late paying car tax

darling.x

My car tax is out of date since fri. Never got time to pay it but will be paying it this week.

Would it be safe to take the car out today for a short local trip.

If cops were out stopping motorists would they get me for driving without tax. More than likely tax will be backdated to nov. 1st

445279.ie

There's usually a couple of weeks grace so you should be fine

Our man in Havana

Depends on the particular Garda.

dr.bollocko

Happens me a lot because of the time it takes between paying online and receiving the disk in the post. I never had any trouble.

randomer

Strictly it is against the law, but I had a similar issue recently and I explained it to the guard and he was fine with it.

I just bought a new car and there was no tax disk or insurance disk in it. I was stopped by a guard at a checkpoint and I explained that I had had bought the car the previous day and it was insured, and I was waiting for the log book before I could tax it. He said that was fine and sent me on my way.

I think guards usually have a bit of common sense .

you'll be fine, if they ask, which they won't, say you only did it online on thursday, but they won't ask.

And yep. They'll backdate it til Saturday anyway,

Our man in Havana

Some Gardaí will argue that you will have had the renewal notice several weeks so you had plenty of time to renew in advance. Strictly speaking they are right.

dr.bollocko

Bond-007 wrote: »

Some Gardaí will argue that you will have had the renewal notice several weeks so you had plenty of time to renew in advance. Strictly speaking they are right.

You would want to be one real bastard to enforce that one strictly.
A mate of mine told me a story about a friend of his that was over the couple of weeks late to pay the tax and he had the car taken off him at a roadside check until he paid his tax and presumably a fine. Is that bull**** or does it happen?

I thought legally you had 10 days grace?
Could be completely wrong mind you.....

Our man in Havana

Legally there is no grace period. It is purely down to the discretion of the Garda.

The tax must have expired 3 months before it can be seized under S41 of the Road Traffic Act 1994.

Detention of vehicles.

41.—(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Justice, make regulations authorising and providing for the detention, removal, storage and subsequent release or disposal of a mechanically propelled vehicle in use in a public place where—


( a ) the person driving the vehicle refuses or fails to produce there and then a driving licence then having effect and licensing him to drive the vehicle, when production of such a licence is demanded of him by a member of the Garda Síochána under section 40 (1) of the Principal Act and the member is of opinion that the person is by reason of his age ineligible to hold a driving licence licensing him to drive the vehicle,


( b ) the vehicle is or a member of the Garda Síochána reasonably believes it to be registered in the State and the member is of opinion that the vehicle is being so used in contravention of section 56 (1) of the Principal Act, or


( c ) a member of the Garda Síochána is of opinion that any excise duty payable under section 1 of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 , in respect of the vehicle, being a vehicle which is or which the member reasonably believes to be registered in the State, has not been paid in respect of a continuous period of 3 months or more immediately prior to such use.

niceirishfella

I'm surprised they have'nt did the whole SORN thing yet like the UK.

Top Dog

If you've enough time to be posting a thread about it on here, then surely you have enough time to pay it online? Then you can print the receipt to take with you so if any garda does say anything you have the proof that you've paid and you're just waiting on mr postman

Our man in Havana

Top Dog wrote: »

If you've enough time to be posting a thread about it on here, then surely you have enough time to pay it online? Then you can print the receipt to take with you so if any garda does say anything you have the proof that you've paid and you're just waiting on mr postman

Well Said.

Our man in Havana

niceirishfella wrote: »

I'm surprised they have'nt did the whole SORN thing yet like the UK.

Could you imagine the chaos here if that started?

Tractors that have never been taxed in 20 years. All the old scrapped cars that no one sent back the log books for.

dr.bollocko

Top Dog wrote: »

If you've enough time to be posting a thread about it on here, then surely you have enough time to pay it online? Then you can print the receipt to take with you so if any garda does say anything you have the proof that you've paid and you're just waiting on mr postman

Is it not the case that once you exceed the deadline for paying it you can no longer use the pin to pay online?
If it is not the case I feel a right lemon for queueing in the Motor Tax office!

Our man in Havana

PIN is valid for 3 months from the expiry of the last tax disc.

dr.bollocko

Bond-007 wrote: »

PIN is valid for 3 months from the expiry of the last tax disc.

Thanks.
/kicks self.
/facepalm.
/kicks self again.

Rabidlamb

Just scan in your disc & change the date to give you an extra six months.
Then get your missus to go into the cop shop in 5 months time & say the car was off the road.
You can thank me later ;)

unkel

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Just scan in your disc & change the date to give you an extra six months.
Then get your missus to go into the cop shop in 5 months time & say the car was off the road.
You can thank me later ;)

Any more of that crap from you and you won't be posting here any more

darling.x

I dont have access to a computer so cant pay it online. I'm on boards on my mobile. I lost my renewal form a few weeks agos. I found it during the week. My mam used the envelope and its contents as a shopping list and bookmark.

Dave147

No you can't drive without tax, you're breaking the law and that is frowned upon here on boards.

unkel

Stop trolling, Dave147.

ninty9er

You can be fined, but AFAIK it's the only disc they can't seize the car for being outdated, non displayed.

Not having NCT or insurance is dangerous, no tax is less criminal, though an offence all the same. A receipt will not suffice, nor will a photocopy of the disc.

The fine is actually for "non display".

TBH people know their tax is going to expire so I have no pity for anyone who can't organise themselves to pay it. You don't even need a renewal to tax it at the tax office, or you didn't the last time I did it for my dad....but it's at least 3 years since I've set foot in a motor tax office.

I've recently begun to believe it's about time motor tax was abolished really.

unkel

ninty9er wrote: »

I've recently begun to believe it's about time motor tax was abolished really.

You might want to explain to your green coalition friends what the principle of "the polluter pays" means first

ninty9er

unkel wrote: »

You might want to explain to your green coalition friends what the principle of "the polluter pays" means first

I was lambasted over in politics for making such a suggestion:rolleyes: I was only putting 43.5c on petrol and 50c on diesel.....and slashing VRT in A-D as well.

pixbyjohn

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Happens me a lot because of the time it takes between paying online and receiving the disk in the post. I never had any trouble.

Disc usually arrives 2 days after taxing online. So do you leave it too late to have your disc at the start of the month?

dr.bollocko

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Disc usually arrives 2 days after taxing online. So do you leave it too late to have your disc at the start of the month?

Not too late.
Just fashionably late.

Dave147

unkel wrote: »

Stop trolling, Dave147.

Sorry, bad day at the office, you know how it is carry on...

Savman

Jesus they're not gonna seize a car with tax a few days out, a little bit of realism please :rolleyes:

darling.x

I made the journey and there wasnt a cop in sight.

Yakult

^Glad it worked out.

When I bought my aul car it didnt have any tax so I drove around that weekend as I had to wait till monday. I had nothing on display and got thru two checkpoints. So its all down to the cop.

Esel

Bond-007 wrote: »

The tax must have expired 3 months before it can be seized under S41 of the Road Traffic Act 1994.

This was amended to 2 months a good while ago.

jimmycrackcorm

I left my tax late. I used motortax.ie and printed out the receipt in czse I get stopped.

TheNog

Guidelines for us is to give the motorist 4 weeks grace to tax the car from when it expired. After the 4 weeks it is at the Garda's discretion whether to prosecute or not. A prosecution can be either by a fixed penalty fix of €60 or a summons to court. Neither action entails getting points on your licence.

Some guards will prosecute, others will let you on your way but may ask you to produce the new tax disc at your local station. Although there is no provision in law for us to ask you to produce (unlike producing a Driving licence and insurance cert) it is sometimes done to satisfy the guard you did tax it and there will be no prosecution.

The Law

Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1994 allowed us to seize vehicles where the tax expired more than 3 months. The 3 months has now been shortened to 2 months under Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act 2006. Strictly speaking many guards will not seize your car from you if it just over the 2 months. However if the tax was out say 10 months or more, guards can and probably will the car off you and leave you walking. Remember not to take the pissh!!

Last thing is the Motor Tax Renewal form. On the very end of the form is a part for to declare the vehicle off the road. No harm if that is true but if you are making a false declaration, you can be prosecuted for it.

One more thing - never ever falsify a disc. It is a criminal offence to do so and is quite easily spotted. You could face not only having your car taken off but also a summons to court of a forgery offence. Now that would not look good for future employment or travel plans to the U.S., Oz, N.Z etc. Just not worth it. Same goes for false driving licences. We know they are out there and again with the amount of security features on a driving licence, most false ones are easy to spot too. We also have access to ultra-violet lights in our cars and computer access to verify your licence details.

jimbling

I bought a new car recently.... about 6 weeks ago. The tax was out of date when I bought the car. Somehow, I still haven't managed to get the bloody thing taxed. It's damn hard to get a few hours off during the week to get into the tax office (which you have to do with a change of car... or so I believe?).

Anyway, the funny thing is......having been stopped at checkpoints only once or twice over the last few years...... I seem to have stumbled upon every checkpoint in Cork over the last week :eek:
Luckily for me, on all 3 occasions, the cop was sound and just told me to get it sorted.

Esel

^ Just post the form in!

hurleronditch

Aaaaaaaaaaagh, bought a second hand car in july, garage were slow sending forms in, tax office sent me nothing, i never chased them up, driving through castleknock this morning, stopped by garda traffic corp, stopped, car taken, me left on roadside. humiliating annoying and all my fault !!

Any ideas about how i get my chassis number so i can fill out the form in the tax office in the morning?

I also must pay 125, plus 35 per extra day to get it out.

dr.bollocko

hurleronditch wrote: »

Aaaaaaaaaaagh, bought a second hand car in july, garage were slow sending forms in, tax office sent me nothing, i never chased them up, driving through castleknock this morning, stopped by garda traffic corp, stopped, car taken, me left on roadside. humiliating annoying and all my fault !!

Any ideas about how i get my chassis number so i can fill out the form in the tax office in the morning?

I also must pay 125, plus 35 per extra day to get it out.

I reckon they only need the licence plate really.
Isnt the chassis number an option to fill in on the tax renewal form also?
I never filled that in...

zilog_jones

TheNog wrote: »

Guidelines for us is to give the motorist 4 weeks grace to tax the car from when it expired.

I always thought it was this too, because on the renewal form it says "Application is made prior to or during" followed by the month after expiration, e.g. November 2008 on mine (it expired in October). I left it till this week because of this (I'm unemployed right now - all my dole money has gone to tax and insurance ), and was surprised to see this thread about people being so worried about their tax being out by a couple of days.

Heroditas

hurleronditch wrote: »

Aaaaaaaaaaagh, bought a second hand car in july, garage were slow sending forms in, tax office sent me nothing, i never chased them up, driving through castleknock this morning, stopped by garda traffic corp, stopped, car taken, me left on roadside. humiliating annoying and all my fault !!

Any ideas about how i get my chassis number so i can fill out the form in the tax office in the morning?

I also must pay 125, plus 35 per extra day to get it out.

You big eejit not chasing it up! However, I can sympathize.
I changed car in September and the dealer put down the address that was on the logbook for the old car for the change of details. I had told him not to use that address because I was at a new address (yes I know I should have changed it when I moved!!!) yet apparently that was the address they stuck down for the new car.
As a result, the logbook was sent to the old address and I never got it. The car's tax was out of date since May so I was getting worried it would be taken off me if I was pulled over so I got it taxed by sending the forms in the post.
Where were they sent? Yup, the wrong address..... cue me getting forms stamped in the Garda startion to get replacement disc and logbook. I eventually got the logbook this week - 9 weeks after I bought the car!

Paperwork and forms eh? :rolleyes:

ninty9er

zilog_jones wrote: »

I always thought it was this too, because on the renewal form it says "Application is made prior to or during" followed by the month after expiration, e.g. November 2008 on mine (it expired in October). I left it till this week because of this (I'm unemployed right now - all my dole money has gone to tax and insurance ), and was surprised to see this thread about people being so worried about their tax being out by a couple of days.

Prior to or during means that you don't need to declare the car off the road for a month before taxing, it's still illegal to put it on a public road.