THE REVENUE Commissioners has said it does not intend to adjust the way it calculates Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) on second-hand cars that Irish residents import into the Republic, until the motor industry here advises it to do so.
Revenue calculates the amount of VRT payable on foreign-registered cars that are being imported, based on the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) of a similar vehicle in the Republic.
If a person wants to import a vehicle, they approach the Revenue and obtain an OMSP here and pay a percentage of that price as VRT. But despite car prices in the Republic have fallen in recent times - due largely to the massive stock levels on forecourts - the OMSP employed by the Revenue has not reflected this fall.
The result is that the Revenue's website is giving significantly inflated valuations for used cars, which is deterring buyers from importing cars from Northern Ireland or abroad.
In the case of a Saab 9-3 Aero 2.8 litre imported from England recently, the importer complained that the Revenue valued his Saab at €46,500 and he accordingly paid more than €15,000 extra as VRT. However, he discovered the market price of his car was closer to €33,000.
A recent examination of used car websites Carzone.ie and Autotrader.ie shows a significant disparity between the Revenue's OMSP and market price.
A 2004 Audi A4 Avant with a Northern Ireland registration for sale for €10,600 is valued at €17,891 by the Revenue calculator, which takes into account fuel type, engine size, etc. It would therefore incur VRT at €3,578 - 20 per cent of the total figure. However, 20 percent of the market cost of the car is just €2,120.
Other examples checked by The Irish Times found similar discrepancies. A 2006 VW Passat was available for €19,995 based on the market price of the car and applicable VRT rate, but the Revenue calculation put the price of the car, based on a higher OMSP, at €22,897.
A Revenue spokesman said OMSPs were advised by the motor industry in the South, and they would not be changed until such advice had been received. However, the situation is causing much anger among importers.
One business in the midlands that imports from the UK said there was a conflict of interest with the industry here setting the price for imported cars.
