Time to kill the VRT

Morpheus

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THIS POST, I KNOW ITS LONG, I GOT IT ON THE IRISH TIMES WEBSITE, I KNOW ITS INDESCRIMINATE PALGURISM, BUT PEOPLE NEED TO FIGHT THE VRT.....

ASK YOUR LOCAL GOBSHI... SORRY POLITICIAN WHAT THEIR PARTY WILL DO TO REDUCE VRT.... EXAMPLE IN IRELAND A FIAT PUNTO (EX WORKS) IS €12100 IN ENGLAND THE SAME CAR WILL BE €4,320 CHEAPER, BECAUSE THEY DONT PAY VRT!!! YES FOUR THOUSAND EUROS, ITS NOT A TYPO.....

BUT WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?????? WE HAVE SAT IN OUR CRAP OVER PRICED UNDER SPEC'D CARS FOR TOO LONG, ITS TIME TO REV UP AND BE COUNTED!!!



(From the IrishTimes Website 14th March 2002)

VRT and the motorist's burden



Despite the promises, when it comes to cars there's no such thing as a single EU market. Andrew Hamilton examines the reasons why we pay so much for our cars

Vehicle Registration Tax! Please try to remember those three not-so-little words if you are an Irish motorist and aggrieved by the tax burden on your car. VRT has been in place now for the best part of 10 years, replacing import duties which were abolished when Ireland entered what is so erroneously called "the single market". Of course, there's no single market if you are an Irish motorist and you want to shop around for your new car, in Britain or Belgium or wherever. The iniquitous VRT sees to that because it replaces almost exactly the old import duty tax.

But back to our core point. The politicians and their canvassing troops will soon came knocking, looking for your vote. That's when mention of VRT, followed by anger and indignation, are necessary. VRT means simply that we have the highest new car prices in the Euro zone.

Within the EU, Denmark is the most expensive but at least the Danes have a splendid transport infrastructure, a model of Scandinavian efficiency. They pay more and get a lot more. We pay more and get a lot less.

In case you, the motorist, have been out of touch, let's reiterate the nasty state-of-play when it comes to Euro car pricing for the unfortunate Irish customer. Take a 1.8 litre family car of the Mondeo, Vectra or Primera breed. With a list ex-works price of €24,700, you will be paying €9,390 to the Irish Exchequer through not just VRT but VAT as well.

That tax element represents around 38 per cent of the total price. In Britain, the tax take is 17.5 per cent, while in Germany is 16 per cent, France 19.6 per cent and Italy 19.9 per cent. For the Danes by the way, it's almost 180 per cent.

For a smaller car such as a 1.2 litre Fiat Punto, the tax man is only a little more lenient, taking 36 per cent or €4,350 in a car that's priced at €12,100 ex-works :eek: Predictably, bigger and more luxurious cars attract higher taxation. Buyers of the entry-level S Class Mercedes-Benz at €87,500 give 42 per cent to the tax man. VRT becomes more punitive once the 2.0 litre threshold is crossed, another unfair anomaly because highly fuel efficient diesel cars with engines of 2.2 litre capacity are not rewarded for their frugality.

The real rub is that none of us can do anything about these prices, ironic really when the EU is making moves to harmonise the whole car pricing scenario. Pre-tax prices vary widely across the EU: Ireland is in a half way position in this league. Britain is one of the highest pre-tax countries and there was actually a consumer outcry there which did have the effect of getting reductions. :rolleyes:

Why not a consumer outcry here about our after-tax situation? In the first heady days of January, when the euro was a novelty, tables were printed in the media showing that we paid more for most shopping basket items, compared with our euro neighbours. Potatoes were a prime example.

The Minister for Consumer Affairs, Mr Kitt, promised an investigation to find out the culprits.

When it comes to new cars, the culprit is easily identifiable; it's government, taking about €750 million last year in VRT which we simply should not be paying. Sadly, Irish motorists have been notoriously lethargic when it comes to protesting about car taxation.:mad:

The euro has certainly given us a greater awareness that our lot is not a happy one. VRT, then, as an election issue is what we need. The new managing director of Fiat Auto Ireland, Michael Howe, is pushing that case strongly. He wants VRT totally abolished. Not all his colleagues in the Irish motor industry favour abolition, merely a reduction to stimulate sales.

VRT, by the way, was looked at by the politicians of Leinster House, those who comprise the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Secondary Legislation: it sees how we blend in with the diktats that emanate from Brussels.

Their judgement was that it didn't fit into the European free trade scheme of things, and that it should be progressively reduced. At the time VRT was taking over from import duty, the Minister for Finance of the day justified the replacement taxation simply by saying we couldn't afford the loss of revenue. :eek:

On the European ideal of free trade, we - or the Government - are a bit à la carte, picking and choosing what we like and don't like. Irish motorists, faced with a shambolic infrastructure that looks like getting worse before it gets better, should say forcefully that they don't like VRT and that it's against the spirit of European free trade.

Please ask the politicians and their canvassers in the forthcoming election, what they are going to do about it.
sorry its so long!! :rolleyes:



WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS, and what can we do?
make sure you tell EVERYONE and post this on any other motoring boards you can. and confront the politicians when they ask for YOUR vote.

Ive emailed 3 politicians and received NO replies!!! seriously, not one reply about VRT. I bet if i asked them who they thought i should vote for, id get a personal call...

mike65

I agree entierly in fact I started a thread on the politics board
about this linking it with the second Nice referendum. i.e. no yes unless no VRT!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42870

Mike.

Odian

The Goverment aint gonna just say
"hey,sorry bout the VRT our mistake,we dont mind been shortchanged by €750 million in the next budget,so we'll take it away as of today"

O.K lets say the Goverment did in fact take VRT away,

taking €750million out of the coffers = loss/defict of €750 million

So instead they just bump up another tax,maybe even road tax,their still goin to get the money someway or another.

Sorry but that the reality of it

NeRb666

Yep, Odian is (unfortunately) correct. The best we can realistically hope for is a reduction, and even then they'll probably stick a hefty increase on petrol.

Morpheus

HERES ONE FOR YOU,

IVE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON VRT.

FIRSTLY LETS CLEAR SOMETHING UP... WE PAY THE LOWEST PRETAX PRICE ON NEW CARS BECAUSE OUR GOVERNMENT CHARGE THE HIGHEST TAXES ON NEW CARS IN EUROPE, EXCEPT OF COURSE FOR DENMARK, AND OUR GOVT CHARGES NOT ONE TAX, OH NO, BUT 3, VAT, VRT AND ROAD TAX. VAT AND ROADTAX ARE STANDARD AND ACCEPTABLE, BUT VRT IS CRIMINAL!

WHY???

VRT IS NOT USED TO BENEFIT THE IRISH MOTORIST IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER!!! THIS IS TRUE, THE MONEY TAKEN FROM VRT SIMPLY GOES INTO A GOVT ACCOUNT. THE MONEY IS NOT USED FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT, TRAFFIC CALMING OR INDEED ANY ROAD / MOTORING RELATED SCHEMES. THE MONEY IS SIMPLYT PUT AWAY BY THE GOVT FOR USE ELSEWHERE. WE PAY ROAD TAX FOR ALL THE OTHER STUFF, AND EVEN THEN SOME OF THIS IS SYPHONED OFF INTO OTHER DEPARTMENTS!!!
:rolleyes:

THATS WHY SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT IT, AT LEAST IF IT WAS BEING USED FOR OUR (THE MOTORISTS) BENEFIT, THEY COULD IN SOME WAY JUSTIFY IT, BUT TO SIMPLY TAKE NOT ONLY THE VAT (WHICH INCREASED BY 1 PERCENT LAST WEEK, DID U KNOW THAT?) BUT ALSO A "NOTHING" TAX IN THE FORM OF VRT, ON TOP OF THE VAT, IS SHEER CRIMINAL ROBBERY. WHERE IS THIS VRT MONEY GOING? THATS WHAT ID LIKE TO KNOW? BEING SPENT ON TRIBUNALS AND JUNKETS AND THE LIKE NO DOUBT.

SO STICK THAT IN YOUR RIZZLA AND SMOKE IT!:eek:

Stephen

I LIEK TEH CAPS LOKC!!11!