Successive governments have been taxing motorists far too heavily. We've been charged crazy levels of Vehicle Registration Tax on all new and imported used cars. VRT is applied as a high percentage of the vehicle's cost price with blatant double taxation then applied by adding Value Added Tax on top of the VRT. That's right - our government in its haste to plunder motorists further, actually taxes its own tax. Half of the price you pay for a new car in Ireland is tax.
Throw in the annual road tax applied to all motorists and a string of indirect taxation, most prevalent in penal levels of fuel duty, but also in car parts, service costs, etc.
Even though the Environmental Protection Authority has stated that the transport sector trails well behind agriculture and energy sectors, motorists pay vastly more tax than others in this disproportionate tax system.
