We're all painfully aware of Ireland's high vehicle registration tax (VRT). According to the motor manufacturers' European representative organisation, ACEA, only three EU countries - the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece - apply higher VRT to the net price of a new car, with the Danes enduring the heaviest burden.
Danish motorists pay more than two-thirds of the price of a new car in tax. As with the Irish system, Denmark's registration fee is calculated after VAT has been added - and its VAT on cars is the EU's highest at 25 per cent.
As a result, of the €67,152 price for an average new car in Denmark, €40,066 is tax. Once bought, they then face one of the EU's highest annual road tax bill. They also pay the sixth highest rate of fuel excise duty.
Closer to home, the British government makes up for its lack of VRT through high fuel excise and road tax. Meanwhile in Germany, Europe's biggest car market and car maker, doesn't charge VRT and VAT is one of the EU's lowest.
Europe's tax tourists take advantage of the differing regimes. French motorists flock to Germany to buy six-month-old cars to avoid paying VAT in their own country. A similar situation applies here, with Northern motorists coming south to take advantage of lower fuel prices.
The 15 different motor tax regimes, which between them bring in €340 billion a year, are a major headache for EU officials and they want action. The British system is the one favoured by Brussels.
"Member states should raise revenue from car owners by switching over to increased annual road taxes, and to some extent to fuel taxes," says Taxation Commissioner Frits Bolkestein.
Jonathan Todd from the Internal Market Taxation Office explains: "The EU has asked all member states which apply a vehicle registration tax to work towards a gradual reduction and eventual phasing out of VRT within five to 10 years."
Yet the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, is not listening. "The Minister for Finance is opposed to the abolition of, or any reduction in, VRT," explains a department official.
"In Ireland, VRT generates over €800 million per year. To replace this would require, for example, an increase of 2 per cent in the standard rate of income tax."
Last year, Finland cut VRT by some 6 per cent. In a show of good faith, vehicle importers also reduced their list prices by around the same margin. New car prices fell by up to 10 per cent and, as a result, 26 per cent more new cars were sold.
Cyril McHugh, chief executive of SIMI, says that Finland's experience supports its message that a reduction in VRT would stimulate sales and, ironically, increase Government revenue - this happened when VRT was reduced here in 1994. While SIMI supports the EU request to member states to phase out VRT, he does not expect this to happen.
"Motorists should put pressure on the government to phase out the tax," says McHugh. "They are more likely to listen to Irish voters on this issue than the EU, despite all the platitudes expressed during Ireland's EU Presidency."
Outside the EU the motorist's lot is significantly better. In Australia, only a 10 per cent Goods and Service Tax - less than half of Ireland's equivalent VAT rate - is applied, although Australians must also pay a registration stamp duty. Depending othe car's value, this ranges from $5 to $10 per $200. So, for a $50,000 car, just $7,500 in total is tax.
Despite this, Australian motorists still complain of over-taxation: "We constantly get complaints that the 'huge' tax payable on new cars is a disincentive to people wishing to buy a car," says Anna French from Australia's Auto magazine.
However, David Alexander, of Australia's Treasury Department, says otherwise. Last year, he says, Australians bought a record 909,811 vehicles, reflecting the impact of lower taxes. Recent tax cuts have reduced car prices by up to 8 per cent in 2003 and by 14 per cent, when indexed linked, since 1996.
This year's new car sales are also expected to break records, says Alexander. This will bring more than just increased revenue benefits. "New models have considerably better safety features than earlier cars, while their better fuel efficiency and emissions standards will deliver better environmental outcomes."
The Japanese car lobby uses the environmental argument. "Tax incentives should be used to encourage consumers to buy environmentally friendly vehicles," argues the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). At present, JAMA claims, the Japanese government simply sees the motorist as a cash cow.
Japan's equivalent of VRT, known as an acquisition tax, which is similar to the tax applied by many US states, is 5 per cent. Even with the addition of a sales tax, Japanese motorists still pay just 10 per cent in tax for a new car. However, they do lose on the road where annual road taxes can add $1,000 a year to the cost of owning a car and 50 per cent of their fuel costs go in tax.
In 1993, a "fuel duty escalator" was introduced in Britain, whereby fuel prices increased annually by 3 per cent above inflation. This eventually rose to 6 per cent above inflation before the scheme was abandoned after serious public unrest.
Britain has Europe's highest fuel excise rates, and cross-border here trade is now estimated to cost the British government some £380 million in lost revenue.
Irish fuel prices are, however, expected to increase with the introduction of a carbon tax in the next budget.
As for phasing out VRT, replacement taxes can also be gradually introduced says the EU. But according to Fine Gael deputy leader and finance spokesperson Richard Bruton, before phasing VRT out and any further tax increases are considered, areas such as tax relief in the racehorse industry should be addressed by the present government.
However, motorists should not assume Bruton is looking to lighten their tax load or indeed that if Fine Gael gets into power, it will tackle VRT with any haste.
Abolishing VRT, said Bruton, is far from the top of the party's financial strategy, although it's an option it would consider in the long term. As he said, finding replacement revenue would be a dilemma for any Minister of Finance and "if people are paying it, why not let sleeping dogs lie?"