Owners of old cars have been selling their vehicles en masse since the government introduced road tax for older cars at the beginning of this year.

In particular, older cars which are powered by lpg and diesel have been leaving the country for destinations such as Belgium, Germany, Morocco, Libya and Nigeria. Car owners’ lobby group Autobelangen estimates the government has missed out on €85m in taxes since the change was brought in.

Over the first six months of this year, 13,000 older cars were sold to new owners abroad, double the total in the same period in 2013. The sale of lpg-powered cars rose 145% while diesel car sales went up by 225%. People in Belgium accounted for one in five of all older car sales.

Since January 2014, only cars which first went on the road over 40 years ago have qualified for the zero road tax deal. The change is being phased in for petrol-driven cars.