Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said in the initial reply, the new scheme that has been produced by the UK Government is very recent. It only came in on 1 May. The Revenue Commissioners are currently examining the second-hand motor vehicle payment scheme. They are considering the impact and they will publish updated guidance shortly. I am not currently considering any particular change to the application of VRT but in light of the introduction of the new scheme in the UK, I will discuss the matter with Revenue to see what we might need to consider here in Ireland.

We are all monitoring the situation but, as I said, there has been a significant increase. The car we could have purchased a number of years ago at €32,000 is now €43,400 just because of taxes. Car prices have also increased because of the pandemic and the shortage of supply.

There are other issues that I will take the opportunity to raise. There is increased frustration among many dealers in respect of the requirements they have to fulfil with Revenue in terms of showing a car was imported from the UK or that it was in the North for a number of years. All of these rules are changing and it is causing serious problems. The Minister talked earlier about businesses needing certainty and I agree entirely. We need more clearly understood guidance for importers of cars from Britain or the North. They are importing cars and thinking they are paying zero rates only to find they have to pay 10%. That means their margin is gone and they have lost out. There are no profits and those dealers have made a loss on the car. We need a better system.

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