In his budget speech earlier today, Minister Michael Noonan confirmed an
overhaul of the road tax regime. The number of CO2 bands which determine the rate of road tax for a vehicle has been increased from seven to twelve.
Commenting on the changes Motorcheck.ie Co-Founder Shane Teskey said "Given the relatively small increase applied to the less polluting cars I believe we can now expect car manufacturers to work even harder at bringing their key models in at lower CO2 rates. Today's market has just over X% of the range under 120g/km - a figure which will likely increase following the revised rates."
Band A which is the most popular tax band in Ireland and accounts for 53% of total sales this year has been split into five sub-divisions meaning the rate of tax will increase from €10 to €40 depending on the CO2 output of the car.
Band B, the second most popular band accounting for 38% of sales has been split into two sub-divisions. The increase here will be either €45 or €55 per annum again depending on the CO2 rate of your car.
NEW TAX RATES
| Tax Band | Emmissions | New Tax Rate | Difference |
| A0 | 0 | €120 | -€40 |
| A1 | 1 - 80 | €170 | €10 |
| A2 | 81 - 100 | €180 | €20 |
| A3 | 101 - 110 | €190 | €30 |
| A4 | 111 - 120 | €200 | €40 |
| B1 | 121 - 130 | €270 | €45 |
| B2 | 131 - 140 | €280 | €55 |
| C | 141 - 155 | €390 | €60 |
| D | 156 - 170 | €570 | €89 |
| E | 171 - 190 | €750 | €73 |
| F | 191 - 225 | €1,200 | €71 |
| G | <225 | €2,350 | €92 |
HOW THE CURRENT MARKET LOOKS
Today there are 3,810 new cars available in the Irish market. The table below demonstrates the number of cars available in each new band.
| Tax Band | Cars Available | % |
| A0 | 6 | 0% |
| A1 | 0 | 0% |
| A2 | 140 | 4% |
| A3 | 216 | 6% |
| A4 | 666 | 17% |
| B1 | 478 | 13% |
| B2 | 671 | 18% |
| C | 628 | 16% |
| D | 471 | 12% |
| E | 211 | 6% |
| F | 205 | 5% |
| G | 118 | 3% |
| Total | 3810 | 100% |
