As a disabled driver or passenger purchasing an Electric Vehicle (EV) you can claim the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland) grant independent of any other tax benefit you may receive.
The maximum grant available is €5,000 – for further information on the level of grants available please visit www.seai.ie
The tax relief available is as follows with regard to VAT/VRT
- As a Driver
- If for example, the VRT on the vehicle is €10,000, the electric car scheme will allow you to claim €5,000 VRT as an engine deduction.
- The remaining €5000 in VRT can be claimed against the Disabled Drivers Scheme and the balance of €5000 of your €10,000 scheme allowance can be claimed against the VAT.
- The total tax relief allowance is €15,000 (€10,000 + €5,000) although the electric vehicle portion of it can only be claimed against VRT not VAT.
- For a Passenger or Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) Driver
- The total tax relief allowance is €21,000 (€16,000 + €5,000) although again the electric vehicle portion of it can only be claimed against VRT.
- If the VRT/VAT taxes equal or exceed €21,000 then with the addition of the maximum SEAI grant a benefit of €26,000 can be claimed across both measures.
Prices quoted for electric vehicles often have the value of the SEAI grant and the Engine VRT deduction taken into account in the price advertised.