VRT Bands & Rate Tables

Current VRT Rates 2026

Private Cars - CO₂ Based VRT Rates

Commercial Vehicle Rates

VRT Rate Comparison by Vehicle Value

This table shows VRT amounts for different vehicle values across emission bands:

Age Reduction Factors

VRT is reduced based on vehicle age to account for depreciation:

Electric Vehicle Relief

Additional reliefs available for electric and hybrid vehicles:

Future Projections for VRT Bands

The trajectory of Irish VRT bands is clear: rates are trending upward for higher-emission vehicles and downward for zero-emission vehicles. The Government's Climate Action Plan sets ambitious targets for reducing transport emissions, and VRT is one of the primary policy tools being used to achieve these targets. Based on the pattern of recent budgets, we can expect the bands to continue tightening over the next several years.

The most likely changes in future budgets include further narrowing of the gap between band thresholds, which would push more vehicles into higher-rate categories. For example, the current 121-130 g/km band at 20.2% could be split into narrower sub-bands, or the upper threshold could be lowered. The top rate of 41% for vehicles over 190 g/km could also increase, as the Government has indicated it wants the highest-emitting vehicles to pay more. Electric vehicle relief, currently at €5,000, has been signalled for potential reduction as EV adoption becomes more widespread.

For anyone planning to import a vehicle in the next year or two, the practical advice is to lean toward lower-emission models. A car that is on the borderline of a band threshold today could easily be in a higher band after the next budget. If you are considering a diesel SUV or a high-performance petrol car, factor in the likelihood that VRT rates for these categories will increase. The best way to future-proof your purchase is to choose a vehicle with CO2 emissions well within its current band rather than one that is close to the upper threshold.

How VRT Bands Work in Ireland

Vehicle Registration Tax is calculated as a percentage of the Open Market Selling Price of the car, which is the price a dealer would sell it for in Ireland if it were already registered here. The Revenue Commissioners set the exact percentage based on how much CO2 the car emits per kilometre. The cleaner the car, the less you pay. That is the basic idea behind the whole system.

Every car imported into Ireland gets assessed against a CO2 figure that comes from the WLTP test cycle. The old NEDC figures stopped being used for new type approvals back in 2020, though you will still see them on some older used imports. The CO2 number in grams per kilometre tells Revenue which band your car falls into, and that band determines your tax rate.

There are 20 WLTP bands for private cars (Category A), running from 7% for the cleanest vehicles up to 41% for the highest emitters. Battery electric vehicles at 0 g/km fall in the 7% band and then receive up to €5,000 relief. Each band is broken into sub-ranges so the rates climb gradually as emissions increase. A car doing 75 grams per kilometre is charged at 9 percent, while one doing 135 grams per kilometre lands at 19.25 percent. The difference between those two rates can easily be two or three thousand euros depending on the vehicle value.

For commercial vehicles and over 3.5 tonne trucks, the system is different. They pay a flat 13.3 percent regardless of emissions. Motorcycles are taxed on engine capacity in cubic centimetres, not CO2 at all. So if you are buying a van, the band system does not really apply to you in the same way.

The OMSP is usually the gross retail price including VAT but excluding VRT itself. Revenue publishes guidance on how they determine this figure, and they can adjust it if they think a vehicle has been undervalued. It is worth knowing that the OMSP is not necessarily the same as what you actually pay for the car, especially if you get a deal or import a used vehicle cheaply.

Complete WLTP VRT Band Table

The WLTP cycle replaced NEDC as the standard emissions test across the EU in September 2018, and Ireland adopted it for VRT banding purposes on 1 January 2020. The test conditions are more realistic than the old cycle, so WLTP figures tend to be higher than the NEDC numbers for the same car. This means that if you are looking at an older import with an NEDC figure, you cannot directly compare it to a newer WLTP-rated vehicle.

Here is the full 20-band structure as it stands for 2026. The rate runs from 7% for 0–50 g/km up to 41% for 191 g/km and above. In detail: 0–50 g/km = 7%, 51–80 = 9%, 81–85 = 9.75%, 86–90 = 10.5%, 91–95 = 11.25%, 96–100 = 12%, 101–105 = 12.75%, 106–110 = 13.5%, 111–115 = 15.25%, 116–120 = 16%, 121–125 = 16.75%, 126–130 = 17.5%, 131–135 = 19.25%, 136–140 = 20%, 141–145 = 21.5%, 146–150 = 25%, 151–155 = 27.5%, 156–170 = 30%, 171–190 = 35%, and 191 g/km+ = 41%. Each band also carries a minimum VRT amount (for example, the lowest band has a €140 minimum and the top band a €820 minimum). Battery electric vehicles receive up to €5,000 relief, tapering to zero at €50,000 OMSP.

The jump from 0 to 7 percent between pure electric and plug-in hybrid is quite notable, but there is a strong incentive to go fully electric if your budget allows it. A pure electric car with an OMSP of 40,000 euros pays zero VRT. A plug-in hybrid at the same price pays 2,800 euros. That is a meaningful saving when you add it to the motor tax and other benefits of going electric.

NEDC vs WLTP Band Differences

If you are importing a used car from the UK or Europe, the difference between NEDC and WLTP emissions ratings is something you need to understand. The NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) was the older test standard that was used until 2017 for new type approvals and until 2019 for all registrations. It was widely criticised for being unrealistic, with laboratory conditions that bore little resemblance to actual driving.

WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) was designed to fix those problems. It uses a longer test cycle, higher average speeds, more dynamic driving patterns, and a wider range of conditions. The result is that WLTP figures are typically 20 to 40 percent higher than the NEDC rating for the same vehicle. A car that was rated at 95 grams per kilometre under NEDC might come in at 125 grams per kilometre under WLTP.

For VRT purposes, this matters a lot. That same car at 95 under NEDC would have fallen into Band B at 13.3 percent. Under WLTP at 125, it jumps to Band D at 20.2 percent. On a car worth 25,000 euros, that difference is roughly 1,675 euros more in VRT. It is one of the reasons why importing pre-2020 used cars from the UK can sometimes work out more expensive than people expect once the newer test cycle numbers are applied.

Revenue applies the WLTP figure if one is available. If only an NEDC number exists for the vehicle, they use that, but they may convert it using a published conversion table. The practical advice is simple: always check the WLTP CO2 figure before you commit to buying a car for import. The headline NEDC number on an advert can be seriously misleading.

How to Use the Band Table to Estimate Your VRT

Working out a rough VRT estimate is straightforward once you have two numbers: the Open Market Selling Price and the WLTP CO2 figure. Take the OMSP and multiply it by the percentage rate for the band your car falls into. That gives you your basic VRT liability before any age reduction is applied.

Let us say you are importing a 2021 Volkswagen Golf 1.5 TSI with 128 grams per kilometre WLTP CO2 and an OMSP of 28,000 euros. At 128 grams per kilometre, you land in Band D at 20.2 percent. So 28,000 multiplied by 0.202 gives you 5,656 euros in VRT. Since the car is four to five years old, the age reduction is 40 percent, bringing your actual bill down to about 3,394 euros. Still not cheap, but considerably less than the full amount.

Compare that to the same car if it were rated at 135 grams per kilometre instead. That would push it into the 131 to 140 bracket at 22.5 percent. The VRT jumps to 6,300 euros before age reduction, and 3,780 euros after. A seven-gram difference in CO2 adds nearly 400 euros to your bill on a car of this value.

If you are buying a car that is already registered in Ireland, you do not pay VRT at all. The tax is specifically for first-time registration, which means imports, kit cars, and vehicles coming back on the road after a long period off it. So if you are buying from an Irish dealer and the car is already on Irish plates, you can skip all of this calculation entirely.

VRT Band Changes Over the Years

The VRT band system has been reshaped several times since it was first introduced. When CO2-based bands were originally brought in around 2008, the top rate was 30 percent and there were fewer bands overall. The government has been tightening the rates pretty much every year since, with the stated aim of pushing people toward lower-emission vehicles.

In Budget 2020, the 0 percent rate for pure electric vehicles was introduced, which was a big moment for the EV market in Ireland. Before that, even zero-emission cars paid 5 percent VRT. The removal of that charge, combined with the SEAI grant of up to 5,000 euros, made electric cars financially competitive for the first time for many buyers.

Budget 2023 saw the band structure get tighter again. Several sub-bands were narrowed, which effectively pushed cars that might have been on the borderline into higher-rate categories. The top rate crept up from 30 percent to the current 34 percent for anything over 226 grams per kilometre. There were also changes to how over 3.5 tonne vehicles were treated, with some larger SUVs now falling under the private car rules rather than the commercial rate.

The trend is clear and it is not going to reverse. Each autumn budget brings adjustments that make higher-emission cars more expensive to register. If you are planning to import a car in the next year or two, it is worth checking what the current rates are rather than relying on figures you read a few months ago. The Revenue website updates the band tables each January, and the changes usually take effect from 1 January for cars registered from that date onward.