Vol. 575 No. 1
106 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the tax reliefs available for the purchase, adaptation and use of motor vehicles for persons with a disability; and the conditions for eligibility and payment of these reliefs. [27964/03]
The primary legislation which provides for tax concessions for drivers and passengers with a disability is contained in section 92 of the Finance Act 1989 and section 134 (3) of the Finance Act 1992. Statutory Instrument (SI) 353 of 1994, Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations prescribe the medical criteria, certification procedures, repayment limits and other matters necessary for the purposes of giving effect to the primary legislation.
Applications for relief may be made by the driver, passenger, family members or organisations which represent qualifying persons with disabilities.
The scheme requires the driver or the passenger to meet specified medical criteria and obtain a primary medical certificate to that effect from the senior area medical officer in his or her health board.
Relief in respect of vehicle registration tax, VRT, and value added tax, VAT, may be obtained subject to the following maximum limits: €9,525 for a driver with a disability; and €15,875 for a passenger, family member or organisation, as referred to above.
Relief is available for a vehicle which has been specially constructed or adapted for use by a person with a disability and which has an engine size of less than 2,000 cc in the case of a driver and 4,000 cc in the case of a passenger or an organisation which represents persons with disabilities. The cost of the adaptation, in the case of a passenger, must amount to at least 10% of the cost of the vehicle exclusive of VRT.
The scheme also provides for repayment of excise duty on fuel used in a vehicle, for the transport of a person with a disability, up to a maximum of 600 gallons or 2,728 litres per year. These limits are increased to 900 gallons and 4,092 litres for an organisation which represents persons with disabilities.
One of the conditions of the scheme is that a vehicle which has been relieved from tax may not be disposed of for at least two years.
Application forms and information with respect to all aspects of the scheme, including VRT 7 information leaflet, may be obtained from any Revenue vehicle registration office or on the Revenue website, www.revenue.ie Applications for the relief, should be made to: The Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Central Repayments Office, Freepost, Coolshannagh, County Monaghan, telephone (047) 82800 and fax (047) 82782.
