Jannette

My husband and I are buying a house in Mayo.....contracts about to be exchanged! We are familiar with Mayo as my husband fishes the River Moy every year. Our new house has half a mile of the Moy in the grounds.

We have PPS numbers and our solicitor is handling most things. One thing I am not sure about is the road fund tax in Ireland. My husband plans on bringing his Land Rover Defender 90 and the road fund tax looks to be over €2000. Have I misunderstood? It seems a lot.

Also not sure about refuse collection? Is it done through private companies rather than the council?

I am grateful for any help / advice....it is a big step!

deadshoppingmalls

Welcome to Ireland!

Yes...that sounds about right. But what you're referring to is not road tax- it's VRT (vehicle registration tax) that is charged when you import a vehicle. With a guzzler like a land rover, it's going to be that high. This is basically the payment for the registration plate. You can estimate it using this site - https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrte...execution=e2s1

The other tax you'll need to pay is the road tax, which you have to pay annually at the road tax office.

While Ireland is a great place to live, there is pretty much a tax on breathing.

Jannette

Hmm. I just looked a the AA site and it says this

The first is a charge most imports will attract: Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT). VRT is not charged on a vehicle that you have used in another jurisdiction for more than 6 months, so if you have documentation to prove you were using this car abroad already, you won’t have to pay VRT. However you’ll still have to make an appointment for a VRT inspection.

So, as my husband has had his Land Rover for 4 years in the UK, I am hoping that means we do not have to pay this VRT.

Moses2013

Correct:-). You will have to go to local tax office and bring all your documents to prove you are exempt as you owned car already. I know some people with older land rovers who only pay vintage but in your case it goes by engine capacity or CO2 for motor tax:


https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/motortaxinfotype.do


Just checked online and a newer defender is €310 per year.
http://landrover.ie/defender-pricing




Sorry, regarding refuse it's usually private companies that are in the area.
They might be in your area:


http://bourkewaste.ie/where-we-collect/

Jannette

Thanks for the link. My husband's is 7 years old and if I enter the CO2 emissions in the calculator it comes up with over 1200 Euros. We have always wondered why you do not see many Land Rovers in Ireland - now we know!

Moses2013

Don't know about that. Lived in Germany and they love to tax, even church tax is taken from your salary each month and compared to UK the property tax is nothing here.


Even with higher VAT I do find that quality meat and veg is not more expensive and since Lidl and Aldi came prices have dropped. Just depends on your lifestyle really and as a non smoker I'm better off here, but obviously heavy smokers and drinkers are better off in other places. You can still take Irish Ferries and come back with a trailer full of wine if that's an issue. In Germany I paid 40% income tax and here it's 20% so it's all relative.




One thing to look out for is car insurance quotes as they do try to rip you off, but I also managed to keep that at the level I paid in UK. Cars are heavily taxed too, but again depends on the brand.

Moses2013

Yep and have friends who pay a fortune too, but then again I know a guy who's land rover is classed vintage so he only pays €56.


Luckily we have a newer car and pay €280 a year.

Jannette

Well, we will have to bite the bullet as we must have the Land Rover for fishing and shooting and the dog! I am going to buy myself a car when we get there - a secondhand Golf or similar. So hopefully my tax will not be so much.

I think that, as you say, somethings are better and some are not, We pay high council tax here - over £300 a month, plus high water rates. Plus, as we live near London, eating out is expensive as are drinks. I did not find drinks anymore expensive in Ireland than at home.

I assume I can get Pet insurance for my Bengal cats just as I do in the UK.

Moses2013

As long as you know what to expect and are realistic then you'll be fine. If people only move for the bigger house and want the exact same life they had before it usually doesn't work out.


People sometimes forget that Ireland is an island in the Atlantic with a population of around 6.4 million but we're the size of Belgium and the Netherlands together. Of course the local shop won't have the choice you'd find in densely populated parts of the UK and the pace is slower outside Dublin.




It still surprises me that so many people never used the space they have. However, it's slowly changing and more and more people are starting to grow their own fruit and veg. Pet insurance should not be an issue and there are several providers here.