Expert answer

Hi Dan,

The rules from Revenue are clear: if a commercial vehicle is used for any private reason whatsoever, no matter how infrequently, it must be taxed for private use. If the X5 you are referring to is already registered as a commercial vehicle, then, bizarre as it sounds, the private motor tax will be determined based on the engine size - yes, even if it's a post-2008 model.

In the case of the X5, if it's powered by the popular 3.0-litre diesel engine, that would mean an annual motor tax bill of €1,494.

If you're thinking about buying a regular X5 and re-classifying it as a commercial, that would only be possible if the rear seats are removed permanently, and a bulkhead is put in place behind the front seats. Even so, it would have to be taxed privately if you intend to use it for any private reason.

Expert answer

Hi Niall,

With your requirements and budget, you'll certainly be looking at a used EV rather than a new one, which may mean buying a car that doesn't have much of its original regular warranty remaining (as the industry default is three years - though there are exceptions). However, the car makers include a longer warranty on the drive battery to reassure buyers of their longevity. Typically, this is for eight years and 160,000km (from new), though the precise figures vary from model to model.

You've not specified if any of your kids are in small seats or boosters so we assume three of them can fit across in one row of a normal car (do come back to us if we're wrong on that as that will limit your options considerably).

In terms of your driving use, and assuming you'll get a home charger to cover day-to-day charging, you're going to have to plan to use the public charging network on your longer journeys. Very few used EVs in your budget will do 400km on a charge all year around with five people on board.

Most should require just one top-up on that trip, however, taking no longer to charge than it will to get the kids all out and into the bathroom and for you to grab a coffee.

I'm sure you'd have to stop a few times on a 1,000km trip regardless of charging up the car.

Taking a look at what's on the market for under €25,000, here are some options we'd recommend:

Cupra Born: This is a five-seat, five-door hatchback about the same size as a Volkswagen Golf on the outside (and indeed it's the same underneath as the Volkswagen ID.3), but it has way more rear-seat space. Your budget gets you a 2022 example using the 58kWh battery pack, which means a realistic range of about 300km between charges.

Read our Cupra Born reviews here

Hyundai Kona Electric: The Kona is a five-door, five-seat crossover you should find as new as 2023 available within budget. That's the last of the previous-generation model. It's smaller in the boot and back seat than the Cupra mentioned above, but it is efficient. There are even some available with a 64kWh battery for a realistic range between charges of nearly 400km.

Read our Hyundai Kona reviews here

Kia e-Niro: This is another five-seat crossover, actually sharing its underpinnings with the Hyundai. However, the Niro is noticeably bigger inside the cabin and boot. There are loads of 2022 examples around with a 64kWh battery - meaning a real-world range of nearly 400km again. Sidebar: the Kia e-Soul is a stylish alternative sharing most of the same components, though it's less practical as a family car.

Read our Kia Niro reviews here
Read our Kia Soul reviews here

Skoda Enyaq: The Enyaq is a fantastic family car with much more space in the cabin and boot than all of the above. Sadly, there are very few about at your budget, though we did find a couple so it might be worth holding out for. The compromise is that you'll only be able to afford the 58kWh model, which should manage a little over 300km between charges.

Read our Skoda Enyaq reviews here

Volkswagen ID.3/ID.4: The ID.3 is VW's equivalent to the Cupra Born above and there are more of them about, most with the same 58kWh battery. Saying that, we did find a few with the 77kWh battery pack, enabling a much longer range. The ID.4 is notably larger inside and comparable with the Skoda Enyaq. It's not common within budget though.

Read our Volkswagen ID reviews

Hopefully that's some useful food for thought. Don't hesitate to come back to us if you want us to help narrow down your search.

Expert answer

Hi Fiachra,

From the information you provided, you should not have any VAT or customs duty payable on this car when importing it into Ireland.

Just make sure you have proof of that customs declaration document, as that's the key piece of evidence that shows Revenue that the dealer has already completed customs procedures and the car entered the EU customs territory before you bought it and brought it to Ireland.

Expert answer

Hi Paul,

Revenue is likely to treat that vehicle as a company car – not a van – due to it having rear seats, a high specification and suitability for use as a regular car. That's irrelevant of what you actually do with it.

BIK is calculated using the Original Market Value (OMV), a percentage determined by the car's CO₂ emissions and the annual business mileage. In the case of the Amarok Aventura, the CO₂ is 267g/km, and the retail-on-the-road price is €76,820 before options.

Such a high emissions rating puts this vehicle into the highest band for BIK, category E, and the percentage then depends on the annual business mileage from a high of 37.5 per cent for up to 26,000km to a low of 15 per cent for over 52,001km (it's 30 per cent for 26,001-39,000km and 22.5 per cent for 39,001-52,000km). You must keep records.

Say for example you do 25,000km a year for business reasons. That means 37.5 per cent of €76,820 as the calculated “cash equivalent” (€28,807.50) and that is then added to your total pay from a tax calculation point of view.

You can bring that down by doing more business mileage or choosing a more efficient – or cheaper – vehicle.

There are plenty of other bits and pieces to take into consideration, so it's worth taking a look at Revenue's own Private use of employer provided vehicles page for up-to-date information.

Expert answer

Hi Chris,

Unless your daughter has a permanent address in the North where she can register the car, then yes, she will have to import it.

Expert answer

Hi Eimear,

That would be technically possible, yes, but we'd expect it to be prohibitively expensive to do and rather pointless when there are so many examples of the Tiguan already available.

Expert answer

Hi Brenda,

From the information provided, it does indeed sound as if VAT and customs duty could be payable on this vehicle being imported into Ireland. That is unless the Northern Ireland dealer imported the car from GB in accordance with the requirements of the Windsor Framework. If they did there would be a customs declaration lodged in Northern Ireland by them. Ask the dealer about this. Without it, I'd certainly be worried that VAT and customs duty will be due.

Expert answer

Hi Eoghan,

A normal hearse attracts VRT at a flat rate of €200, but a “First Call Hearse” is not likely to be given that status so it will most likely be treated as the commercial vehicle it's based on. Depending on what that is, it could still be €200, or it may be 13.3 per cent of the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP - the value Revenue believes the vehicle is worth in Ireland).

Likewise, while regular ambulances are exempt from VRT, a private ambulance won't be, and it will be taxed as mentioned above.

Extra care is needed for modified vehicles so make sure you have full documentation of the conversion, including an engineer's report if one exists. Anything you can do to simplify the process once the vehicles lands in Ireland and goes for an inspection with the NCTS will save time and hassle.

Also, if the vehicle is coming from England, Scotland or Wales, you will have to pay customs duty and VAT. It's unlikely you will have to if the vehicle is coming from Northern Ireland and it has been registered and in use there for some time.

Expert answer

Hi Leona,

From what you've told us, the easiest thing to do here would be to change ownership of your relative's cars to you. This is simply a case of filling in section C on the back of the Vehicle Registration Certificate (VRC) for each of the vehicles and sending the VRCs off to the Vehicle Registration Unit (the address is on the VRC). This can be done online as well via www.motortax.ie.

When a vehicle changes hands, its tax arrears are wiped out, so you won't need to worry about that. And if you don't intend to use the vehicles for a time, you can declare them off the road using the Statutory Off Road Declaration (SORD). This can be done online at www.motortax.ie or at your local motor tax office.

Note: this must be done ahead of time, not after the fact, and can only be submitted for periods of up to 12 months (though it can be renewed).

That would avoid the need for motor tax if you're not using the vehicles or if you're in the midst of converting the Transporter, for example.

If that's not an option, then motor tax for the van in particular could be expensive as it will be taxed according to its engine size (read our Motor Road Tax Prices In Ireland Explained feature for full details).

In terms of insurance, multi-car policies are not common in Ireland, unfortunately, so you'll need to do some ringing around or employ the services of a good insurance broker. And be aware that it can be tricky to get private insurance on a commercial vehicle.

Come back to us if you want us to go into more depth on any of this.

Expert answer

Hi Slawek,

We've found Revenue's VRT estimator to be lacking in a lot of ways and it certainly doesn't list all makes and models for all years.

Let's break down the figures.

First up, the NOx levy quoted by vrt.ie (€2,650) is actually the maximum possible charged for a vehicle with a diesel engine. Neither of the examples you provided will emit enough NOx to warrant that, though you will need to have proof of their official figure to avoid paying the maximum. We'd estimate that a NOx levy of about €250 is more realistic in this case.

Be careful with the CO₂ figures. The 164g/km rating quoted for the second vehicle appears to be the old NEDC figure and Revenue will actually apply an “uplift” formula (see our Guide to Importing Cars from the UK feature for that) to bring it up to an equivalent WLTP rating. It comes out as 204g/km, meaning VRT at 41 per cent.

In your first example, this appears to have been done already, resulting in the 215g/km rating.

In both cases, that would mean VRT at 41 per cent of the OMSP, the Open Market Selling Price.

Now this is where things become less clear. The OMSP is not the asking price of the car, or even the price you pay for it, but the value Revenue places on it as a vehicle registered in Ireland and on sale here. It's not easy to estimate for relatively rare vehicles. For the purposes of our calculation, let's say €45,000. At 41 per cent, the VRT on that would be €18,450.

Obviously that could go up or down depending on how much Revenue believes the vehicle is worth, but we're certain of the 41 per cent VRT rate, unfortunately.