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Hi John,

You can absolutely insure it as a private vehicle, but the only issue is that means reverting to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, so it’ll cost you €514 a year. 

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Hi David,

Well, regular (as in non-PSV) car tax is worked out on the CO₂ emissions. As yours is a Superb 1.6 TDI Greenline, that has official CO₂ emissions of 114g/km, and so will cost you €200 a year to tax.

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Hi Bridie,

If it’s commercial tax you’re talking about, then it’s a flat rate of €333 per year. If it’s to tax as a private vehicle, then you revert to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, and so the cost for a 2.2-litre engine would be €951.

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Hi Ray,

Generally speaking, if you re-tax a commercial vehicle as a passenger car, you revert to the old by-engine-capacity tax, which, with a 2.0-litre engine, would cost you €710 per year. If that X-Trail is a converted passenger car, you could of course return it to full passenger car status, which would cost you the same in tax per year, as it’s a pre-2008 car. 

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Hi Roisin,

Unfortunately, we can’t tell you the precise amount of VRT payable on a Tesla Model 3 as Tesla doesn’t provide us with a wholesale price, net of VRT and VAT. However, it’s not going to be much, if anything at all, thanks to the €5,000 VRT rebate available on electric cars.

As for the vast difference between the price of a Model 3 in the US, most of that is down to tax — don’t forget that the American price Tesla quotes does not include local sales taxes, whereas the Irish price is inclusive of VAT (which is, at a rough guess, the guts of €5,000 to €8,000 depending on the model).

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Hi Orlagh,

Insurance has for eons been the bugbear of the Irish motorist and, sadly, it’s not getting any easier. Aside from the usual ‘ring-around’ advice, I think your best bet is to find a good local broker — they can often unlock deals not available to mere mortals. 

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Hi Declan,

Yes, you will have to pay VAT or import duty when the car is brought here, I’m afraid. VAT will be payable at the standard rate based on the OMSP (Open Market Selling Price) of the car, as defined by Revenue. 

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Hi Bartosz,

Easily done, normally, but perhaps a little less so at the moment. It will depend on the precise model you have whether or not it’s App-Connect compatible, but a trip to your local Volkswagen dealer, once they’re open again, will sort you out.

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Hi Patrick,

Sadly, with a big engine like that, it’ll be €1,080 a year. 

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Hi Lynn,

There are actually a huge number of tax breaks for disabled drivers in Ireland, including exemption from paying Vehicle Registration Tax and VAT on new cars or imports, plus a repayment of any VAT spent on converting or adapting a vehicle to your needs. You’ll need to be able to provide a Primary Medical Certificate, which you may need to wait until you’ve moved here to get, as it’ll have to come from your local Health Service Executive (HSE) office - although it’s possible that a UK cert would also be acceptable.

You can claim back the VRT and VAT on a new vehicle of up to 6,000cc engine capacity, and there’s also a fuel grant of 60c per litre for petrol, and 49c per litre for diesel, which can be reclaimed at the end of each year (up to a maximum of 2,370 litres). You’ll also be exempt from annual road tax, and you can find out more on all of this by getting in touch with your local Motor Tax office.