Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Finance if a vehicle (details supplied) will be classified as a commercial vehicle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15894/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the following is the position in relation to the classification of the taxpayer's vehicle.

The purpose of VRT classification is to decide the applicable rate of VRT. Vehicles are therefore classified for VRT only in response to a declaration for registration or a declaration of conversion of a registered vehicle to a higher VRT category. The Revenue Commissioners, when registering the vehicle in 2009, classified it as VRT category A, the category which attracts the highest rate, and assigned it the body type "minibus" from a list provided by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Those decisions reflected the fact that the vehicle was a Volkswagen Transporter with seating for six, including the driver, and did not meet the requirements for classification as a VRT category B "crew cab". The decisions were upheld on appeal and accordingly the VRT classification will not be reduced.

The term "conversion" means the modification of a vehicle in such manner that it no longer retains all of the characteristics of the vehicle category under which it is certified for type-approval purposes.

The United Kingdom vehicle registration certificate, presented to the Revenue Commissioners in 2009 in support of the declaration for registration, indicates that the vehicle is certified as EU type-approval category M1 (designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat), with nine seats, including the driver's.

The Revenue Commissioners would be prepared to consider a declaration of conversion by the owner, supported by a declaration by a Suitably Qualified Individual, to the effect that the vehicle, with the reduced number of seats, now has the characteristics of a different EU vehicle category, e.g. EU type-approval category N1 (designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass not exceeding 3.5 tonnes). The relevant declaration form and template are available on the Revenue Commissioner's website www.revenue.ie.