Buyers of high-end cars are getting money back on their purchases by selling them into the UK market and getting Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) rebates from the Government when they do.
The VRT Export Repayment Scheme was introduced in 2013 and was intended to level the playing field for those who had paid the exorbitant tax when buying a new car in Ireland, but wanted to sell the vehicle overseas, where the extra cost of recouping the tax would have made the sale price uncompetitive.
According to cartell.ie, the car history checking service, 4,474 cars were exported out of the State in 2014, and of that number, 968 had VRT refunded to their previous owners.
Most significantly, a large proportion of those cars subject to VRT refunds were very high-end vehicles, so-called "supercars" from Ferrari, Bentley and Porsche.
13 Bentleys
Since 2013, 12 Ferraris, two Lamborghinis, 12 Aston Martins, 13 Bentleys and 32 Porsches have had their residual VRT refunded.
All of which sounds fair until you consider two things. One, because VRT works on a percentage of value basis, the amounts being refunded can be hugely significant. Secondly, many of the cars being exported can actually be sold for more than their original list price, especially when there is a waiting list for new models. In that sense, the Government’s refund scheme could actually be topping up the profits of supercar speculators.
Manufacturers
John Byrne, legal and PR manager of cartell.ie, told
The Irish Times
that “owners of vehicles from manufacturers like Ferrari and Aston Martin may see the VRT export repayment scheme as a win-win: they get a refund on residual VRT, which may be significant for a top-end car, and they also get to find a buyer for their vehicle in the larger UK market.
"As regards speculation, yes, it's an interesting area. My understanding is that even among supercars most of them devalue but some of them appreciate and speculation is possible."
Private imports of high-end supercars also appears to be a robust business. Even in 2011, in the depths of the recession-fuelled new car sales slump, about 50 top-end cars, mostly Porsches, were imported. So far this year, the figure stands at 32.
