Irish VRT.ie

In order to allow fair trade and competition, recent EU legislation has prohibited what is known as Block Exemption. This was an unwritten rule, set by car manufacturers, which prevented dealers from selling outside certain zones. Now that this has been banned in the European Union, Irish car dealerships can sell cars to exporters, as long as the cars are fitted with temporary ZZ plates. These foreign buyers can drive the car off the lot and register it once they arrive in their own country.

Along with the prohibition of Block Exemption, EU law now stipulates that every dealership in member states is bound to honour service, repair and warranty claims of their brand of car, regardless of where the vehicle was bought. This makes the import/export business a lot safer for the consumer.

This block exemption removal has made exporting a car from Ireland much easier and financially rewarding. An Irish consumer would have to pay VAT and VRT before driving the car off the lot, but for a foreign EU buyer they drive away with the base price.

With the removal of this block, the EU acknowledges that car manufacturers must adapt to operate in an open market, where identical cars can be bought at lower prices across nations. This will force manufacturers to make their prices uniform across Europe, which will highlight even further the high rate of tax on Irish motor consumers.

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