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Hi Ger,

It’s a tough car to value, the Amazon, not only because they’re so thin on the ground in Ireland, but also because they really, really, hold onto their value. I’d take a wild guess at a VRT charge of around €9,000 (based on a rough calculation of a €25,000 valuation), but Revenue could well take a different view. By the way, if you’re going to import one, do it before Jan 1st. The NOx emissions for a 4.2 diesel Amazon are 570mg/km, which means an extra VRT charge of €4,850...

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Hi Paul,

Basically, rocking up to an inspection with a Lamborghini is a licence for Revenue to charge you whatever it fancies… I wouldn’t be surprised to see a VRT bill of more than €30-40,000 for this one. 

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Hi Jamie,

There are three main charges to consider when importing a car from Japan. Of course, there’s VRT, which you can try to calculate using the online resources supplied by Revenue, but often it’s a matter of guesswork until the car is actually physically inspected here. Secondly there’s the shipping (which would normally be in and around €1,000 to get a car freighted to Dublin). Finally, there’s VAT and customs duty — these will usually only be a minor charge if the car is relatively old, but if it’s a recent model, the VAT especially could be rather significant.

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Hi John,

Nope, it wouldn’t. Working off the base model prices — £38,500 in the UK and €48,900 here, a quick conversion at today’s rates shows that the equivalent Euro price of a new Tesla Model 3 would be €45,069. A saving? No — although the VRT would cost you nothing at the point of import (thanks to the €5,000 rebate) you would have to pay VAT on entry, as it’s a new car, and so the price would go up by €10,350.

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Hi Tracy,

Do you mean VRT? VAT, Value Added Tax, is only charged on a new vehicle, or on an import that’s younger than six months old, or has less than 6,000km on the clock. At the current 23 per cent VAT rate, you’d pay around €6,000 on a brand new Nissan X-Trail in VAT.

If you do mean VRT, or Vehicle Registration Tax, then for a 2018-registered X-Trail with the 1.6 dCi diesel engine, you’re looking at around €5,000 for VRT. If you’re importing after January 1st, then there’ll be the extra NOx levy to pay, which, with the basic X-Trail’s 40mg/km NOx rating, means an extra €200 on top of the VRT.

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Hi Kevin,

It will depend on the model, but it could be as little as €700 for a ‘Luxury’ spec GS 450h from 2008. 

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Hi Mary,

That version of the Soul, with the automatic gearbox, has CO₂ emissions of 155g/km, so it’ll cost you €390 a year to tax. VRT on import shouldn’t be too steep — probably around the €1,800 mark depending on optional equipment, but bring it in quick — if you leave it until after January 1st you’ll have to pay the extra NOx tax, and that will add €1,975 to your import bill...

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Hi Andrej,

It all sounds a bit dodgy to us, to be honest. I’d tread very carefully, as if the seller has already brought the car into the country, and made an original appointment to have it inspected for VRT, then Revenue is already aware that the car is in the country. Given that there’s a 30-day limit from the date of arrival for VRT to be paid, I’d say that there’s not just an overdue payment, but possible penalties too. I think your best bet is to walk away — plenty of other cars available, from reputable sources, so you don’t need to be messing around with this sort of carry-on. 

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Hi Lucy,

I'm afraid that the VRT calculator supplied by Revenue is only for an estimate, as every car is different. The final figure takes into consideration the condition, mileage and any extras fitted to the car.

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Hi Steven,

Can you tell us which model your car is? That might be helpful. In the mean time, there’s a list of all the contact numbers for local Revenue offices at this link, so you could try getting in touch with the office for your area.