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Hi Pat,

The annual motor tax rate for a tractor or excavator is €102.

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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 Kevin,

Fair? Maybe not, but it is the letter of the law. Once you’ve bought the car, you're liable for the tax and, if it’s taken you the guts of a month to get it sorted, Revenue isn’t going to give you a break on it. They want their cash and they’re going to get it.

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Hi John,

It will depend on the year and the model, but as an example, a 2010 2.2 diesel Verso, with the 140hp engine and a manual gearbox, has emissions of 164g/km and so motor tax of €570 per year.

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Hi Raymond,

Pretty good news all-round, here. Camper vans qualify for the lowest rate of VRT, the same as vans, so it’s 13.3 per cent of the estimated Irish market value. It might be a bit hard to find a solid Irish market value for your Mercedes, but at 13.3 per cent, the VRT is never going to be too bad. Motor tax is even better — camper vans qualify for a flat-rate of €102 a year.

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Hi Gary,

It's a fixed price for motor tax for motor homes and campervans, at €102 per annum.

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Hi there,

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Hi Pat,

The problem is that Ford Ireland, legally, cannot impose delivery charges on its dealers. It can suggest recommended delivery charges, but according to Irish law (and companies have, in the past, had their offices raided for this sort of thing), dealers are allowed to charge what they want for delivery and related. A spokesperson for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission told us that: "Consumer law requires traders to provide the total cost, including extras, of a product to a consumer before they buy. In the specific instance of when a manufacturer is advertising a car for sale, the manufacturer can only advertise the recommended retail price and state that delivery and related charges will be extra. If a consumer then decides to buy that car, they should be provided with the total price by the dealer before they buy. Auxiliary costs such as motor insurance, tax etc. are not dealt with specifically under consumer protection law. However, through our information campaigns, we would encourage consumers to do their homework about such costs before making a purchase."

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Hi Philip,

It’s a tricky one. Technically, you’ve owned and used the car in Spain (and presumably taxed and insured it), which could, theoretically, mean that you can bring it in VRT-free, but the problem is your residency issue. As this was a holiday home, more than your full-time residence, it might not count. Usually, Revenue wants to see proof of change of address (rather than the end of use of an address) to give you the waiver on VRT. I think a chat to your accountant might be a good idea...

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Hi Barry,

The problem with electric cars is that, generally, they’re not rated for towing (I think that the new Nissan Leaf is one of the first with a towing rating), so you’re probably going to have to switch back to petrol or diesel for this one. Probably your best bet is to go for something very conventional, such as VW Golf or Ford Focus, and maybe go for the estate version of one of those to give yourself a little extra versatility. A Toyota Auris Hybird would also work well, and would at least keep you going on half-electric power. Plenty of them around in your price range.