Motor Tax Fine - Parked at my house

AlOD

Hey all,

Today I received a nice Christmas present, a €60 fine for not displaying a tax disk in my car, as it was parked at my house.

I bought the car in November and am still waiting for the VRC to come from Shannon. I spoke to a Garda in the local station and he told me that he "think it has to go through the court."

Can anyone offer me any advice on this as I won't be able to get in touch with the queries line until after Christmas. As far as I was aware, parking at my house, would be fine, even if it was outside the gate for a couple hours. Even at that, I didn't think that Gardaí made a habit of driving up and down housing estates inspecting every parked car.

I'm going to appeal it at any rate, but I was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation or has any advice to offer!

Thanks in advance.

Gran Hermano

If the car is on the road it needs tax.
If it has no tax it must be on private property.
Next time stick it in a driveway or garage it.

unkel

AlOD wrote: »

I bought the car in November and am still waiting for the VRC to come from Shannon.

This usually takes less than a week. It must have gone missing in the post or something. Email Shannon and tell them you didn't get it (print this out and any reply you get from them) and ask them for a pin for taxing your car online. Make sure you then tax the car from November 1st and bring all this proof with you to the Garda station

If the Garda can't / won't cancel the fine and you refuse to pay it, you could let it go to court and hope the judge will throw it out.

CrowdedHouse

unkel wrote: »

This usually takes less than a week.

I've a work mate waiting since July...all he gets from Shannon is 'there's a backlog'

AlOD

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I've a work mate waiting since July...all he gets from Shannon is 'there's a backlog'

My brother bought a car in November 2010 and only got it from Shannon in January 2011, I was waiting until then to ring up about it, given that "back log".

Thanks Unkel, I think I might do that after I ring up the information number on the fine notice provided I have no joy in having it sorted out.

Gran Hermano, what if one has no driveway or garage to keep a car, surely there are small exceptions to "on the road" such as actually being driven on the road, or moved in and out of a driveway.

"It is a legal requirement in Ireland to have motor tax if you want to drive your vehicle in a public place... Not only are you obliged by law to pay motor tax to drive your vehicle, you are also required to display evidence that you have paid (i.e., a current tax disc) on the windscreen of your vehicle. Failure to display a current tax disc on your vehicle is considered a motoring offence and will result in a €60 fixed-charge fine issued by a traffic warden or a Garda." from Citizens Information website, http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/motor_tax_and_insurance/motor_tax_rates.html

I agree that a car should have tax if it is being driven on a public road, however, the system does not allow for it to be taxed. I have kept the old log book slip placed instead of the tax disk as an indication that I am waiting for the tax, something that a Garda checkpoint was happy to let go without question while I was driving it home after buying it.

h3000

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I've a work mate waiting since July...all he gets from Shannon is 'there's a backlog'

My misses changed her car last month and the VLC arrived in three days.

-Chris-

Legally, you can't have it on the road. It's at the Garda/Warden's discretion whether they think it's worth fining you or not.

You'd hope they'd use common sense most of the time, but at the same time if they see a car parked on the road there's no way they can tell if it's just there temporarily or if it's in daily use.

mondeo

h3000 wrote: »

My misses changed her car last month and the VLC arrived in three days.

Is she a Diplomat by any chance?:D

It always took a month or longer for me.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Del2005

Does your estate have a management company? Otherwise you have to pay the fine.

The checkpoint was almost 2 months ago and your not going to have tax till January. Your lucky it wasn't impounded.

AlOD

Veles, it was outside my driveway on the kerb at the grass verge in Tallaght. It was not causing any obstruction. There are numerous cars parked in a similar way throughout the whole estate.

Del 2005, the car was bought a little over a month ago. It won't be two months until after the first week in January. It would be under the local council, not an estate management company.

-Chris- you're right, it is discretion and judgment about being in daily use, however, when you're sending it to a registered address on the same road you're stating the alleged offense was on, their common sense is hardly being used.

Cuddlesworth

If you go to the motortax website and hit forgot my pin you should be able to get a pin code mailed to you if your details have been updated.

TestTransmission

AlOD wrote: »

Veles, it was outside my driveway on the kerb at the grass verge in Tallaght. It was not causing any obstruction. There are numerous cars parked in a similar way throughout the whole estate.

Del 2005, the car was bought a little over a month ago. It won't be two months until after the first week in January. It would be under the local council, not an estate management company.

It was on a public road so.

jhegarty

If the ownership hasn't transferred yet then the last owner will get the fine , not you.

Guy:Incognito

jhegarty wrote: »

If the ownership hasn't transferred yet then the last owner will get the fine , not you.

If the fine was delivered to the house (seems to have been) then the car is in the OP's name.

Tigger

It's probably. Cheaper to pay 60 than to
Tax for nov and dec so there is that

Guy:Incognito

Tigger wrote: »

It's probably. Cheaper to pay 60 than to
Tax for nov and dec so there is that

How do you propose he declares it off the road in December having gotten a fine for not displaying tax during December?

Tigger

can't tell you lol

AlOD

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

If the fine was delivered to the house (seems to have been) then the car is in the OP's name.

Yep, this is the first confirmation I have received that the car is in my name. A fine, not my log book... If I'm the only one that does sees a problem with this then I assume there's something wrong with me.

Tigger, it's actually about the same, it's €33 or €35 in the new year per month, and the fine is for the 8th of December, issued the 21st, no, it really is not cheaper, unless it was the start of November

Thanks Cuddlesworth, I'll give that a look!

Stheno

I bought my car on Nov. 30th change of ownership was sent off next day to Shannon and arrived on the 21st dec.

Went to tax it today and pay the Nov. arrears, the lady in the the tax office told me to get it declared off the road rather than pay a months tax for a days ownership!

Chimaera

If the car is in your name, you should be able to go into the local motor tax office and tax it. Just fill out the RF100a (https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/pdf/RF100A_en.pdf) and you're sorted.

AlOD

Managed to get the pin emailed to me, and can log in to tax it. Can I even get it declared off the road up to December until the ownership comes through the post?

Stheno, was that through private or dealer sale?

Del2005

AlOD wrote: »

Veles, it was outside my driveway on the kerb at the grass verge in Tallaght. It was not causing any obstruction. There are numerous cars parked in a similar way throughout the whole estate.

TestTransmission wrote: »

It was on a public road so.

And parked illegally. You gotta love our law enforcers, 2 offences and only 1 fine so far.

AlOD wrote: »

Del 2005, the car was bought a little over a month ago. It won't be two months until after the first week in January. It would be under the local council, not an estate management company.

AlOD wrote: »

I have kept the old log book slip placed instead of the tax disk as an indication that I am waiting for the tax

It doesn't mater how long ago you bought the car. It was parked on a public road with no tax displayed, by rights it should have been lifted.

You will only have to pay the tax from the time you bought it, but you can't declare it off the road as it was parked, partially, on the public road.

Do you have a driveway?

unkel

AlOD wrote: »

Managed to get the pin emailed to me, and can log in to tax it. Can I even get it declared off the road up to December until the ownership comes through the post?

I think that tells all about your thread

And about the attitude of many, perhaps even the majority of people in this country. No wonder the country is in the sh1ts

ted1

Parked on a public road, you need to pay. You can't declare it off road as it has being caught on a public road. As for not having a drive way tough. Why should people who paid the extra cost of having a drive way subsidies those who didn't.

AlOD

unkel wrote: »

I think that tells all about your thread

And about the attitude of many, perhaps even the majority of people in this country. No wonder the country is in the sh1ts

No, I wasn't trying to evade on motor tax, it was the first week it was insured and I started lessons in it, the first week I was going to back tax it to. My thread is looking for advice, am I liable to pay the fine if I couldn't tax it until I could back tax it to the date? You are right though, that is the attitude of many people that I have met, and why I welcome the proposal of not allowing a car to be "declared off the road" provided people can tax their car immediately after buying a car. Up until tonight, I was not aware of the retrieve my pin function on the motor tax website, had I known, I would not be in this predicament.

Del 2005, I do, an there may have been one car parked in it, that if I was to park behind I would be parking on the footpath. And I would be on the kerb if there was a car the opposite side of the road, where there has been a wing mirror clipped off and a bin lorry scratched another car at the same point, so sometimes you need to use common sense for the safety of other road users when parking in that kind of situation.

Del2005 wrote:

You will only have to pay the tax from the time you bought it, but you can't declare it off the road as it was parked, partially, on the public road.

So would this negate the fine or am I still forced to pay/appeal it?

Del2005

AlOD wrote: »

Del 2005, I do, an there may have been one car parked in it, that if I was to park behind I would be parking on the footpath. And I would be on the kerb if there was a car the opposite side of the road, where there has been a wing mirror clipped off and a bin lorry scratched another car at the same point, so sometimes you need to use common sense for the safety of other road users when parking in that kind of situation.

I live in the real world. But it's still illegal to park on the path. The fact that our planners still live in cloud cuckoo land about car ownership doesn't negate the fact that you broke the law. You've no right to park outside your house unless you have an assigned driveway. And the law of parking on the footpath isn't for the safety of road users it for the safety of footpath users.

AlOD wrote: »

So would this negate the fine or am I still forced to pay/appeal it?

You will have to pay the fine for non-display of tax and being on a public road with no tax. You'll only have to pay back tax for Nov and Dec.

AlOD wrote: »

why I welcome the proposal of not allowing a car to be "declared off the road" provided people can tax their car immediately after buying a car

Just consider yourself lucky they haven't brought it in yet. A friend bought a fixer up bike without Tax or MoT when living in a flat in London, it cost him several grand in fines and parking garage fees till he got a house with a garage.

In the UK you need to the person selling it to tax it before you can even leave the garage/house and AFAIK the same law applies here but is never enforced.

Edit,

How did you get it home?

Senna

I bought a car on the 3rd of November, tax book arrived by the 16th of November.

Marcusm

TestTransmission wrote: »

It was on a public road so.

Worse than that, it sounds lie it was partly on the footpath which in most paces would be a further fine!

Marcusm

ted1 wrote: »

Parked on a public road, you need to pay. You can't declare it off road as it has being caught on a public road. As for not having a drive way tough. Why should people who paid the extra cost of having a drive way subsidies those who didn't.

Aw, that's not fair. You shouldn't have told him that. Given the attitude he's displaying, it would have been better or him to get a further charge of making a false declaration!

Brian?

That's unfortunate, you'd think the Garda involved would display some humanity. Legally though, you're in the wrong. I

You don't need your logbook to tax a car, all you need is your insurance details and money.

Del2005

briankeating wrote: »

That's unfortunate, you'd think the Garda involved would display some humanity. Legally though, you're in the wrong. I

All the Garda saw was a car parked on the road with no Motor Tax displayed, the humanity was they did let them off the illegal parking fine.

If the OP had been stopped on the road I'd hope a Garda would use their discretion, it wasn't the OPs fault after all, but there was no interaction between the person who issued the fine and the OP.

A car shouldn't be on a public road without motor tax, the OP could have parked it in a private estate or a car park but once it's on a public road it requires Motor Tax.

briankeating wrote: »

You don't need your logbook to tax a car, all you need is your insurance details and money.

It helps if it's in you name so the disc can come to the correct place.

A garage may have a record of who they sold the car to, but AFAIK it's still registered to the last owner so the disc would go to them not the garage or the OP. That's if the OP bought off a garage, private sale I'd say they'd be lucky to get the disc sent on.

slimjimmc

Del2005 wrote: »

It helps if it's in you name so the disc can come to the correct place.

True, but if you pay the tax at your local Motor Tax office you get to walk out the door with the disc in your hand.

Del2005 wrote: »

A garage may have a record of who they sold the car to, but AFAIK it's still registered to the last owner so the disc would go to them not the garage or the OP. That's if the OP bought off a garage, private sale I'd say they'd be lucky to get the disc sent on.

In this case it looks like the seller has done his bit and the OP is already the registered owner otherwise the parking fine would have went to the previous owner instead.

OP, not that it matters much because you still have to pay it, but was the fine issued by a Garda or a Traffic Warden?

Mr Benevolent

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I've a work mate waiting since July...all he gets from Shannon is 'there's a backlog'

I bought my car on November 29th and had the VRC on the 10th of December.