Do I really have to pay back-tax?
Hi, I bought a 2.0-litre Hyundai on the 21st of July and went online to tax it this morning and Revenue wants 75 Euro back tax for July; surely that can't be fair?
Kevin Donegan (Ballina)Aug 2018 Filed under: taxation
Expert answer
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.
How much to tax a 2.2 Toyota Verso?
How much to tax a 2.2 Toyota Verso for one year?
John Hamilton (Donegal )Aug 2018 Filed under: taxation
Expert answer
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.
VRT and motor tax on a Mercedes camper?
Hi,
I was just wondering if I bought a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 308 diesel camper from the UK, what would the VRT estimate be and how much to tax it? The engine capacity is 3.0-litre. It has 74,456 miles on the clock.
Raymond Flynn (Athlone, Co. Westmeath)Jul 2018 Filed under: VRT
Expert answer
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.
Cost of motor tax on a motor home?
Please can you confirm the cost of road tax in Ireland (2018) for a motor home?
Thanks
Gary Miller (Dublin)Jul 2018 Filed under: taxation
Expert answer
Hi Gary,
It's a fixed price for motor tax for motor homes and campervans, at €102 per annum.
What to do with my converted UK campervan?
Hello,
I have a 2005 Citroen Relay 2.2-litre van I converted to a campervan in the UK. I am looking into registering it here, as I have moved back permanently. I went through the UK DVLA and converted it officially, but they did not change the vehicle category. It is N1. I checked this with them when I got the log book back and they said it remains as is, a commerical vehicle.
Here I understand I need to go through the whole palaver again and get an engineer to sign off the conversion, so it is MI, passenger vehicle. If I am looking at this thing correctly, I would be paying €900+ tax? Onto insurance, any idea what I would be paying on this size vehicle? I have two years' no claims driving it in the UK. Do they accept UK no claims here? It's hard to find the information online as you need to enter your reg and as it doesn't have an Irish reg yet, I have met some dead ends. The van is not worth much and it looks like it will cost me a whole lot more to run it here than in the UK. I am trying to get an idea before I start spending money, if it's a good idea to keep it, leave it on the drive or see if I can take it back or sell it to a UK driver. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
E O'Mahony O'Mahony (Cork City)Jul 2018 Filed under: commercial vehicle
Expert answer
Hi there,
Why do delivery charges vary so much?
Hi,
I am interested in buying a new Ford Fiesta; the model I am interested in is priced online at €20,150. One dealer in the Cork area quoted me €22,000 for the exact same thing, another quoted €21,395, making delivery charges €1,850 and €1,245 respectively. Audi quotes €650 delivery for the A1. Would you ask Ford Ireland for a comment and if it intends to do anything about it?
Thanks
Pat
Pat Mc Sweeney (Cork City)Jun 2018 Filed under: miscellaneous
Expert answer
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."
Best way to deal with a car I own in Spain?
This is probably a difficult question and if you don't have a clear answer, that's fine.
Upon retiring, I bought an apartment in Spain four years ago and for the past four years I've come and gone. Because I spent extended periods there it wasn't realistic to hire a car, so I bought a new car but then I made the mistake of replacing it in 2017. I was never tax resident in Spain and now intend selling up and coming back to Ireland permanently. Do you know what is the tax position of bringing the car back the Ireland? It might be better to sell it in Spain, but I'm unlikely to get a reasonable price, but equally if the VRT is very significant I should accept the loss.
Thanks
Philip
Philip Donegan (Ballina)Jun 2018 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
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...
Should we get a second EV for towing?
Hi, a question about a second car. What would be a good choice for a second car for travelling to work that does small mileage (10-20 miles) daily? Our main car is a Nissan Leaf, which we use for the majority of our driving. A car that can tow a small trailer would be ideal, something with low tax and running costs. Budget is about 6-7 thousand euro, with the intention of trading in the car in a few years time for a newer model. Have thought of buying another electric car, but not sure about having two electric cars in household until longer range cars are available or charging network improves.
Thank you for your help.
Barry
Barry Slye (Cork)Jun 2018 Filed under: electric cars
Expert answer
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.
Is my Mondeo's tax bill correct?
I have a 2009 Ford Mondeo 2.0 140hp, but I think my car tax might be wrong. I have been paying €750 a year on this car. I'm only looking into it now after someone telling me it could be the wrong price; how can I look into this or who could I talk to about this?
Thanks
Thomas Madden (Kilcolgan )Jun 2018 Filed under: taxation
Expert answer
Hi Thomas,
It’s possible. If your car is the 2.0-litre 140hp TDCi saloon with a manual gearbox, then its CO2 emissions should be rated at 156g/km, which would give you a motor tax bill of €570 a year. However, if it’s the automatic version, then the CO2 rating jumps to 189g/km, and that’s a €750 bill.
Why do Irish car buyers not get discounts?
Hi,
I wonder if you could explain something I don't really understand about the Irish car buying market, even though I have a big interest in cars and the industry. Why is it that Irish car buyers hardly ever seem to get the sort of discounts that buyers in Britain do? I'm not just referring to the fact that overall new and used prices are cheaper there.
I wanted to buy a new or nearly new Peugeot 508 here recently and thought I would get a reasonable discount, which I pushed for, as that model does not sell as well as many of it's rivals and I thought the Peugeot dealer would be delighted to sell a saloon seeing as the market for them is declining so much and so many people now want SUVs instead. Alas, I could not get any sort of decent discount for a new or nearly new 508. It is well known that in Britain the buyer often gets a sizeable discount for car types or models that lag behind many rivals in sales, or for certain brands such as Vauxhall/Opel and Citroen. From what I observe and hear, you don't get decent discounts either for certain makes and models here in Ireland.
Higher VRT and other taxes here, don't explain these differences alone. I thought with Brexit and the vast increase in used and nearly new imports that Irish dealers would be more price competitive, but I'm surprised also that the prices of good fresh second hand cars here haven't come down more in this backdrop. For some good reasons, I'd prefer to buy here than from abroad, but it just seems that Irish car buyers can't catch the breaks that UK buyers get at all! Do you agree with me or can you kindly explain these differences in both markets?
Thanks, JC
JC Holohan (Waterford)Jun 2018 Filed under: used car values
Expert answer
Hi JC,
The big issue, really, is the size of the market. In the UK, vast dealer groups, with multiple outlets, are the norm and, obviously, these groups can be more cost-efficient and can potentially offer bigger discounts. Although there are dealer groups in Ireland, the norm is still very much the individual family-run business. That’s equally true on the import side of things — although there are now importers here that are tied directly to the car maker itself, many are still private, individual, locally-owned companies and those struggle to match the sort of discounting that is more common in the UK market. Plus, the fact that we buy in and around 100,000 to 130,000 cars a year here means that there’s less volume to spread discounts across. The UK market shifts two million cars a year — a considerable difference. VRT and VAT costs also play into it, as the wholesale price is often kept artificially lower to try and keep the added tax price down as much as possible.