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Hi Patrick,

Well, sadly, it’s just not that simple. The one per cent surcharge for Vehicle Registration Tax applies only to diesel-engined vehicles, and it’s not a flat-rate rise from ten per cent to 11 per cent, but a one per cent rise across all the VRT bands. VRT has always been something of an iniquitous tax. The thing is that, potentially, you’re right; a VRT increase could possibly dissuade buyers from shopping in the UK, and send them back to Irish forecourts, but only if it were applied to private imports, rather than new registrations through a dealer. That’s problematic too, though, as many dealers actually shop for second hand stock in the UK, given the tendency of Irish cars to be low in spec and small in number. Would such a new tax apply to those imports? Should it? If not, is that unfair to those private individuals who are merely ’shopping around’ for the best value? And given that, technically, every car brought into the state is an import, where does one draw the line when it comes to manufacturer imports versus private imports? VRT is many things, both right and wrong, but one thing it’s sure not is simple.

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Hi John,

It’s a bizarre situation, but when you tax a commercial vehicle as a private car, you revert to the old, pre-2008 by-engine-capacity taxation system. No-one can give us a good reason as to why this is, but it’s the system that’s in place. It’ll cost you €514 a year to tax a 1.6-litre engine. 

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Hi there,

This is possibly a bit above our pay grade as it all sounds a bit dodgy. Potentially, yes, you’re right that your wife is a separate legal entity and that they might well accept that, but it’s definitely going to raise some red flags, especially if you share a surname as well as a home address. I would take advice from a tax accountant, and possibly a solicitor, before trying this. 

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Hi Janie,

On the parking sensor issue, it just seems to be a bit of a quirk with the Audi Q7 that to get the front sensors on when moving forwards, you have to press the parking sensor switch, although they do, as you point out, come on automatically when you select reverse. We’re not sure why this is, but it might be worth a visit to your dealer to see if there’s some finicky bit of software code that can be re-set to activate them automatically at low speeds.

As for the stop-start system, if could be a few things. Obviously, there may be a fault, in which case get the car booked into your dealer for a check-up. Or it could be that you’re doing a lot of low-mileage, short runs, which aren’t allowing the engine and other systems to get fully up to temperature. Stop-start isn’t a simple on/off system — it’s controlled by the engine management and that won’t let stop-start activate if it thinks that the engine hasn’t warmed up enough (stopping and starting a cold engine can be damaging) or if it has detected that you have a lot of high-energy drain systems (air conditioning, demisters etc) running. Try and analyse your driving the next time you go out and see if any of this fits. If not, head for your dealer. 

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Hi Kevin,

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Hi Jimmy,

It’s an odd one — when you tax a commercial vehicle as a private car, it reverts from the CO₂-based tax system back to the old engine-capacity system, so it will depend on the engine that’s in the van. Just as a guide, 1.6 tax is €514 a year, 2.0-litre is €710 and 2.5-litre tax is €1,080.

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Hi Joe, 

Assuming you mean a crew cab design with the seats separate to the load bay, then yes that would be considered a commercial vehicle. Note, though, that a vehicle such as that, registered and taxed as a commercial vehicle, cannot be used for any private reasons whatsoever.

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Hi Pat,

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

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Hi Patricia,

A price of €6,000 for a 2010 Ceed from a private seller isn’t bad, but it’s worth pointing out that there are dealers offering similar models for similar money, so that’s worth bearing in mind. Ceeds are very reliable, and a 2012 car should, if it’s been serviced at a Kia dealer the entire time, still have two years of its original manufacturer's warranty to run. Keep an eye out for creaking and squeaking interior panels and issues with the stereo system, but other than that they’re pretty robust.

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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.