Transferring motor tax from one car to another

Water14

What would happen if someone's car was being fixed and one used their second car. One transferred over the car insurance to the second car and thought they could do the same with their motor tax disc as both cars motor tax is of the same amount. So, a guard said this was illegal and said he is giving them a summons for tax fraud. (A pothole burst the water tank of the first tank).

coylemj

You can't transfer car tax, I assume you mean that when you were stopped by the Garda that you had the tax disc from car A displayed on the windscreen of car B. Getting the insurance switched is easy, it happens all the time but that's not the same as car tax.

You seem to imply that you or the hypothetical 'someone' owns the second car, the one you someone was driving when the Garda stopped you someone, why wasn't that car taxed in the first place?

Water14

If insurance can be transferred from one car to another, thought motor tax could be too. The same person owns both cars but the first one had to go to garage after going over pothole (damaged water tank). The second car was not taxed as was about to sell it and so didn't tax it and taxed first car instead.

coylemj

Insurance is a contract between you and a company to cover the driving of the car. The tax disc in a car is a tax that you pay to the government, it only covers that car and cannot be transferred to any other vehicle under any circumstances.

You can go into court and claim that you thought that you could 'transfer' the car tax by the simple act of moving the disc from one windscreen to another but you'll be laughed out of it. I never heard someone make that assumption before, should give the judge a good laugh, you might even get away with what's known in the business as a fool's pardon.

Bosco boy

I believe the summons is for exhibiting a false disc.

Victor

No there would be two charges, not having tax and not displaying.

OP, if you phoned the insurance company about transferring the insurance (you did, didn't you?), who did you phone about transferring the tax?

Bosco boy

In relation to the false disc they would not be appropiate but they would be additional to the false disc, I have prosecuted this offence and dispite it being relatively minor offence the dpps directions are required. Especially where the disc has been altered.

Our man in Havana

You are into the realms of forgery.

coylemj

I think we're into speculation here, we don't know if the tax disc was altered, just that it was physically moved to a different car.

OP, did you just move the tax disc from the damaged car to your other car and do nothing else with it or did you make some alterations to the reg. no printed on the disc to make it look like the disc was issued for your second car, the one you were driving when the Garda stopped you?

Water14

The disc was just moved and not altered in any way.

Water14

Is it true that this is prosecuted under the Road Traffic Act 1973?
Does this Act specifically say you cannot transfer the disc from one car to another (you only have one on road at a time and own two cars with one being fixed)?

Our man in Havana

Section 73 Finance Act 1976

73.—(1) Where a vehicle to which this Part applies is used, parked or otherwise kept at any time in a public place, if while the vehicle is being so used, parked or kept there is not fixed to and exhibited on the vehicle in accordance with section 5 (5) of the Act of 1920 a licence which is both issued in respect of the vehicle and is for the time being in force, then the person by whom the vehicle is so used, parked or kept at the time shall be guilty of an offence, and in addition to the person aforesaid, the person (if he is not the person aforesaid) who on the day on which the offence is committed is in relation to the vehicle the relevant person shall also be guilty of an offence.


(2) A person shall not be convicted under this section and under section 12 (4) of the Act of 1920 in respect of the same omission.

Water14

Imagine being convicted under the Finance Act in Ireland for this, when your first car's water tank was burst by a pothole on one of worst roads in Ireland, both cars had the same value of motor tax. Is this really tax fruad? Does the finace Act only apply not to cars and not the banks and department of finance as they never seem to get prosecuted under it?

234

It obviously applies to everybody unless they are expressly exempted. You should read the act before assuming that it somehow relevant to what you are complaining about. "Banks are b******s" is not a defence to a statutory offence.

Bosco boy

Once you display a disc on the car thats from another car then you are exhibiting a false disc, it may be the correct disc for a particular car but its false for the one you had it on. You also have no tax and are not displaying tax (because its not correct).

You may be lucky and the judge may NEVER have heard the pothole excuse before!

MagicSean

234 wrote: »

It obviously applies to everybody unless they are expressly exempted. You should read the act before assuming that it somehow relevant to what you are complaining about. "Banks are b******s" is not a defence to a statutory offence.

Has it been tried?

234

k_mac wrote: »

Has it been tried?