Thousands of farmers, agri contractors and others have avoided millions in motor tax by re-classifying secondhand seven-seater 4x4s into commercial vehicles. They bought luxury 4x4s which suffered road tax of up to €2,350 per annum, and paid a couple of hundred euro to re-classify them as five-seater crew cabs, taxed at just €330. The third row of seats was removed to enlarge the cargo area.

Models converted included Range Rovers and other expensive 4x4s from BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Volvo, plus less glamorous 4x4s from Toyota, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Kia and SsangYong. Many farmers, vets and others are therefore now enjoying leather seats, automatic transmission and cruise control.

Not liking this loss of motor tax, Revenue have introduced ever tighter and more complex rules to stamp it out. Only EU law held it back. Criteria include seats separated from the cargo area which must be large enough and have lashing points. The rear door must have a clear 800mm height and be 12,800cm2 in area. Certification must be by an engineer or approved test centre.

Last autumn, at the request of Revenue, the NSAI measured popular 4x4 models and listed those suitable for re-classification. It interpreted the criteria more strictly than many engineers. The flood of crew cab conversions fell to a trickle in 2017.

However, one Co Offaly garage is making a stand on behalf of a customer. Morgan Maher Motors of Cloghan, Co Offaly, sought to re-classify an imported 2007 Nissan Patrol as a five-seater crew cab. The NSAI never examined such a model, so Morgan Maher had it examined by an approved test centre which certified it as eligible.

Last week, he brought the certificate to his local NCT centre in Tullamore to arrange VRT. Some hours later he got a phone call from the centre telling him they couldn’t process the vehicle. The representative could not say why.

Morgan Maher maintains that he cannot be refused because the vehicle is properly certified as meeting all of Revenue’s technical criteria. He has asked the NCT centre to outline in writing the grounds for refusal and is now waiting for a reply.