Can I re-classify my car as a Hackney for cheap road tax?

mullingar

I have a 11 year old Lexus GS300 (perfect condition and 100% reliable) with a 3 litre engine and the road tax is a killer at €365 per quarter,

Similar to this:


Then last night on the walk home from the pub, I seen a 01 Merc S500 and being curious to see if it was the 500 engine I looked at the tax disc where it said HACKNEY €78. :eek: €78 / year road tax! - (No hackney plates on the exterior of the car)

Could I re-tax my car as a Hackney? I know the cars book value is only about €3-4k at the moment so I dont really care if re-classifying it as a Hackney will affect its re-sale value as I plan to drive it into the ground.

What are the requirements/pitfalls?

beam99

The only way to do that is to go tru the proper channels, i looked into that before, You need your licence and plate, and you also need the radio fitted when goin for the nct.

waraf

Have you any idea how much it costs to insure a hackney? My guess would be thousands

JHMEG

The driver must hold a PSV licence, for which you'll need to get a tax clearance cert from the Revenue, and then apply to do a PSV licence test (€250). AFAIK you have to renew every year in similar manner, ie tax cert and pay €250. The car has to also show the licence number and must be do the NCT every year.

You're not required to have a radio or meter.

the drifter

you dont need a radio to have the car classified as a hackney. but it does need to pass the psv nct test. and you do need to hold a psv licence...

Anan1

Are you allowed to use a hackney as a private car?

DanGerMus

Limo licence, same tax,same process no plates or radios, Small sticker on windows i think.

You need to get a PSV licence yourself. These days it will not be easy.
Then u have higher insurance, yearly NCT, Yearly licence renewal of 100 for you and 100 for the car i think(there abouts any way). You have to produce a tax clearance cert every year. I think they are going to make it so you cant use a PSV car as a private vehicle soon. You can save a bit alright but for what will work out as saving 20 euros a week is it worth it?

c4cat

JHMEG wrote: »

The driver must hold a PSV licence, for which you'll need to get a tax clearance cert from the Revenue, and then apply to do a PSV licence test (€250). AFAIK you have to renew every year in similar manner, ie tax cert and pay €250. The car has to also show the licence number and must be do the NCT every year.

You're not required to have a radio or meter.

A driver could be using a hackney for private purpose and not be picking up customers, then that driver does not need to have a psv license or psv insurance to drive the hackney as a personal private use vehicle. Only when the vehicle is actually working as a hackney picking up passengers does the driver need hackney insurance and a psv license. It is said Mr M Oleary of Ryanair has licensed a car as a taxi for his own private use so he can use the bus lanes

the drifter

DanGerMus wrote: »

Limo licence, same tax,same process no plates or radios, Small sticker on windows i think.

You need to get a PSV licence yourself. These days it will not be easy.
Then u have higher insurance, yearly NCT, Yearly licence renewal of 100 for you and 100 for the car i think(there abouts any way). You have to produce a tax clearance cert every year. I think they are going to make it so you cant use a PSV car as a private vehicle soon. You can save a bit alright but for what will work out as saving 20 euros a week is it worth it?

20 yo yo and the ability to use bus lanes

JHMEG

c4cat wrote: »

It is said Mr M Oleary of Ryanair has licensed a car as a taxi for his own private use so he can use the bus lanes

He does, but his driver drives it for him. So I assume it's his driver that has the PSV licence.

Gumbo

c4cat wrote: »

A driver could be using a hackney for private purpose and not be picking up customers, then that driver does not need to have a psv license or psv insurance to drive the hackney as a personal private use vehicle. Only when the vehicle is actually working as a hackney picking up passengers does the driver need hackney insurance and a psv license. It is said Mr M Oleary of Ryanair has licensed a car as a taxi for his own private use so he can use the bus lanes

You cant just ring up your insurance Co. on a saturday night and tell them you want hackney insurance for the weekend and then go back to private use on the monday.

either your in or your not, you cant go half way so in order for this to work, you need the following :

PSV licence
Tax clearance cert
Hackney insurance (which may be around the 1200-1500 mark)
then you PSV NCT the car.
now your registered as a hackney.

you then tax the car for the year €82.00 iirc
and then the following year you do all teh NCT malarky again.

but bear in mind, you now have to register yourself with the tax man and declare income, and tax returns, doesnt matter if your working it or not, you still have to complete a return every October or so.

the drifter wrote: »

20 yo yo and the ability to use bus lanes

not in a hackney, you cant

the drifter

kceire wrote: »

not in a hackney, you cant

Really....oh dear......:cool:

Lex Luthor

if it was that easy, we'd all be doing it

Alun

Lex Luthor wrote: »

if it was that easy, we'd all be doing it

Exactly. If people would apply that one simple test before posting it would be enough to get rid of 99.99% of all the "I've got a cunning plan to outwit those thieving Revenue ba$tards" threads on here.

dutchcat

kceire wrote: »

You cant just ring up your insurance Co. on a saturday night and tell them you want hackney insurance for the weekend and then go back to private use on the monday.

either your in or your not, you cant go half way so in order for this to work, you need the following :

PSV licence
Tax clearance cert
Hackney insurance (which may be around the 1200-1500 mark)
then you PSV NCT the car.
now your registered as a hackney.

you then tax the car for the year €82.00 iirc
and then the following year you do all teh NCT malarky again.

but bear in mind, you now have to register yourself with the tax man and declare income, and tax returns, doesnt matter if your working it or not, you still have to complete a return every October or so.



not in a hackney, you cant

also a taxi can only use a bus lane if it has a fare on board

JHMEG

dutchcat wrote: »

also a taxi can only use a bus lane if it has a fare on board

Or if on the way to picking up a fare. Which, for obvious reasons, is all the time that they are not carrying one.

seanybiker

Me brothers wife has a A-team looking VW van that she uses for the kids and students she has. It was a hackney before she bought it and is still down as one so she only paid 60-70 yo-yo's for the tax. Was bustiing meself laughing when I checked the tax on it to see how much it was.

seanybiker

seanybiker wrote: »

Me brothers wife has a A-team looking VW van that she uses for the kids and students she has. It was a hackney before she bought it and is still down as one so she only paid 60-70 yo-yo's for the tax. Was bustiing meself laughing when I checked the tax on it to see how much it was.

When renewing she must have ticked the appropriate box on the form to be taxed as a PSV. If the VRF states hackney / taxi and you go to tax it and tick Private as the tax class they take the VRF off you and send out a replacement in a few days with the correct use on it. Your sister in law would be in serious dog do if stopped by a Garda.

colm reilly

dutchcat wrote: »

also a taxi can only use a bus lane if it has a fare on board

wrong ...... can use the bus late traveling to collect a job

AlanD

kceire wrote: »

PSV licence
Tax clearance cert
Hackney insurance (which may be around the 1200-1500 mark)
then you PSV NCT the car.
now your registered as a hackney.

you then tax the car for the year €82.00 iirc
and then the following year you do all teh NCT malarky again.

How much is a PSV NCT?

I believe hackney insurance is compulsory, you won't get the license unless you can show it's insured that way.

How much is a tax clearance cert?

Actually, could someone who knows the figures for the lot tot it all up there?

Is the PSV license difficult?

Personally, it's something I'll consider when buying the next car. Stuff like this is hassle if you think that way, but I'd do most things to save money. My own time is free, so those things wouldn't be a huge problem.

I wouldn't mind working the car too....weddings etc. Handy money.