Potential owners of imported used cars from the UK are facing increased delays in having their cars registered as they face increased Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) bills for factory fitted optional extras.
VRT officials are using manufacturers' databases to check the extras of high specification brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
These delays, which can be up to two weeks long, occur because of the high volume of enquiries currently being processed by Revenue's Central Vehicle Office in Rosslare Harbour.
One owner told The Irish Times that on presenting his Mercedes-Benz to the Vehicle Registration Office in Dundalk, he was informed that his car and cars like it would automatically have their details sent to Rosslare.
Such cars would have their chassis numbers checked against a database in order to check for optional extras which are taxable under the current VRT policy.
Despite getting a price for the car from the Revenue's online VRT service, the owner was informed that the car would not be inspected at the VRT office and that the details would be sent to Rosslare where the list of options fitted to the car would be analysed.
Only once a VRT figure was reached and paid could an appeal be lodged, he was told.
Vehicle manufacturers such as BMW have given the Revenue access to their systems in order to verify the factory fitted options on individual cars.
A Revenue official denied that there was a deliberate policy to pinpoint particular brands, but confirmed that high specification models with many optional extras may be checked against a database to confirm the options fitted to the car.
Earlier this week a caller to Today FM's Ray D'Arcy Show remarked that he had successfully appealed a VRT decision on a car over the phone.
He was originally given a price of €14,069 VRT but this was quickly reduced by €731 to €13,338.
VRT is calculated as a percentage of the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP), which is the expected retail price of the car including all taxes in the State.
Vehicle Registration Offices have always operated a policy of inspecting cars for optional extras, but this was not always enforced.
By checking imported vehicles' chassis numbers against a database, Revenue officials will easily ascertain the items which were not standard on a car and will be able to tax them accordingly.
Currently online estimates of VRT do not include provision for optional extras fitted to models, so in many cases would-be owners can be faced with bills that exceed that quoted online.