do with its customs status, not its value. If this BMW was registered new in NI, or was imported there from England, Scotland or Wales and then used by someone there (as opposed to being imported by someone to sell on), then no VAT would be payable on importing south of the border - regardless of its value.

You would need to be able to prove its status. If it was registered new in the North, then that will be easy to do of course.

Now for VRT. There is VRT relief for electric cars , but that only applies if their Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) is below €50,000. For cars worth more than that there is no VRT rebate and you'd have to pay VRT according to Band 1 for cars emitting 0-50g/km. That's currently 7% of the OMSP.

In case you're not familiar with it, the OMSP is the value Revenue believes the car to be worth after it's registered in Ireland. It's not related to the price you've actually paid for the car.

A quick check of the classifieds reveals that 2022 BMW iXs are listed in Ireland for between €44,000 and €60,000. If the model you're looking at is deemed to have an OMSP of less than €50,000, then you will get a bit of VRT relief, but nothing substantial.

For your information, if Revenue places an OMSP of €60,000 on the iX, VRT of €4,200 would be payable.

Expert answer

Hi Tomas,

Revenue's website is only ever a guide in any case, so you should always do your own calculations, so you have an estimate. We can help with that but be aware that all figures below are only estimates.

First up, we're assuming you mean “GB” – i.e. England, Scotland and Wales – as opposed to “UK”, as the latter would include Northern Ireland as well. If the van is coming from Northern Ireland, the treatment of import duty and VAT is different.

Coming from GB, however, you will have to pay 10 per cent import duty and 23 per cent VAT.

The duty is calculated on the “customs value”, which is the price paid, transport and insurance together. If the van is £13,000, that's about €15,000, so the import duty would be a minimum of €1,500 before any allocation for transport or insurance.

VAT is charged on the sum of the import duty and the customs value. So if import duty is €1,500 in this case, and the customs value is €15,000, that's a total of €16,500. VAT is 23 per cent of that, at €3,795.

Unfortunately, regardless of where you are importing the van from, Revenue will treat a six-seat crew cab van as Category A for VRT, which means you'll have to pay the NOx levy (could be as high as €4,850 for a 2019 Trafic) and VRT based on its CO₂ emissions.

You'll need to get the official figures for this van, but if say the CO₂ emissions rating is 171-190g/km, then it's in Band 19 for VRT, at 35 per cent of the so-called OMSP.

That's the Open Market Selling Price, a value Revenue believes the van to be worth after registration in Ireland. It's not easy to guess. If it's €20,000, then the VRT would be 35 per cent of that, or €7,000.

This is all looking very costly, I'm sure you agree.

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Hi Jarek,

If you can get a cert from that organisation then yes, it will definitely be enough for Revenue.

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Hi Jason,

The NOx rating is proving to be very difficult to find for many buyers of used Japanese cars and most of the time it is not on the MILT site.

We've discovered that it may be possible to obtain a Certificate of Conformity from the Japan Inspection Organization, though we've not used the process ourselves. Click on the link to read up on how to do this.

Expert answer

Hi Tom,

The NOx rating is proving to be very difficult to find for many buyers of used Japanese cars and most of the time it is not on the MILT site.

We've discovered that it may be possible to obtain a Certificate of Conformity from the Japan Inspection Organization, though we've not used the process ourselves. Click on the link to read up on how to do this.