BUYING A USED CAR? BE WARNED
SO what does the Budget mean for you and your car? Since midnight on Tuesday, you are paying 1.7c more per litre of petrol and 2c for diesel, thanks to the increase in carbon tax from €20 to €26 per tonne, and with that tax set to rise to €80 per tonne over the course of ten years, the graph is going only in one direction.
The biggest change, though, will come when you buy a car, whether new or imported. As things stand, motor tax for cars purchased after July 1, 2008 is calculated on carbon dioxide emissions, on a scale ranging €120 a year for emissions of 0-1g/ km (in essence, fully electric cars) up to €2,350 for emissions over 226g/km.
That will not change as a result of the Budget, but there’s a new levy when you buy a car, new or second-hand. As I have written here many times before, carbon dioxide affects the atmosphere; as a greenhouse gas, it has been a major contributor to climate change. Nitrogen oxide, though, is more injurious to human health, especially in urban areas, where it contributes to respiratory ailments.
The new NOx tax replaces a 1% on the purchase price of diesel cars, new or used, and especially in the firing line are older dirty diesels imported from the UK.
The NOx tax will be charged at €5 per gram per kilometre up to emissions of 60g, so if your car emits that number, you would pay €300 extra when buying. After that, everything get eyewateringly high. From 61-80mg, the tax is €15 per gram, and anything over 81g will cost €25 per gram.
What does that mean? Well, if you import, say, a second-hand 1.6-litre diesel Citroën Grand Picasso, it emits 144g of NOx, so you have 60g x €5, 18g x €15, and 63g x €25, for a total tax of €1,575, on top of the vehicle registration tax already due.
So if you’re buying a used car, be warned!