Taxing a car

johnc24

Hi all

We got a 99 astra about 2/3 years ago and had all the tax up to date etc, now we recently got an 05 astra but I have been waiting for some paperwork such as a pin in order to do my tax online, but I have received nothing so far, we got the car on april 6th.

So I have of course been trying to contact the motor tax office with obviously nobody at work today because I was on hold for 10 mins!

Whats the procedure and does anybody have a direct landline number to discuss the matter with them.

itsallaboutme!!

johnc24,

far as i know if your taxing the car in your name for the first time you cannot do it online as you will be changing details of owner address etc. once it has been taxed in your name though you will receive your reminder letter with pin number every time your tax is due for renewal. i got mine today and my tax is up end of the month!

Anan1

AFAIK, when first taxing a car you bought used you have to do it either by post or in person at a tax office. Subsequent renewals can be done online.

Thoie

I was going to ask something similar, but took a look at the Motor Tax FAQ

3Q. Where do I get a PIN?
3A. ... In the case of the first taxing of a new or imported vehicle, the PIN is the last six characters of your vehicle's chassis number as printed on your RF100 form. You should have received your RF100 form either from your Motor Dealer or Revenue.

I'm not sure from that if it's specifically for brand new cars as I believe you get the RF100 from a dealer when buying secondhand as well. Anyone tried it?

far as i know if your taxing the car in your name for the first time you cannot do it online as you will be changing details of owner address etc.

Surely though if you've bought it secondhand, the VLC will have already been updated with your details, so the change will already have been notified?

Anan1

Thoie wrote: »

I'm not sure from that if it's specifically for brand new cars as I believe you get the RF100 from a dealer when buying secondhand as well. Anyone tried it?

You only get the RF100 when the car is first registered here, either new or as a used import.

Thoie wrote: »

Surely though if you've bought it secondhand, the VLC will have already been updated with your details, so the change will already have been notified?

You'd think they could just send a form with the new VLC and let you tax it online, wouldn't you?;)

Thoie

Anan1 wrote: »

You'd think they could just send a form with the new VLC and let you tax it online, wouldn't you?;)

Aha, I see where I went wrong there...

*lowers expectations of Irish civil service even further*

Thoie

In other news...

My current car has about 10 weeks of tax left on it, and is the same engine size as the new car. Given that it's the same tax rate etc, I thought it would be reasonable to transfer the tax from the old to new, but they don't do that. They also don't refund tax if there's less than 3 months left. They couldn't explain why just "We don't do that".:mad:

Do you reckon it's due to admin costs, laziness or just general meanness? If it's just admin costs I'll happily write the new reg and car details on the disc for them :rolleyes:

The-Game

Thoie wrote: »

In other news...

My current car has about 10 weeks of tax left on it, and is the same engine size as the new car. Given that it's the same tax rate etc, I thought it would be reasonable to transfer the tax from the old to new, but they don't do that. They also don't refund tax if there's less than 3 months left. They couldn't explain why just "We don't do that".:mad:

Do you reckon it's due to admin costs, laziness or just general meanness? If it's just admin costs I'll happily write the new reg and car details on the disc for them :rolleyes:

Its just a part of the money making scam!! Will just have to deal with it.

Thoie

The-Game wrote: »

Its just a part of the money making scam!! Will just have to deal with it.

Or! I could say "f*** 'em". Unfortunately, being a good citizen, I probably won't . Wish I wasn't so law abiding.

Would be interesting to see what would happen if you just changed the disc over to the new car (complete with wrong reg details) and got stopped.

Hmm, have just gone searching for the relevant motor tax laws, and can't seem to find any. There's one from 1924 discussing setting up a bank account for motor tax, there's a piece on http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/motoring-1/motor-tax-and-insurance/motor_tax_rates saying

Failure to tax your vehicle and/or display a current tax disc is a serious offence and you are liable to receive a fine and/or face prosecution if you do not comply.

but I'm not finding the actual legislation on http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ - anyone know where it is?

The-Game

If you have the disc from the old car in the new one and get stopped then you can be done for driving without tax, having a fraudulent disc on display and possibly have the car taken and impounded.

Means you get hit with fines for the charges and paying for the towing and impounding, really not worth the hassle.

Thoie

I was just curious to see if they have that covered, and they do:

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1976/en/act/pub/0016/sec0073.html#zza16y1976s73

a licence which is both issued in respect of the vehicle and is for the time being in force

(my italics)