The VRT bullet has been bitten

I posted recently http://www.republicpr.ie/2009/08/24/revenue-increasing-vrt-on-the-sly/ about the Irish government’s tax scam, also known as VRT (Vehicle Registration Tax), and how despite the price of cars falling during the recession the government has increased what it determines as the ‘Open Market Selling Price’ of cars and thereby increased their tax take for VRT.

The illegality of VRT under the free trade laws of the EU are well documented so I don’t want to bang on about it again here as it will just make me angry, but the VRT post on my site has received more hits than any other post, so I thought it was only fair to outline to people that I have now bitten the VRT bullet on the ‘Republic ride’ and now have brand new WW country plates.

In the end I had to pay 12% more VRT than I would’ve paid when I originally got the motor. ‘Ha’ I here you laugh, but before you judge me consider that the tax on the UK reg was only €200 a year whereas it is now costing me €50 a month; the insurance is also way cheaper because of the huge competition in the market, so I have saved a lot and didn’t begrudge paying the VRT in the end. Well to say I didn’t begrudge paying it may be taking it a bit fair, but let’s just say when I considered the bigger picture I didn’t resent paying it as much.

The real light at the tunnel though is that there is a process to appeal the level of VRT I paid.  I was also told by the local Revenue Office that most appeals are successful. Now if I was being cynical I would view the Government’s approach to VRT as one of over charging residents with the knowledge that a large proportion won’t bother appealing. But, credit where credit is due to the government and the Revenue Commissioners, at least there is an appeals’ process.

In order to appeal you have to have paid the VRT first, so there is no getting around paying the extortionate amount. An appeal has to be made within two months of the date the car was registered in Ireland. In order to counter the Government’s open market selling price the appellant needs to include evidence contradicting their valuation, such as examples of similar cars for sale locally or on the internet, outlining what you believe you should have paid and what you feel you are owed. The appeal should be made to the office where you paid the VRT.

The appeals procedures can also be made against other aspects of VRT such as a refusal to grant exemption etc.

Here is a link to the Revenue’s website http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/leaflets/vrt6.html that outlines the appeals process from those nice people at the Revenue Commissioners. An aside I do find the tax gentleman and tax ladies of Ireland get a hard time that isn’t justified; I’ve always found them really very helpful and their advice invaluable (let’s just hope this post doesn’t jeopardise my appeal).

By far the hardest part of the whole process is actually getting your number plates to stick to car; they’ve fallen of countless times, a problem that has been exacerbated by the large number of potholes on my culchie roads.

Wish me luck. I will let you know how I get on.

Ends

2 Comments

• 

  By John, 26/01/2010 @ 3:26 pm

  I paid for the VRT last year on a car I had here for a while. Being Scottish I must say it went very much against the grain.

  I am now wishing I had just drove the car back to Scotland and sold it. I pay just over 1200 Euro for road tax compared to the tiny £200 in the UK. It is an old car and I only drive about 3000 miles per year – maybe I would be better off without a car at all and just hire for the weekends away.

• 

  By Simon, 26/01/2010 @ 6:40 pm

  John, That’s the problem when you don’t drive that much; it would be much more equitable to have a vehicle tax system based on the level of miles you travel. This is something the Tax Commission recommended to the Irish government last year when they suggested abolishing VRT and making up the shortfall with an additional levy on fuel, so that the tax you pay is dependent on the number of miles you drive. This makes so much sense to me, particularly as the receipts from VRT have been decimated by the collapse of car industry in Ireland. Of course in typical Finna Fail fashion the totally ignored it and thought they knew better.

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