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Hi William,

Sadly, the short answer is “it depends…” You’re right in that there’s a sliding scale of the VRT charge levied on optional extras, and it rolls back according to the age of the car. VRT is charged on optional extras according to the car’s CO₂ emissions, so for a 2017 BMW 520d (I’m assuming it’s the current-shape G30 model) that’ll be 17 per cent for a car with CO₂ emissions of 114g/km. As the car is less than two years old (again, I’m guessing it was made and registered after January 2017) there’s a 25 per cent discount for the depreciation of the original market value of those extras. The ‘it depends’ bit comes in because it depends which extras those were. It’s not enough to say that there are €10,000 worth of extras on it, because Revenue will calculate the original Irish market cost of those extras, item by item, and then apply the VRT accordingly. 

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Hi James,

It depends on exactly what Kombi version it is. You see, under the recently changed rules for N1 commercial vehicle VRT and tax, if the van has fewer than ten seats, and the seats and cargo area are all in the one section, then it technically counts as a passenger car and you’ll be paying VRT at either 28 per cent or 31 per cent of the OMSP, and then passenger car motor tax too in Bands D or E.

If it has three or fewer seats, or if the cargo area is physically separated from the seating area, then it counts as a crew-van and you’ll pay 13.3 per cent of the OMSP, but to tax it as a private vehicle you’ll have to put it on the old engine capacity rating (why this is still in use we’re not sure, but it is) and that’ll be €710 a year assuming it has the 2.0-litre TDI engine. 

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Hi Patrick,

Well, sadly, it’s just not that simple. The one per cent surcharge for Vehicle Registration Tax applies only to diesel-engined vehicles, and it’s not a flat-rate rise from ten per cent to 11 per cent, but a one per cent rise across all the VRT bands. VRT has always been something of an iniquitous tax. The thing is that, potentially, you’re right; a VRT increase could possibly dissuade buyers from shopping in the UK, and send them back to Irish forecourts, but only if it were applied to private imports, rather than new registrations through a dealer. That’s problematic too, though, as many dealers actually shop for second hand stock in the UK, given the tendency of Irish cars to be low in spec and small in number. Would such a new tax apply to those imports? Should it? If not, is that unfair to those private individuals who are merely ’shopping around’ for the best value? And given that, technically, every car brought into the state is an import, where does one draw the line when it comes to manufacturer imports versus private imports? VRT is many things, both right and wrong, but one thing it’s sure not is simple.

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Hi Dave,

It’s a very difficult question to answer, unfortunately, as there are so few GranTurismos on the road here in Ireland to help us get a guesstimate value. Sadly, of course, it doesn’t matter how much you paid in sterling, it’s all down to what Revenue thinks the car will be worth on the Irish market. A rough guess would peg it at around €50,000 (depending on condition, history, etc,), so you’d be paying 36 per cent of that, which works out at around €18,000. But as I say, that’s a wild guess. 

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Hi Dermot,

It’s a tricky one to estimate, as the Defender doesn’t appear on Revenue’s ready-reckoner, and there aren’t many on the ground here in Ireland to get a solid idea of the current values. I’d take a guess that a 2007 or 2008 Defender will be worth at least €20,000 in the Irish market (values have been steadily rising since the Defender went out of production) and 36 per cent of that (the Defender’s CO₂ emissions are above the 225g/km limit) will be at least €7,200. That’s just a guesstimate though, and the final figure will depend hugely on the condition, history and spec of the specific vehicle.

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Hi Kevin,

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Hi Rob,

This is Revenue, so you get charged for the full period, not just the lateness. That said, you can claim a rebate of any late VRT fees paid, if you can offer any evidence of reasonable reasons why the VRT was not paid for in time. 

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Hi Gerard,

It depends on whether you’re registering it as a commercial vehicle or a passenger car. If it’s a commercial vehicle, it’ll qualify for the standard €333 annual van-rate tax, but if it’s a private car then it’ll actually (and oddly) revert to the old engine capacity system, which could be a bit pricey. The Defender (annoyingly) doesn’t feature on Revenue’s VRT ready-reckoner, so an OMSP is tricky to predict, but given the way Defender values have gone of late, it will probably be between €10-18,000.

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Hi Fergus,

There should be no difference in VRT between a Transporter van and a a crew cab conversion. While the N1 commercial vehicle rules were tightened up this year to close off the loophole that allowed such big (often luxurious) 4x4s as a Land Rover Discovery or a VW Touareg to be registered as a commercial, ‘genuine’ vans with a crewcab setup should still qualify for the commercial 13.3 per cent VRT charge. Just make sure the vehicle has a ‘BE’ bodywork code and make sure to use a reputable specialist to do the conversion. 

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Hi John,

You SHOULD (emphasis ours) be OK from the VRT perspective. As long as, according to Revenue, you’ve lived at your current address for 185 days or more, and can show proof of your move to Ireland, then you won’t be charged for VRT. Fuel and insurance costs for a Macan are a different story...