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Hi Simon,

It depends on the engine, as to tax a Sprinter as a private vehicle, you’d have to go back on to the old engine capacity taxation system. So for a Sprinter with the 2.1-litre diesel, you’d have to pay €906 per year, and for one with the 3.0-litre V6 engine, you’d be looking at €1,494 per year.

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Hi Clare,

A Hilux has a 2.4-litre engine (well, the current one does, but remember that older versions had 3.0-litre units) so if you want to tax it as a private vehicle that’s going to be €1,034 per year for motor tax. I’m pretty sure you can’t register and tax a horse lorry for private use as it’s over the 3,500kg limit for private cars. The tax therefore would be the commercial rate of €333 per year. As for insurance, that’s probably more down to you and your own driving record than it is to the vehicle, but the good news is that there are specialist horse lorry insurers, such as Wexford Insurance, who would probably be able to give you a good quote. 

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Hi Tracy,

Do you mean VRT? VAT, Value Added Tax, is only charged on a new vehicle, or on an import that’s younger than six months old, or has less than 6,000km on the clock. At the current 23 per cent VAT rate, you’d pay around €6,000 on a brand new Nissan X-Trail in VAT.

If you do mean VRT, or Vehicle Registration Tax, then for a 2018-registered X-Trail with the 1.6 dCi diesel engine, you’re looking at around €5,000 for VRT. If you’re importing after January 1st, then there’ll be the extra NOx levy to pay, which, with the basic X-Trail’s 40mg/km NOx rating, means an extra €200 on top of the VRT.

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Hi Kieran,

Because you go back to the old engine capacity tax system when you tax a commercial vehicle as a private car (no, we don’t know why either) it’s going to be €413 a year to tax a Courier with a 1.5-litre engine.

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Hi Gerry,

Yes, you can absolutely insure it as a private car, especially when you have taxed it as such. Just ring up your insurer and let them know of the change. There shouldn’t be any increase in cost, or at least only a small one.

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Hi Tristan,

If you’re taxing a van or commercial vehicle as a private car, you go back to the old by-engine-capacity system, and for a 1.6-litre engine that’s €514 per year.

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Hi Alan,

Yes, you can. Just contact your local motor tax office and inform them of the change. They’ll then switch you to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, and you’ll pay €358 per annum.

Yes, you can. Just contact your local motor tax office and inform them of the change. They’ll then switch you to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, and you’ll pay €358 per annum.

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Hi Carole,

Assuming it has the 1.6 TDI diesel engine, then it’s going to cost €514 a year to tax it as a private car — that’s because when you tax a van as a car, you revert to the old by-engine-capacity taxation system. No, we don’t know why either.

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Hi Frank,

The bad news here is that a 1966 Mustang probably has CO₂ emissions similar to that of a medium-sized coal-fired power station. The good news, though, is that for any car that’s more than 30 years old, you pay a flat-fee VRT charge of just €200. Big sigh of relief all round, I expect. There are some other charges that you’ll have to pay, though, as the car is coming in from outside the EU. You’ll have to pay VAT and customs duty, but thankfully these are calculated on the actual price paid for the car, not the Revenue-calculated OMSP price, which makes things much more straightforward. Customs duty works out at ten per cent of the purchase price, and then VAT will be 23 per cent of the purchase price plus the shipping cost. 

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Hi Colin,

When you tax a commercial vehicle as a private car you revert to the old engine capacity tax system, so with a 1.6-litre engine that’ll be €514 per year.