The fee could rise by as much as 60 cent per visit.
Motorists who use the M50 and the Port Tunnel in Dublin could face toll price hikes of up to 60 cent due to an opinion issued in the European Court of Justice last week.
According to the Irish Times, an opinion put forward by an advocate general in the European Court of Justice said that the State must impose VAT on tolls levied on State-owned motorways.
If VAT of 23 per cent was implemented on the existing toll rates on the M50, drivers with a tag account would face an increase in price from €2.10 to €2.50, while drivers with video accounts would face a charge of €3.20, up from the current rate of €2.60.
The opinion expressed in the European Court of Justice follows on from a long-running disagreement between the Revenue Commissioners – who have argued that VAT should be applied on state-owned motorways – and the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), who have argued that it shouldn’t.
In 2010, the Revenue Commissioners directed the National Roads Authority (NRA) to impose VAT on state-owned motorways, but the directive was appealed by the Department of Transport and the NRA.
In the meantime, VAT has been absorbed into the existing toll structure, at a cost of approximately €17 million per annum to the TII, the successor to the National Roads Authority (NRA).
The advocate general’s opinion is expected to be endorsed with a ruling, which would then require the TII and the Revenue Commissioner to decide how VAT would be imposed on the M50 and Port Tunnel tolls, possibly at significant expense to motorists.
