Who thinks all those northern registered cars are being driven by Northern Irish?

Mailman

edit: how do I change the title of this thread so as not to offend Northern Irish people?

Hi,
the roads of this country are awash with northern plated cars. I figure the majority of them are being driven by southeners. For instance here in Dublin the number of cars on Cork plates is tiny but there are huge numbers of northern plate cars. I figure that there are plenty of people from Cork working in Dublin and bringing up their cars to Dublin in the same way as "Nordies" work in Dublin and bring their cars with them but there are just soooooo many northern plate cars around.

I figure the majority of these are driven by southern irish who don't want to pay VRT, motor tax or car insurance in the Republic.

Am I a mug for actually keeping myself legal? Do revenue actually care about the people who evade tax as long as there are enough mugs out there to pay the taxes they need to pay state pensions. Am I paying more tax than I should have to purely because others won't pay their share or would my motor tax and insurance still be the exact same?
Rgds,
Mailman.

hi5

Mailman wrote:

edit: how do I change the title of this thread so as not to offend Northern Irish people?

Hi,
the roads of this country are awash with northern plated cars. I figure the majority of them are being driven by southeners. For instance here in Dublin the number of cars on Cork plates is tiny but there are huge numbers of northern plate cars. I figure that there are plenty of people from Cork working in Dublin and bringing up their cars to Dublin in the same way as "Nordies" work in Dublin and bring their cars with them but there are just soooooo many northern plate cars around.

I figure the majority of these are driven by southern irish who don't want to pay VRT, motor tax or car insurance in the Republic.

Am I a mug for actually keeping myself legal? Do revenue actually care about the people who evade tax as long as there are enough mugs out there to pay the taxes they need to pay state pensions. Am I paying more tax than I should have to purely because others won't pay their share or would my motor tax and insurance still be the exact same?
Rgds,
Mailman.

With the money you save on VRT on a luxury car in the North you could buy a small flat there,you then register the car at that address in your own name and insure and tax it there also(stick a utility bill with your name on it in the glove compartment in case your stopped by customs).
House prices are rising in the North so its a win win situation:)
I know 2 people who have recently done this.

MGrah

Wouldn't it be reasonably easy for the revenue to figure out that you're working/paying income tax in the south, and therefore a resident?
I know that you might have to get very unlucky in order to be investigated, but wouldn't you have really set yourself up for a serious offence, i.e. provision of documents etc in order to evade tax?

On a separate point - what's the difference between dodging VRT or motor tax and dodging income tax, scamming social welfare etc? (I know the standard response will be that it's an unfair tax, but unfortunately we don't get to choose which taxes are fair and which aren't)
Irish people (and I am one) surprise me all the time with the double standards they're willing to apply to things like this. As has been noted several times on this forum, VRT/Road tax is not ringfenced for spending on motoring related government expenditure, therefore any money that the government loses through this type of tax evasion will be recouped in PAYE/PRSI. i.e. you dodge any central tax and you're stealing from every other citizen of the country.

(Not meant as a shot on anyone - just an observation)

hi5

I agree,sometimes there is a very thin line between tax evasion and tax avoidance and manys a solicitor has got fat on blurring that line.

el tel

Mailman wrote:

edit: how do I change the title of this thread so as not to offend Northern Irish people?.

I can't believe you are a moderator.

Mailman wrote:

Am I a mug

yes, you are a mug.

Anan1

el tel wrote:

I can't believe you are a moderator.



yes, you are a mug.

Any chance of a reasoned argument in support of your theories?

el tel

Anan1 wrote:

Any chance of a reasoned argument in support of your theories?

Shouldn't a moderator be wary of using derogatory terminology in both the title and a first post in a thread?

Shouldn't a moderator know how to change the title?

And he asked if he was he a mug for xyz, I suggested 'yes' to affirm his predisposition.

Mailman

el tel wrote:

I can't believe you are a moderator.



yes, you are a mug.

cMod actually.

Anan1

el tel wrote:

Shouldn't a moderator be wary of using derogatory terminology in both the title and a first post in a thread?

Shouldn't a moderator know how to change the title?

Agreed, on both counts.

el tel wrote:

And he asked if he was he a mug for xyz, I suggested 'yes' to affirm his predisposition.

Now this is the bit I don't get. Using (mildly, if at all) derogatory terminology is wrong, and yet stealing (for this is what tax evasion essentially is) is ok?

mkdon05

how is the description Nordies offensive?
Its just a shortened version of saying northern Irish. Would it be offensive to call a dubliner, a dub? or an Englishmen a Brit?
I dont believe it is.

MrPudding

mkdon05 wrote:

how is the description Nordies offensive?
Its just a shortened version of saying northern Irish. Would it be offensive to call a dubliner, a dub? or an Englishmen a Brit?
I dont believe it is.

Speaking as a nordie, I agree.

MrP

mickoneill30

el tel wrote:

Shouldn't a moderator know how to change the title?

He was asking how to word it so as to not offend northerners. He wasn't asking for technical assistance. (Correct me if I'm wrong OP but that seemed pretty obvious to me).

modalcommand

I think a lot of the yellow reg cars your are seeing now are just British tourists over on the ferry.

Anan1

mkdon05 wrote:

how is the description Nordies offensive?
Its just a shortened version of saying northern Irish. Would it be offensive to call a dubliner, a dub? or an Englishmen a Brit?
I dont believe it is.

I would agree with you on the first two counts. The word 'Brit', however, is still quite politically loaded.

Anan1

MrPudding wrote:

Speaking as a nordie, I agree.

MrP

Welcome back!;)

Mailman

No, I was asking how to change the title as I couldn't see how to edit title. I can edit contents of post no bother. I don't see anything offensive with the term "Nordie" myself but in these politically correct days where certain people feel justified to abuse you for the smallest perceived slight or wrong I would have preferred to change it.
How'ya, El Tel? having a bad day?

Anyhow, how about getting back on topic.

unkel

el tel wrote:

yes, you are a mug.

Play nice, el tel

unkel

Mailman wrote:

No, I was asking how to change the title as I couldn't see how to edit title. I can edit contents of post no bother. I don't see anything offensive with the term "Nordie" myself but in these politically correct days where certain people feel justified to abuse you for the smallest perceived slight or wrong I would have preferred to change it.

MrPudding is not offended, so I don't see a need to change the thread title. If you do want it changed, post the new title here and I'll change it for ya

mkdon05

Anan1 wrote:

I would agree with you on the first two counts. The word 'Brit', however, is still quite politically loaded.

Well i suppose it is open to interpretation when the word is actually used, i.e "I cant stand them shower of Brits", "THe land of our great Brits"
Only my opinion though.

Sorry bit off the original topic

Mailman

modalcommand wrote:

I think a lot of the yellow reg cars your are seeing now are just British tourists over on the ferry.

British reg plates have a different numbering system, except for personal plates.

el tel

Anan1 wrote:

Agreed, on both counts.


Now this is the bit I don't get. Using (mildly, if at all) derogatory terminology is wrong, and yet stealing (for this is what tax evasion essentially is) is ok?

I'm not advocating tax evasion, nor saying it's the right thing to do. However, on many counts people avoid paying tax (car, income etc.) because they can. Those of us who don't or can't (and I include myself) are essentially mugs as we pay indirectly for the benefit of those who do. No matter, I still wouldn't do it myself.

But in response to the post, I would have thought that the majority of Northern registered cars belong to Northerners and not Southerners as the OP suggests. Taking Dublin as an example as the OP has done, there are plenty of reasons why there may be more NI reg'd cars than Cork reg'd cars. For one, there is the closer proximimity of NI to Dublin and for two, there are far more NI reg'd cars than Cork cars, period. Even if only 1% of each came to Dublin, the NI vehicles would still hugely outnumber the Cork vehicles. Asides from Northerners who bring their cars to work in Dublin, there are many more who come down for trips, which is made even more feasible with the ever-improving road connections.

Anan1

mkdon05 wrote:

"The land of our great Brits"

Now there's one I haven't heard before!;)

Mailman

unkel wrote:

MrPudding is not offended, so I don't see a need to change the thread title. If you do want it changed, post the new title here and I'll change it for ya

El Tel is offended so please change "nordie" to "Northern Irish"; We have to be considerate of the feelings of others even if they aren't considerate of ours.

mkdon05

Anan1 wrote:

Now there's one I haven't heard before!;)

You obviously never watch BBC1

seamus

el tel wrote:

I can't believe you are a moderator.

What a moderator does to change a topic, and what a user has to do to change a topic are two very different things. Since you're an expert, why didn't you give him a hand instead of making snide remarks.

yes, you are a mug.

I know quite a few people who think like this, and it boils my blood.
Using the various scams to get around paying tax will come back and bite you in the ass, and rightly so. Then these people give out about not doing anything wrong :rolleyes:

Anan1

el tel wrote:

I'm not advocating tax evasion, nor saying it's the right thing to do. However, on many counts people avoid paying tax (car, income etc.) because they can. Those of us who don't or can't (and I include myself) are essentially mugs as we pay indirectly for the benefit of those who do. No matter, I still wouldn't do it myself.

I can't agree with calling people mugs for doing the right thing.

el tel

Mailman wrote:

El Tel is offended so please change "nordie" to "Northern Irish"; We have to be considerate of the feelings of others even if they aren't considerate of ours.

I'm not offended at all. The term Nordie means nothing personal to me however it is often seen as derogatory and does have associated negative connotations.

Mailman

el tel wrote:

I'm not advocating tax evasion, nor saying it's the right thing to do. However, on many counts people avoid paying tax (car, income etc.) because they can. Those of us who don't or can't (and I include myself) are essentially mugs as we pay indirectly for the benefit of those who do. No matter, I still wouldn't do it myself.

But in response to the post, I would have thought that the majority of Northern registered cars belong to Northerners and not Southerners as the OP suggests. Taking Dublin as an example as the OP has done, there are plenty of reasons why there may be more NI reg'd cars than Cork reg'd cars. For one, there is the closer proximimity of NI to Dublin and for two, there are far more NI reg'd cars than Cork cars, period. Even if only 1% of each came to Dublin, the NI vehicles would still hugely outnumber the Cork vehicles. Asides from Northerners who bring their cars to work in Dublin, there are many more who come down for trips, which is made even more feasible with the ever-improving road connections.

Most of the Northern Irish who work in my company based here in Dublin are resident in the Republic and pay their income tax in Ireland(at lower rates) but still drive on Northern Irish registration plates. They are not commuting home in the evenings and for tax purposes the Revenue Commissioners would consider them Irish Residents. Now supposedly they should be able to avoid VRT if they were moving residence to the Republic but they have the extra incentive to stay on yellow plates because it is harder to apply penalty points to them so the Garda just let them go whenever they find them breaking the rules of the road.

el tel

Mailman wrote:

Most of the Northern Irish who work in my company based here in Dublin are resident in the Republic and pay their income tax in Ireland(at lower rates) but still drive on Northern Irish registration plates. They are not commuting home in the evenings and for tax purposes the Revenue Commissioners would consider them Irish Residents. Now supposedly they should be able to avoid VRT if they were moving residence to the Republic but they have the extra incentive to stay on yellow plates because it is harder to apply penalty points to them so the Garda just let them go whenever they find them breaking the rules of the road.

This maybe so, but your original postulation about NI reg'ed cars was that "the majority of these are driven by southern irish who don't want to pay VRT, motor tax or car insurance in the Republic" You also suggested that the number of NI reg'ed cars was disproportionate to the number of Northerners who work in Dublin (your first paragraph, last sentence).

However, based on the above, are we to assume now that by 'southerner irish' you mean Northerners who pay income tax and live in the Republic?

I'm quite confused at who you are now getting at. Is it Southerners driving on NI plates, Northerners working in the South and retaining their NI registrations or NI registered cars in general?

unkel

Mailman wrote:

please change "nordie" to "Northern Irish"

Done

MrPudding

Anan1 wrote:

Welcome back!;)

Thank you. Nice to be back.:D

MrP