Taken from todays McWilliams article in the Sunday Business Post "Traipse over to Britain. You find your dream car for, let’s say, £18,000.You bring it back to Ireland. You are then confronted with the first tax - VRT. So already the state is bending the rules. Resigned, you are then prepared to pay the tax on the euro value of the sterling cost of the car. So the first rule of the Treaty of Rome is broken the minute you get off the boat at Dun Laoghaire, because any tax on any good at the point of entry contravenes the original Treaty of Rome. But worse is to come. The Revenue then judge that it’s not the cost of the car in Britain that counts for the tax, it is some Orwellian-sounding levy called the ‘‘open market selling price’’. The Revenue, in an approach which protects Irish car dealers, squeeze money out of the beleaguered Irish motorist with another, extra tax. They calculate the difference between what the car cost in the free, unfettered market of Britain and what it might cost here in the protected, sewn-up kleptocracy that is Ireland and then slap another totally unjustified tax on top of the original totally unjustified tax. If you want to see how this shameless infringement of EU law works, check out https://www.ros.ie/VRTEnquiryServlet/ showCarCalculator. Rather than enhance competition, our government smothers it. The motorist is being penalised twice to protect Irish car dealers who have being making a fortune in recent years by selling overpriced cars. The state, therefore, is not only breaking the rules of the EU but, more egregiously, is protecting an industry here which is actually doing nothing. Today we have the ludicrous spectacle of our government urging us to vote Yes to the Lisbon Treaty. I’m sure there are good enough reasons for this, but how can we trust the government on one European treaty if they are prepared to tear up their obligations on another? They want us to vote Yes to the Lisbon Treaty, even though they ignore the basic founding principles upon which the EU was constructed. Until the iniquitous VRT scam is scrapped, we should argue that, on the basis of being good Europeans, we can’t vote for the Lisbon Treaty because it is supported by a government that is not European enough."
good article. How far ago back was it do you think the governments decided to serve themselves rather than serve the people and them telling us what to do instead of doing what we tell them ? or was there ever such a thing?
VRT is one of my hobby horses its such an un just tax its crazy.As McWilliams said above its all or nothing you cant pick which bits of Europe you want to go along with.
Theres a famous saying - The people will get the government they deserve. If people continue to vote for the gobshites who are in power at the moment then we will always be ripped off with everything!. Its only the rich that matter in this country don't ya know.
Great article. Totally agree. Discussed this last November with a lawyer who worked as an adviser in Brussels. In 2002 the European Court of Justice ruled that the VRT law in Finland conflicts with the EU treaty, and is illegal. This came after a Finnish citizen took a case against his own government. He claimed that by levying vehicle registration tax on a second hand car he had imported, the govt was taxing the same product twice as the tax was had already been paid once in another EU country. After that the European commission stated that states were to ensure their taxation systems did not double tax citizens importing second hand vehicles!
thing is if enough people sign some sort of petition etc they'll have to take note , ie this new rules for provisional drivers comming in june , if all provisional drivers basically said f u to government and did nothing , what they gonna do ??? ok ban u from driving , what next ?? cant put everybody in jail , no space in prisons ? not that we'd do that point is , if enough people do something , they'd have to take note and maybe even try change this note : on the above comments , i bought my car which at bog standard is €27000 but from uk is £14,000 to my knowlege multiply it by 1.5 and its €21,000 so where the frck is €6000 going and on what ??/ berties brown evelope i bet , doesnt say alot when ur taoiseach ( highest member of government ) is so bent he cant lie straight in bed
personally i think if u wanna spend ur hard earned cash on something overseas u should be able to without extra costs , taxes got a leaflet in the post today says " would you join the army , serve your country in war " i laughed seriously , why the feck would i help this country and government when we all get raped on everything some cheek
They were advertising the new C Class Merc in the states last winter- available for 31,995 US Dollars- I took a look on Carzone and it was priced at 47000 I think- which at current interest exchange rates is about 65000 USD Dollars. Agree totally with the above comment about people getting the Government they deserve!! Also as long as people go out and try keep up with the Jones's we'll be left with this type of thing. If the majority of people said right I will not buy another car for all of 2008 as long as my own runs ok for the reason of VRT the car company's would be straight onto the Gov to change this law!!!. It's one of the reasons I admire the French- anything they don't like- Bam Strike on teh streets not working until they are listened to. But we just vote back in the status quo and put up with the sh*te they deal out to us.
That’s the best phrase I’ve heard in a very long time What’s worse is the vat on the likes of condom’s and other medical/ hygienic products .They spend crazy money on advertisements telling you not to spread and take care but do nothing to make it more affordable to the people who really need these things.
That article is a good read,a real eyeopener. Id say thats high on the Governments :shaft the public list: Blatant or what
The French have had the same right-wing government in place for the last 13 years. Sarkosy is a Chirac-clone, and it's only now the French are realising the mistake they made, when it's too late. Like here, they had their chance to give the opposition a go last Spring. Like here, they rejected it. So they get the government they deserve.
absolutely crazy, there are people out there who are so poor, they end up having an accident and getting worse off! if your an alcoholic, which looks more attractive, spend 4-5 quid on condoms or 4-5 on another pint? vat on sensible things and this double tax vrt drives me simple.