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Hi Kenneth,

You can tax it privately, and all you need to do is to ring up your local motor tax office (you can look yours up here) and tell them that you want to tax a van as a private vehicle. You’ll be shifted on to the old by-engine-capacity tax system and so, with a 1.6-litre engine, you’ll have to pay €514 per year.

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Hi Adrian,

Yes, you can. Or at least, you certainly should be able to. Simply ring up your local motor tax office and they should be able to just transfer you to the old engine-capacity tax system. On the insurance front, have you tried getting a good broker? They can often find deals that we orindary humans cannot. 

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Hi Billy,

Assuming it’s the Caddy with the 1.6 TDI engine, then it’s €514 a year as a private vehicle. 

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Hi Eduatd,

All 2008 cars should, by now, have been updated to the CO₂-based tax system, but the good news is that the 1.9 dCi-engined version of the Scenic has a CO₂ output of 159g/km, so costs €570 a year to tax, instead of the €673 you’d have spent on the old engine capacity system.

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Hi Shane,

Assuming it has the 1.6 TDI engine then it’ll cost you €514 per year. 

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Hi Mark,

There was indeed a clampdown on crew-cabs and five-seat SUVs qualifying for commercial rate VRT and tax, but being as (a) this Defender pre-dates the clampdown and (b) it has a separate and un-glazed cargo compartment, it should just squeak through. 

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Hi Bryan,

With a commercial vehicle, if you tax it privately, you’re put back on the old engine-capacity tax system, so that’s going to be €951 a year to tax.

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Hi Alina,

It’s actually a pretty easy distinction. Motor tax is the Irish equivalent of the UK’s Road Fund Licence. It’s paid annually, and is based on the CO₂ emissions of the vehicle. The cheapest rate is for  cars that emit no CO₂ (i.e. electric cars), which cost €120 a year to tax, while the most expensive rate is for cars emitting more than 225g/km of CO₂, which is €2,350 a year.

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Hi Dan,

The annual motor tax cost for any electric vehicle is €120.

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Hi Fintan,

In theory, a herd number might be sufficient, but basically it’s down to the local motor tax office with which you’re dealing. Basically, there’s two threads here — the first is that the vehicle must be an appropriate one for commercial use, and the second is that you must show some sort of documentation that proves that you require the use of such a vehicle. We checked with the Department of Transport, and here’s the reply we received:

"Motor tax is based on both the construction and use of a vehicle.  To be taxed as a goods vehicle, a vehicle must be constructed or adapted as a goods vehicle and must be used solely for the carrying of goods in the course of trade or business.  Under Article 3 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 385 of 1992), a licensing authority (motor tax office) must be satisfied that the licence (motor tax disc) being applied for is the appropriate licence for the vehicle concerned.   It is open to the relevant motor tax office to seek whatever documentation it deems appropriate in support of an application for a particular rate of motor tax.  In the case of an application for the goods rate of motor tax, such documentation may include a certificate of commercial insurance, a Tax Clearance Certificate, evidence of registration for tax or registration for VAT (if turnover for VAT exceeds the relevant thresholds set down by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners) or, at the discretion of the licensing authority, any other appropriate documentation that would indicate that the applicant is in trade or business. It is up to the individual concerned to provide whatever evidence is required by the licensing authority in order for it to be satisfied that the applicant is entitled to claim what is in effect a concessionary rate of tax."