Car seized for no tax !

podgee

Last night, one of the guys from work had his company car seized by the Gardai because his tax was out since the end of May. The fact it wasn't taxed was a stupid admin cockup by the company. But I'm astonished at the Guards heavy handed action or is this a new zero tolerance approach ?

Anyhow, if you haven't got your car taxed, then tax it - otherwise you too could be left on Gardiner Street with your bags at 1 in the morning....

Podgee.

L5

I think once it goes over 2 or 3 months they can impound it.
It's a pity they don't take such a heavy handed approach to our Eastern European friends.

Kimbot

Past 3 months and they can take the car off you!!
Even tho he got the car taken off it was up to him to know when it was to be renewed aswell as the admins in the company!!

drdre

yes it happened to me last month, i got my uncles jeep taken off me and i had to pay the 125 impound fees.:mad:

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

podgee wrote:

Last night, one of the guys from work had his company car seized by the Gardai because his tax was out since the end of May. The fact it wasn't taxed was a stupid admin cockup by the company. But I'm astonished at the Guards heavy handed action or is this a new zero tolerance approach ?

Anyhow, if you haven't got your car taxed, then tax it - otherwise you too could be left on Gardiner Street with your bags at 1 in the morning....

Podgee.

and rightly so too. how much easier do they have to make paying it.

Henry Ford III

Delighted. This is a positive imho.

drdre

Henry Ford III wrote:

Delighted. This is a positive imho.

you wonot be laughing if it happens to you:D

JHMEG

L5 wrote:

I think once it goes over 2 or 3 months they can impound it.
It's a pity they don't take such a heavy handed approach to our Eastern European friends.

Some avoid that situation by printing their own tax discs. Saves money and potential hassle!

Some of the Russian language papers here even had classifieds advertising made-to-order counterfeit tax and insurance discs.

Anan1

drdre wrote:

you wonot be laughing if it happens to you:D

It only happens if you don't tax your car.;)

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

drdre wrote:

you wonot be laughing if it happens to you:D

you beat me to it



ah yes, but the only way it can happen to you is if YOU DONT TAX YOUR CAR. and if you don't tax your car, you deserve it to happen to you.:D

zefer

That is typical.
I have reported a car that is parked outside my apartment for the last 3 months with no tax and no insurance and its still sitting there!!
Flipping guards couldnt be bothered with it, probably because they know they wont get anyone to pay an impound charge because nobody will bother to go get it!!! :mad:

golden

The onus is on the driver of the fleet (company) car to remind the relevant department that the tax will be out of date and to chase it up.

prospect

golden wrote:

The onus is on the driver of the fleet (company) car to remind the relevant department that the tax will be out of date and to chase it up.

Yep, thats how our company works it.
Each driver is responsible to check their tax, DOE, service intervals, tyres etc. They pay their own fines if they are stopped.

drdre

Anan1 wrote:

It only happens if you don't tax your car.;)

well actually it was paid but the documents were in portloaise.so they took the jeep to the station and within 1 hour it was back out on the road.
i always pay me taxes

drdre

JHMEG wrote:

Some avoid that situation by printing their own tax discs. Saves money and potential hassle!

Some of the Russian language papers here even had classifieds advertising made-to-order counterfeit tax and insurance discs.

what newspaper was that, any contact details please:rolleyes:

Dundalk Daily

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

Anan1

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

It's the law, get used to it.

MrJoeSoap

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

Why does anyone bother paying tax then?

A crime is a crime, and if you don't pay road tax you should be prepared to face the consequences.

If you can't afford to tax your car maybe you should get a job that doesn't involve driving. The job you have can't be too amazing if you can't afford road tax.

JHMEG

Dundalk Daily wrote:

I have driven several times with no road tax
...
but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

I'd say you're happy enough for the rest of us to keep paying it tho? The term that comes to mind here is freeloading.

miju

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

your not special or above the law so if you think you are and get caught without tax you do deserve to have your car taken off you so it might teach you a lesson that it will probably cost you more in the long run

as an aside i'm not exactly swimming in cash either but i can still pay my car tax but do so online every 3 months rather than by the year.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Dundalk Daily wrote:

simply because I didnt have the money

well don't you worry your little head about that... the rest of us have a little extra in the kitty so we will cover it for ya OK. and if you need anything else but feel you cant afford it, don't worry about it I'm sure some body will cover it for you.


i think the word that springs to mind is Parasite

seamus

zefer wrote:

That is typical.
I have reported a car that is parked outside my apartment for the last 3 months with no tax and no insurance and its still sitting there!!
Flipping guards couldnt be bothered with it, probably because they know they wont get anyone to pay an impound charge because nobody will bother to go get it!!! :mad:

Is it parked on private property though? If it's on private parking (e.g. in an apartment complex), then it can't be removed for not having tax or insurance.

gyppo

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

A fair assumption would be that if you can't afford to tax your car, you probably cant afford to insure it either.
If this is the case, you are a criminal, and I'd shed no tears if you were left walking some day.

Tipsy Mac

I think it's right that at 3 months and no tax it's seizure time, pity they don't sell the cars on and use the money to go into the non insured cars fund

prospect

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

Bet you had enough money to go drinking/socialising etc.

Lynfo

a guy i work with bought his car off a friend about 4 months ago, his friend has yet to file the driver namechange form (proper name for it eludes me at present) anyway, he is fully insured but can't tax it until it's his name on the VRC - can his car be taken???

bo-bo

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

great attitude mate ,your parents must be proud

the law actually provides a clause for exceptional circumstances btw

believe it or not our police are at the forefront of their profession - we have foreign forces copying our training programme

peasant

Reddite igitur quae sunt Caesaris Caesari

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Lynfo wrote:

a guy i work with bought his car off a friend about 4 months ago, his friend has yet to file the driver namechange form (proper name for it eludes me at present) anyway, he is fully insured but can't tax it until it's his name on the VRC - can his car be taken???

in a word....yes.

whatsupdoc?

That is typical.
I have reported a car that is parked outside my apartment for the last 3 months with no tax and no insurance and its still sitting there!!
Flipping guards couldnt be bothered with it, probably because they know they wont get anyone to pay an impound charge because nobody will bother to go get it!!!

Guards not the people to report it to.
Report it to the management company in charge of the complex.
The council will then come and remove it if they get a report from the
management company.

a guy i work with bought his car off a friend about 4 months ago, his friend has yet to file the driver namechange form (proper name for it eludes me at present) anyway, he is fully insured but can't tax it until it's his name on the VRC - can his car be taken???

Happy days.
He should park the car at parking meters, shopping centres and
don't pay the fees.
He won't get the parking tickets but his friend will!
If he's caught speeding on a camera, guess who gets the ticket?
Until the seller sends the change of ownership in, he is liable for everything.
It is very important to do this as soon as you sell a vehicle.
If the current driver drove the car and killed somebody and did a runner, the previous owner would have a hard job staying out of jail.

Yakuza

whatsupdoc? wrote:

Happy days.
He should park the car at parking meters, shopping centres and don't pay the fees.

The clampers don't give a 5h1t who owns the car...

ciaran76

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

I hope there isn't many people in Ireland who think like that

overdriver

MrJoeSoap wrote:

A crime is a crime.
/QUOTE]

Crime? It's an offence, not a crime.
Let's get some perspective - it's not the bloody General you're talking to here - if he was committing REAL crime, he''d recieve much less Garda attention.
If the taxes we pay - and I DO pay mine before anyone starts - weren't so outrageously high, more people would pay them when they're supposed to. And yet we allow them to charge us what they want AND toll every new road built.

I can't WAIT for the first Fianna Fail clown to knock here canvassing.
I have the hole dug and all.

VERYinterested

zefer wrote:

That is typical.
I have reported a car that is parked outside my apartment for the last 3 months with no tax and no insurance and its still sitting there!!
Flipping guards couldnt be bothered with it, probably because they know they wont get anyone to pay an impound charge because nobody will bother to go get it!!! :mad:

Ring the litter warden in your local council, he will soon get it shifted for you. I had a car parked blocking my driveway slightly for months and the Gardai didn't care, no tax, no insurance, windscreen smashed it was a total eyesore. Can't remember wnat made me ring Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Co and when I got home from work that day, hey presto, the inconsiderate neighbour had the car pushed in to her driveway after a visit from a 'man in a white van'!

zefer

seamus wrote:

Is it parked on private property though? If it's on private parking (e.g. in an apartment complex), then it can't be removed for not having tax or insurance.

Its in a car parking space which is on a public road..
No-one seems to want to do anything abut it..cops, mgmt co...

sorry, off topic rant over!

ShinyDiscoBall

If ur tax is out 2 months they can take ur car, it changed recently!!!!!:eek:

podgee

I've just been to the tax office, and paid the arrears etc. A few comments from the experience:

1. The company was entirely wrong in not paying the tax. It wasn't malicious just an admin oversight (the relevant admin now having a footprint on their respective backside). If the company was unable to pay the tax, or just couldn't be bothered, then they would have been utterly in the wrong and would have got what was coming to them. This wasn't the case (I know - how do you know the real ones from the faker bakers....)
2. In most cases, you're right - the driver should have checked the discs himself. The driver is Spanish, had arrived into Ireland the previous day, and was given the car (as he is every quarter when he is over). So again, it's the company's fault and not his.

There's always someone worse off though. When I was in the tax office today, a bloke at the next window was after having his van impounded (last night - different checkpoint) for no tax. The guards wouldn't give him the van back until the tax was paid. The tax office wouldn't give him a tax disc until he got the van DOEd. In order to get the van released, he was going to tax the van privately (as opposed to commercially) for the shortest period possible - bring it up to a DOE centre and then tax it again commercially when the three months private tax runs out. Bizzarre.

Anyhow, ultimately my mail initially was wondering was this a new departure for the Gardai in impounding vehicles or had it happened to others. From comments here, looks like it's happening pretty regularly.

Thanks
Podge

maidhc

Dundalk Daily wrote:

:rolleyes: Ive never seen such bullshxt saying you deserve your car being taken of you for no tax. I have driven several times with no road tax simply because I didnt have the money and before you say if I didnt have the money for tax I shouldnt be driving I needed the car for work. No work no money, no money no live. So if you havent tax on your car you shouldnt drive it even if it is for something like rushing someone to hospital. Our cities are rampant with drugs, our politicians are corrupt and our police are the laughing stock of the policing world but folks pay your road tax. Your Country Needs You

While the law is the law, and you should tax your car, the point you make is fair.

Personally I don't think the gardaí should even be checking tax, paying your taxes is a matter between you and the state, it isn't a road safety or criminal issue any more than failing to make your returns in October.

Using the Gardaí as debt collectors in this fashion undermines them IMO, especially if non-payment of road tax is dealt with more severely/swiftly than, say, careless or dangerous driving.

Gatster

believe it or not our police are at the forefront of their profession - we have foreign forces copying our training programme

You really have to be joking that the Irish force are one of the leading forces. They may be copying the training, but I doubt they're following the day to day corruption and embarassment...

Anan1

maidhc wrote:

Personally I don't think the gardaí should even be checking tax, paying your taxes is a matter between you and the state, it isn't a road safety or criminal issue any more than failing to make your returns in October.

I would have thought that tax evasion was a criminal issue?

overdriver

Anan1 wrote:

I would have thought that tax evasion was a criminal issue?

This government has been treating civil matters as criminal since day one. Car tax is not a criminal matter.

Anan1

overdriver wrote:

This government has been treating civil matters as criminal since day one. Car tax is not a criminal matter.

Are you sure? I'm not an expert on the law, but I have always been under the impression that tax evasion was a criminal matter.

overdriver

That's income tax evasion. Car tax is an offence under the road traffic act, but it doesn't make you Ted Bundy.

Nor should we allow the government to treat us as though it is.

Anan1

overdriver wrote:

That's income tax evasion. Car tax is an offence under the road traffic act, but it doesn't make you Ted Bundy.

Are you quite sure that car tax evasion is not a criminal matter in law?

maidhc

Anan1 wrote:

Are you quite sure that car tax evasion is not a criminal matter in law?

Nope.

Most tax offences are also civil (e.g. failing to make a tax return...), and even when the CAB take your car/house/wife, it is also a civil matter. Obviously a point does come when failure to comply becomes a criminal offence, but matters never really go that far (e.g. your car is auctioned before you go to jail).

It is much easier for the state to win a case if a matter is civil; there is no need to prove a person had a guilty intention, nor is there any need to prove something beyond reasonable doubt.

EDIT:
Tax evasion, such as knowlingly making false returns, or assisting in such, is of course a criminal offence. Motor tax does not fall into this category though.

robertjordan

just a quick question what do the gardai do with those cars they seize for not having tax, insurance, ect?? do they auction them? where and when or how would one find out? do customs do the same?

Dundalk Daily

Im sure everyone who has condemned me on here about car tax has a TV licence for every TV in their homes. It is the law after all

Anan1

Dundalk Daily wrote:

Im sure everyone who has condemned me on here about car tax has a TV licence for every TV in their homes. It is the law after all

I do. Why, are you too poor for that also?

Stephen

You're only required to have 1 TV licence for one premises. You can have 500 TV's there if you like.

maidhc

Stephen wrote:

You're only required to have 1 TV licence for one premises. You can have 500 TV's there if you like.

You only need a licence from after the date you tell the licence inspector to bugger off! They do not have any powers, but may return with a court order to have a look around

Going a bit OT, but it is amusing how RTE/Dept of Communications have figured that the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972 applies to a computer or even a satellite dish, even though the legislation applies to any

apparatus for wireless telegraphy designed primarily for the purpose of receiving and exhibiting television programmes broadcast for general reception

.

I have yet to see a computer designed primarily for watching TV, or a satellite dish capable of exhibiting a television program... hummm.

Anyway. Expect to see your car impounded for not having a TV licence next. It is completely possible.

Victor_M

zefer wrote:

That is typical.
I have reported a car that is parked outside my apartment for the last 3 months with no tax and no insurance and its still sitting there!!
Flipping guards couldnt be bothered with it, probably because they know they wont get anyone to pay an impound charge because nobody will bother to go get it!!! :mad:

If the car has been abandoned, remove the registration plates and call your local council fingal or who ever, they have to remove it then. The guards are worse than useless, unless the car has been reported stolen they wont take it.

I have to agree you deserve to be impounded if you don't have your car taxed. They should build a huge multi story impound lot and fill it with eastern european cars.