Expert answer

Hi Jacinta,

Yes, you can. Anyone can buy a commercial vehicle and take advantage of the lower rates of VRT — that’s fine. The only tricky part comes, as you rightly point out, when it comes to taxing them. Then you have to tax the vehicle as a private car, and that means (for some bizarre reason) reverting to the old  by-engine-capacity tax, which obviously is going to be a bit pricey for a 3.0 Hilux. Maybe consider a 2.0-litre turbo VW Amarok, as that will bring down your annual motor tax bill considerably. 

Read this for more: Buying a commercial vehicle for private use

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Hi Nick,

Theoretically yes, it is possible to convert an estate into a van. Obviously you’d have to remove the back seats and weld a plate in place over the floor. There are also some minimum dimensions that must be adhered to for the vehicle to qualify as an N1 commercial. Sadly (and oddly) the requisite page on the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) website is returning a 404 'not found' right now. The good news is that your local motor tax office (MTO) will have all the relevant details that you’ll need to be sure that the car you’re thinking of converting qualifies. The conversion work will have to be carried out by someone with the appropriate qualifications and standards (again, the MTO can help there) and you’ll have to bring it for a CVRT test every year, not the usual NCT.

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Hi David,

Well, basically you take that VRT cost of €819 and add it to the money you’ve actually paid for the Galaxy, converted into Euro. On top of that, there’s the NCTS fee for having the vehicle inspected (€55), the cost of a year’s motor tax (that will depend on the engine that’s in the car) and the cost of getting new number plates made up and fitted (shouldn’t be more than €30 or thereabouts). 

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Hi Raymond,

Sadly, it’ll be €994. For some arcane reason (which no-one has been able to explain to us in a way that actually makes any sense), if you register a commercial vehicle as a private car, you have to go back onto the old by-engine-capacity tax system.

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Hi Brendan,

We do love a bit of car-related man-maths around the CompleteCar.ie office. Yes, in theory, you could save that €425 per week travelling cost with a Tesla Model 3, once we make a couple of assumptions, and bearing in mind that a Model 3 is not free — a basic Standard Range Plus model is quoted at €625 per month in repayments on Tesla’s Irish website. With a claimed one-charge range of 409km, your theoretical Model 3 should be able to get from Dublin to Monaghan and back in one charge, with a little left over for safety (assuming it’s around 135km door-to-door). If you can charge at home and charge in Monaghan, then each full charge will cost you around €8-10, depending on your electricity tariff and how low the battery gets before you plug it in. That should put a significant dent in your travelling costs. It would also be helpful if you could charge up at work, but that’s more for ensuring you have a full charge in case you need it — the shorter intra-Dublin commute wouldn’t put much strain on your battery.

So, that’s all good. Buying in the UK, though? Not worth it. We ran the maths on this a while back and 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. You’re better off buying local in this instance.

Expert answer

Hi Stella,

There isn’t really a way around it, I’m afraid. According to Revenue, the rules say that once you have imported a car with a change of address, and been exempt from paying Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), then you have to keep and use the car for at least 12 months after, or the full amount of the VRT will have to be paid. If you have exceptional circumstances, you could try contacting Revenue and pleading your case, but in general where VRT is concerned, rules are rules and that’s that.

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Hi Kay,

It will depend if you’re importing it. If not, then no VRT applies in any case, but there will be a fee payable for re-registering. At that point, there may also be motor tax implications, but theoretically, if Revenue accepts the conversion, then motorhomes only have to pay €102 a year.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that, to be classified as a motorhome, you’ll have to pass type approval, for which there are minimum standards. The Road Safety Authority has all the details you’ll need, but it might get expensive meeting all the requirements. 

Expert answer

Hi Ken,

Well, the good news is that, even if you’re importing it for personal use, at the point of paying VRT it still counts as a commercial, so it’s just 13.3 per cent of the Irish market selling price. The wrinkle comes then when you want to tax it as a private car, which means going back onto the old by-engine-capacity system, which for a 3.0 Hilux is going to mean a whopping €1,494 a year.

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Hi John,

I think a word with your accountant would be the best option as there are hoops to be jumped through for registering and taxing a car as a commercial, especially a five-seater. The bigger issue by far could be getting you insured, as most insurers will see the words ‘Range Rover Sport’ and '21-years old’ and run a mile.

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Hi Roisin,

You’ll be exempt from VAT as the car has done more than 4,000km, but not VRT I’m afraid as you’ve owned it for less than six months.