Customs and Excise (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (No. 125)
Backdated to 1 July 2025: public servants and health workers who cannot get a driver's licence because of a medically certified visual impairment or disability no longer need one to claim the vehicle import rebate.
These regulations amend the Customs and Excise (General) Regulations, 2001 and are deemed to have come into effect on 1 July 2025.
Both the public servants' vehicle import rebate (section 144U) and the Health Service Motor Vehicle Scheme rebate (section 144V) require an applicant to lodge a copy of the intended beneficiary's driver's licence. Each of those provisions is replaced with a version carrying a proviso: the driver's licence requirement does not apply to serving public servants who are unable to obtain one because of a medically certified visual impairment or other disability that prevents them from driving.
The practical effect is that a blind or otherwise disabled civil servant or public health worker may claim the rebate on a vehicle they will not personally drive, on production of medical certification instead of a licence. The remaining conditions of the two schemes — including the value thresholds and the claw-back later introduced by S.I. 236 of 2025 — are untouched.
What changed
- The driver's licence requirement for the public servant vehicle rebate is waived for medically certified visual impairment or disability
- The same waiver applies under the Health Service Motor Vehicle Scheme
- The amendment is backdated to 1 July 2025
Who this affects
- Serving public servants with a visual impairment or disability importing a vehicle
- Public health workers under the Health Service Motor Vehicle Scheme
- ZIMRA rebate assessors
- Clearing agents handling public servant vehicle imports
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.