Tax Yield.

Wednesday, 29 June 2005

Questions (184)

Michael Lowry

Question:

187 Mr. Lowry asked the Minister for Finance the number of cars registered each year from 1997 to 2005; the cost of VRT for each class of car; the amount of finance raised under each car class each year from 1997 to 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23155/05]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen)

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the available information on the number of cars registered and the receipts of VRT for each car class, A1, A2 and A3 for the years 1997 to 2005 is shown in Appendix 1. Included at Appendix 2 are the estimated VAT receipts from cars for the period 1997 to 2005. The amount of VAT collected cannot be identified by car class from within the overall VAT yield as the information furnished on VAT returns does not require this to be identified. Appendix 3 outlines the rates of duty for VRT for cars for the period 1997 to 2005.

While the Exchequer benefits generally from revenues generated by the motor sector, the motorist has also benefited from the substantial investment in the roads network over the last number of years through the national development plan. In 2004, spending on national and non-national roads totalled over €1.65 billion. This is set to increase to approximately €1.8 billion this year. Indeed, since 1997 this Government has spent over €8.8 billion on roads.

The Government has prioritised tax reductions on income earned by employees, in preference to other areas, and this policy has helped create record employment levels.

Appendix 1: Motor Vehicle Registration Tax — Gross Registrations and Net Receipts.

		Category A1	Category A2	Category A3	Total A1, A2 and A3
		Cars up to 1400 cc	Cars 1401-2000 cc(1)	Cars over 2000 cc(1)
		Total	Total	Total	Total
Year		Reg.	€	Reg.	€	Reg.	€	Reg.	€
1997	New	135,812	412,848,994	1,078	15,927,786	—	—	136,890	428,776,780
	Used	43,991	58,156,836	837	3,677,206	—	—	44,828	61,834,041
	Total	179,803	471,005,829	1,915	19,604,992	—	—	181,718	490,610,821
1998	New	144,706	512,708,640	1,437	22,933,063	—	—	146,143	535,641,703
	Used	43,605	59,053,103	1,309	6,102,114	—	—	44,914	65,155,217
	Total	188,311	571,761,743	2,746	29,035,177	—	—	191,057	600,796,919
1999	New	111,834	304,581,863	58,319	318,735,927	4,689	68,950,941	174,842	692,268,731
	Used	15,403	15,657,068	18,432	31,956,464	3,657	14,573,392	37,492	62,186,924
	Total	127,237	320,238,930	76,751	350,692,392	8,346	83,524,333	212,334	754,455,656
2000	New	150,795	425,673,696	74,387	419,347,706	6,357	100,120,378	231,539	945,141,780
	Used	9,716	9,461,993	12,195	18,167,826	2,982	11,391,308	24,893	39,021,127
	Total	160,511	435,135,689	86,582	437,515,533	9,339	111,511,685	256,432	984,162,907
2001	New	87,359	252,219,795	70,859	391,563,661	6,956	106,869,490	165,174	750,652,946
	Used	5,494	3,574,593	8,305	9,572,046	2,341	8,179,692	16,140	21,326,332
	Total	92,853	255,794,389	79,164	401,135,707	9,297	115,049,182	181,314	771,979,278
2002	New	78,138	236,090,266	70,890	405,488,685	7,285	114,757,314	156,313	756,336,265
	Used	3,906	2,019,110	7,280	9,575,377	2,652	9,195,392	13,838	20,789,879
	Total	82,044	238,109,376	78,170	415,064,062	9,937	123,952,706	170,151	777,126,144
2003	New	72,217	234,971,315	50,678	288,889,026	22,511	254,668,283	145,406	778,528,624
	Used	3,877	2,389,244	4,978	7,519,007	5,773	18,275,929	14,628	28,184,180
	Total	76,094	237,360,559	55,656	296,408,033	28,284	272,944,212	160,034	806,712,804
2004(2)	New	70,707	238,628,177	58,828	343,788,136	24,962	296,091,017	154,497	878,507,330
	Used	6,046	4,511,483	8,715	18,130,459	8,812	30,725,134	23,573	53,367,076
	Total	76,753	243,139,660	67,543	361,918,595	33,774	326,816,151	178,070	931,874,406
2005(2)	New	54,426	199,892,631	47,772	293,173,061	20,572	260,869,962	122,770	753,935,654
Jan-May	Used	4,145	3,621,149	6,974	16,240,595	5,591	22,049,560	16,710	41,911,304
	Total	58,571	203,513,780	54,746	309,413,656	26,163	282,919,522	139,480	795,846,958

Note: The registrations shown are gross i.e. they include those vehicle registrations which are exempt from VRT.

Note (1). With effect from 1 Jan 2003 motor cars with an engine capacity greater than 1901cc and less than 2000cc were registered in Category A3.

Note (2). VRT Receipts for 2004 and 2005 are Provisional.

With regard to the figure for VRT receipts for Jan to May 2005, due to a deferment arrangement some of the VRT will not accrue to the Exchequer account until later in the year. The actual amount receipted to the end of May in respect of motor cars is €666 million.

Appendix 2: Estimated VAT Yield 1997 — 2005 on Cars —€ million.

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
	€m	€m	€m	€m	€m	€m	€m	€m	€m
Estimated VAT Yield(1)	290	375	427	562	422	430	431	480	493

Note (1). VAT Yield for 1997-2004 (inclusive) is estimated. 2005 VAT Yield is for the full year and is Provisional.

Appendix 3: Rates of Duty for V.R.T. for Cars.

	Category
Year 1997
A1	Not Exceeding 2500cc	23.2% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
A2	Exceeding 2500cc	29.25% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
Year 1998
A1	Not Exceeding 2500cc	22.5% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
A2	Exceeding 2500cc	28.0% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
Year 1999-2001 inclusive
A1	Not Exceeding 1400cc	22.5% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
A2	Not Exceeding 2000cc	25.0% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
A3	Exceeding 2000cc	30.0% of chargeable value or £250, whichever is the greater
Year 2002
A1	Not Exceeding 1400cc	22.5% of chargeable value or €315, whichever is the greater
A2	Not Exceeding 2000cc	25.0% of chargeable value or €315, whichever is the greater
A3	Exceeding 2000cc	30.0% of chargeable value or €315, whichever is the greater
Year 2003 to date
A1	Not Exceeding 1400cc	22.5% of chargeable value or €315, whichever is the greater
A2	Not Exceeding 1900cc	25.0% of chargeable value or €315, whichever is the greater
A3	Exceeding 1900cc	30.0% of chargeable value or €315, whichever is the greater