Expert answer

Hi Umair,

Don’t. Buy. It. Major can of worms. If someone has been breaking the law by driving around in an imported car that hasn’t had its VRT paid, then you do not want to get involved. Plenty of other cars out there, so go and buy one that’s fully above-board and legal.

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Hi Gelu,

Yes and no. Yes, you can tax it as a private vehicle and the year doesn’t really matter. No, you can’t get it tested under NCT regs — as far as the NCT are and always will be concerned, it’s a van, so it needs an annual CVRT test.

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Hi Bill,

You can absolutely tax and insure a commercial vehicle for private use and, as it is more than 30 years old, it’ll be really cheap to import and to tax — the VRT will be a flat rate of €200 while the motor tax will be €56.

Insurance will, as ever, be the wrinkle — generally, if you want to put it on a classic scheme, most insurers will insist that you have another ’normal’ car for everyday use, and it might be tricky putting down your son as a named driver. I’d suggest getting in touch with a good local broker, who might be able to unearth a better deal for you than just searching around on the internet. 

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Hi Philip,

The NOx rating for the 2015 E 220 CDI diesel E-Class comes in at around 170mg/km. That adds up to a NOx charge of some €2,850, and that will be on top of whatever the VRT is. 

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Hi Barry,

No, there’s no particular restriction, once the vehicle is approved for use on the public roads, and as long as there are no weapons fitted (obviously). For the most part, military vehicles will just be imported as a commercial vehicle, and you might have some difficulty getting a valuation for Revenue to calculate VRT on. Most likely you’ll be charged the basic Category C rate of €200. 

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Hi Dan,

It’ll depend on the specification and history of the car, of course, but the total cost should be in the region of €4,500 (allowing for 49mg/km of NOx).

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Hi Peter,

Campers are now charged at the standard 13.3 per cent of the Irish market value, as defined by Revenue. They’re not subject to the NOx tax, though — that’s only for passenger cars. 

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Hi Matt,

In theory it would, but the seats would have to have been fitted as an original option to those specific chassis codes, so that might trip you up. It’s worth a try...

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Hi Martin,

Some vans do qualify for the lowest possible flat rate commercial VRT of €200, but it’s more likely that you’ll be charged the standard Category B rate of 13.3 per cent of the Irish market selling price, so the final figure will depend on the year, mileage, condition and equipment of the Transit in question.

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Hi Eric,

The problem is that VRT, with fluctuating and uncertain second hand values, plus issues of equipment, history and condition to consider, is a constantly moving target. I would think that the €6,700 figure is much, much closer to the truth than the €23,000 one, but unfortunately, given the vagaries of the VRT system, you won’t know for certain until you get the bill. 

Hopefully you've read our feature on the subject - How Much VRT is Paid in Ireland?