EU moves clear the way for scrapping of VRT

Scruff

from Irish Independent:

TWO moves on car taxation were last night seen as hastening the end of our penal Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) system.

But motorists hoping for a quick cut in car prices were told not to hold their breath - it could take a long time to materialise.

In the European Court of Justice a Finnish consumer won his case against the Helsinki government over higher taxes being levied on imported second-hand cars than on used cars bought locally. The ruling strengthened demands to harmonise car tax across the EU.

A Commission spokesman welcomed the ruling and said it supported the recent EU executive proposal for cutting out car tax differentials across Europe.

"We think member states should get rid of car registration tax," he said.

The Commission last week bluntly warned our Government, among others, that it wants VRT replaced by emissions and usage taxes.

In another development, EU Commission pressure has forced Denmark to begin refunding VRT on used car exports. This is seen as a major breakthrough.

Society of Irish Motoring Industry chief executive Cyril McHugh said the Denmark decision was the first nail in the coffin of VRT.

And the AA's Conor Faughnan said there are now a significant number of straws in the wind to declare that VRT's days are numbered.

"VRT is a con trick," he said.

i think we all agree on the last line..
won't be here any time soon but a move in the right direction, though i'd say the government will fight any changes especially in the light of plummeting tax returns.

mike65

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=64549

Mike.

Mailman

I was looking for a specific car and had sourced and would have bought a car registered with delivery miles from the UK if the Irish taxman wasn't looking for massive amounts of VRT. There were plenty on dealers forecourts in the UK but none of this particular model in Ireland.
The car was out of production so couldn't be bought new in Ireland or the UK. The car was registered in the UK so it wasn't new. If it was new then UK taxes wouldn't have had to be paid and I could have bought it cheaper.
The VRT rules were screwing me badly and there was no way round then. The VRT office adopted a take it or leave it approach.
The Irish taxman didn't care that 17.5% VAT had already been paid on the car in the UK. He wanted 100% VRT(because it was less the 6 months old) as measured on the retail price of the car in Ireland and then 20% VAT on top of that.
This ruling is really good news for the motorist.

leeroybrown

Its great to see that there are finally some moves afoot to end this robbery by taxation.

The unfortunate flip side which all of us should realise having lived here for long enough (Hell we keep voting the stupid asshóles in ) is that when the Government can't get income from one source it just reaches in elsewhere and grabs it again.

Ultimately the money will have to come from somewhere and it will probably end up being taxation on the use of your car or something similar. And of course this money will go to finance other areas of the exchequer as usual.

But, hey, it's great news!