No other recovery chassis makes the Irish weight rule as visible as the Iveco Daily. Ford, Mercedes and MAN change the badge when the truck gets heavier; Iveco keeps the same nameplate and simply moves the number. That is why an operator can look at two Dailies in a UK yard, both wearing a slide-and-tilt recovery body, and find that one owes a four-figure Vehicle Registration Tax bill and the other owes €200 — the flat flat €200 truck VRT rate that applies once a vehicle is a genuine goods truck.
The 35S is a van, the 50C is a truck
Read the model designation and you have read the tax. The first two digits are the gross weight in tonnes. A 35S14 is plated at 3.5 tonnes with a 140 hp engine; a 50C18 is a 5.2-tonne chassis cab with 180 hp; a 72C is plated at 7.2 tonnes. That number is not marketing — it is the technically permissible maximum laden mass, and it is the exact figure Revenue uses to place the vehicle in a VRT category.
At 3.5 tonnes the 35S is an N1 light commercial in Category B. Its VRT is a percentage of the open market selling price — 8% or 13.3% depending on emissions — with a €125 floor. Cross the line and the 50C becomes an N2 goods vehicle in Category C, where value stops mattering and the charge is a fixed €200. The same body, the same operator, the same job — a different tax regime, decided by a single plated figure. It is the identical trap that catches buyers of a light Fiat Ducato chassis, where the heaviest van variants sit right on the 3.5-tonne edge.
Where the Daily crosses 3.5 tonnes
The crossing is not gradual. There is no partial rate, no taper — 3,500 kg is Category B and 3,501 kg is Category C. For the Daily that means the whole decision happens between the 35 and the 50: there is no meaningful 40-series recovery chassis in the Irish parc, so most operators are choosing between a 3.5-tonne van they will tax on value and a 5-tonne-plus truck they will register for €200.
A recovery body pushes hard on that choice. Bolt a steel bed, a winch and a spec-lift onto a 3.5-tonne 35S and the payload left for a casualty vehicle is thin — often too thin to lift a family car legally. Operators who do real recovery work almost always specify a 50C or heavier for the payload, and the €200 VRT is a quiet bonus of going up a class. If you want a chassis-cab comparison outside the Iveco range, a Mercedes Sprinter chassis cab makes the same jump between its 3.5-tonne and 5-tonne plates.
Good to know — the deck doesn't decide itCategory C follows the plate, not the equipment. A 35S fitted with a light recovery deck is still 3.5 tonnes and still Category B — you cannot equip your way into the flat rate. You need a chassis plated above 3.5 tonnes for the €200 to apply.
A UK import, priced across the line
Because the Daily is built in Italy, a used one bought in Great Britain has a genuine shot at 0% customs duty under the UK–EU preferential origin rules — provided the seller can supply a statement on origin. Where origin cannot be proved, duty on a Category C truck is 22% and on a Category B van 10%, so the paperwork is worth chasing. Here is a 50C18 recovery truck brought in from a British dealer with origin proven:
Example — Iveco Daily 50C18 recovery, GB import (Category C)
| Purchase price (≈ £24,000) | €28,000 |
| Customs duty (UK–EU origin proven) | €0 |
| VAT at 23% on customs value | €6,440 |
| VRT — Category C, flat rate | €200 |
| Tax & duty added at registration | €6,640 |
The VRT is 3% of the tax you pay to land the truck. Had the same 5.2-tonne chassis been a 3.5-tonne 35S van at the same €28,000 value, its Category B VRT alone would be €28,000 × 13.3% = €3,724 — before a cent of VAT.
That contrast is the whole point. On the truck side of the line the VRT is trivial and predictable; on the van side it scales with value and can swallow thousands. When you are weighing a purchase, it pays to run both plated weights through a calculator before you commit — the difference is rarely what buyers expect.
Daily variants and their VRT category
Where the common recovery-spec Dailies land once the weight rule is applied:
| Variant | GVW | EU class | VRT category & charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily 35S14 | 3.5 t | N1 | Category B — 13.3% of OMSP (min €125) |
| Daily 50C18 | 5.2 t | N2 | Category C — flat €200 |
| Daily 70C18 | 7.0 t | N2 | Category C — flat €200 |
| Daily 72C18 | 7.2 t | N2 | Category C — flat €200 |
Anything from the 50C up is settled at €200. The only Daily that makes you reach for a valuation is the 35 — which is exactly why so many recovery operators skip it. For a heavier step up again, a 7.5-tonne Fuso Canter stays in the same Category C band at the same flat rate.
Heads up — check the plate, not the adUK sellers describe almost anything as a "3.5-tonne Daily". Confirm the plated weight from the vehicle's type-approval plate or V5C before you budget: a mis-read here is the difference between a €200 bill and a percentage of the OMSP. There is no CO₂ or NOx charge on either category — those apply only to passenger cars.
Iveco Daily VRT questions
Does an Iveco Daily 35S14 pay the flat €200 VRT?
No. A 35S14 is plated at 3.5 tonnes, which makes it an N1 light commercial in Category B — taxed at 8% or 13.3% of its open market selling price, subject to a €125 minimum. Only Daily variants plated above 3.5 tonnes, such as the 50C or 72C, become N2 Category C and pay the flat €200.
Which Iveco Daily is Category C for VRT?
Any Daily whose technically permissible maximum laden mass is over 3.5 tonnes. The 50C (around 5.2 t) and 72C (7.2 t) chassis-cab models used for recovery bodies are N2 vehicles in Category C, so their VRT is €200 regardless of what the truck is worth.
Is a recovery body enough to move a 3.5t Daily into Category C?
Not on its own. Category C follows the plated weight, not the equipment bolted on. A 35S chassis fitted with a light recovery deck is still 3.5 tonnes and still Category B. You need a chassis plated above 3.5 tonnes — a 50C or heavier — for the flat €200 to apply.