Sir, - I read in your edition of January 16th that BMW has harmonised the prices of its range across the euro-zone. This move is the first where the stark rip-offs of Europe are clear for all to see. Ireland is, and has been, the most expensive place in Europe to buy a BMW, or any other car for that matter, due to Vehicle Registration Tax.
VRT is imposed by the Department of Finance and generates millions in extra taxes each year, on top of our high road tax, tolled roads, and exorbitant insurance premiums. This tax is completely anti-competitive, and flies in the face of the Maastricht Treaty's promise of open trade between EU member-states. What makes this matter more disgraceful is the fact that when VRT was created back in the 1990s, the purpose of this tax was to avoid giving consumers a fair, open market to choose from, and to boost government coffers.
VRT is a tax imposed on the price of a car to which VAT has already been applied (i.e. a tax on top of a tax). I am amazed that for a decade Irish consumers have been paying thousands more for their vehicles than their European counterparts. I wonder how our "Minister for Consumer Rights", Tom Kitt TD, can justify his own Government ensuring that every Irish motorist is ripped off and prevented from taking their business elsewhere in Europe. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN BALLANTINE, Ballinteer Crescent, Dublin 16.