Due in court for no tax

scwazrh

Last July I got a ticket for no road tax from a traffic warden in kildare.I was supposed to pay the fine and never bothered .This progressed onto solicitors letter from kildare council and I have now received a summons to go to court in two months because of it.I really need to be in work on the day I'm supposed to go to court and I don't want to waste a day in court ( I know of should have paid fine to avoid this etc ) .

What's the usual outcome for this and also does anyone know what will happen if I dont bother going to court.

Oral Surgeon

scwazrh wrote: »

Last July I got a ticket for no road tax from a traffic warden in kildare.I was supposed to pay the fine and never bothered .This progressed onto solicitors letter from kildare council and I have now received a summons to go to court in two months because of it.I really need to be in work on the day I'm supposed to go to court and I don't want to waste a day in court ( I know of should have paid fine to avoid this etc ) .

What's the usual outcome for this and also does anyone know what will happen if I dont bother going to court.

Who cares? You didn't pay your tax, didn't bother paying the fine, couldn't be bothered going to court. If they slap a fine or a jail term on you, you probably won't bother with that either. Do whatever you want, it seems to be working out well for you.

scwazrh

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Who cares? You didn't pay your tax, didn't bother paying the fine, couldn't be bothered going to court. If they slap a fine or a jail term on you, you probably won't bother with that either. Do whatever you want, it seems to be working out well for you.

Thanks for your helpful comment.

whitebriar

If you don't go to court,a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest,was it no road tax,or just no road tax displayed?

Oral Surgeon

scwazrh wrote: »

Thanks for your helpful comment.

No problem, you know that you can pay your car tax online, you seem to have access to a computer?

Pro Hoc Vice

whitebriar wrote: »

If you don't go to court,a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest,was it no road tax,or just no road tax displayed?

Not for a minor road traffic offence. The matter will go ahead, a fine will be imposed with time to pay or time in default. If the person does not pay then a committal warrant will issue, he will then be arrested on the committal Warrant and jailed.

The OP can always appeal the penalty within 14 days if he wishes.

scwazrh

whitebriar wrote: »

If you don't go to court,a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest,was it no road tax,or just no road tax displayed?

Thanks .It was no road tax displayed.The disc in the car was a month out of date.Its a private car but the company look after tax and insurance and they taxed it but left the disc sitting in a drawer.I never realised it was out of date so didn't ask for the new disc. Looks like I'll have to spend a day in court so.

Pro Hoc Vice

scwazrh wrote: »

Thanks .It was no road tax displayed.The disc in the car was a month out of date.Its a private car but the company look after tax and insurance and they taxed it but left the disc sitting in a drawer.I never realised it was out of date so didn't ask for the new disc. Looks like I'll have to spend a day in court so.

Get the company to have their solicitor deal with the matter, it may after all be their fault. A bench warrant will not issue for such a matter.

sawdoubters

you don't want not to go to court,you get an arrest warrant and the garda come and arrest you
the fines will get bigger,make sure you have your tax and insurance in court,bring the tax disc to show it was taxed at the time

the worst thing is to ignore a court date

dollybird2

Contact the council offices tomorrow. Many offices take payment of fine at the incremented amount (usually 90 euro) up to two weeks prior to court date.
Otherwise have a representative attend court on your behalf with the tax disc covering the date the fine was issued & a letter from you outlining the reason valid tax was not displayed. Often when you have proof of tax purchased prior to and covering the date said fine was issued then the proceedings are quashed. The non display element is rarely enforced due to discs lost/delay with postal service/mistakenly put behind old disc etc

Stavros Murphy

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Who cares? You didn't pay your tax, didn't bother paying the fine, couldn't be bothered going to court. If they slap a fine or a jail term on you, you probably won't bother with that either. Do whatever you want, it seems to be working out well for you.

How's that working out for you at the moment?

roadsmart

infosys wrote: »

Not for a minor road traffic offence. The matter will go ahead, a fine will be imposed with time to pay or time in default. If the person does not pay then a committal warrant will issue, he will then be arrested on the committal Warrant and jailed.

The OP can always appeal the penalty within 14 days if he wishes.

This.

And if you can't make it on the day, you can employ a local solicitor to appear on your behalf. If you don't bother turning up or be represented the fine will be huge. If you are represented by a local solicitor who explains to the judge how the tax disc was held in a drawer by your company and you can prove the car was taxed on the day in question, the charge will either be struck out or you will receive a paltry fine.

slimjimmc

I doubt the Court will take kindly to you ignoring a summons by not appearing without good cause or being legally represented. I'm guessing you may be convicted in your absence (probably penalised to the full extent) or you could find two lads wearing peaky caps coming to your work armed with a warrant for arrest. A summons is not a mere invitation.

Guy:Incognito

infosys wrote: »

Get the company to have their solicitor deal with the matter, it may after all be their fault. A bench warrant will not issue for such a matter.

Regardless of who owns the car, the person driving it is responsible for making sure it is road legal and displaying discs etc.

Pro Hoc Vice

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Regardless of who owns the car, the person driving it is responsible for making sure it is road legal and displaying discs etc.

I never said he was or was not, I said the company could pay for a solicitor as they did not give him the disc. The company had taken responsibility to pay the tax on the OP's private car, they had done so, but not passed on the disc to the OP. Leading to the OP getting a fine, (which he should have at least asked the company to pay).

Stella Virgo

infosys wrote: »

Not for a minor road traffic offence. The matter will go ahead, a fine will be imposed with time to pay or time in default. If the person does not pay then a committal warrant will issue, he will then be arrested on the committal Warrant and jailed.

The OP can always appeal the penalty within 14 days if he wishes.

add CONVICTION to that list,and it be FOREVER on his record. not something you want to be explaning everytime you apply for a visa etc etc.

coylemj

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Regardless of who owns the car, the person driving it is responsible for making sure it is road legal and displaying discs etc.

How can the 'person driving it' be liable if the car is parked

In the case of illegal parking or non-display of a tax disc (while parked), it's the registered owner who gets summonsed and is liable if there is a fine.

And there will be no bench warrant, the OP will get a hefty fine if he fails to turn up and there is no response when the case is called.

It appears that the tax was already paid when the parking ticket was issued so my suggestion is that the OP writes a letter to the court (better still, send someone) with evidence that the tax was already paid, you should get a small fine or even a dismissal.

Pro Hoc Vice

Stella Virgo wrote: »

add CONVICTION to that list,and it be FOREVER on his record. not something you want to be explaning everytime you apply for a visa etc etc.

For a fine to issue from a court a conviction must be recorded. Which will more than likely happen now as a summons has issued even if the OP shows up, so it will be recorded on his record for life in any event.

allthedoyles

coylemj wrote: »

How can the 'person driving it' be liable if the car is parked

In the case of illegal parking or non-display of a tax disc (while parked), it's the registered owner who gets summonsed and is liable if there is a fine.

And there will be no bench warrant, the OP will get a hefty fine if he fails to turn up and there is no response when the case is called.

It appears that the tax was already paid when the parking ticket was issued so my suggestion is that the OP writes a letter to the court (better still, send someone) with evidence that the tax was already paid, you should get a small fine or even a dismissal.

proper advice eventually

Pro Hoc Vice

coylemj wrote: »

How can the 'person driving it' be liable if the car is parked

In the case of illegal parking or non-display of a tax disc (while parked), it's the registered owner who gets summonsed and is liable if there is a fine.

And there will be no bench warrant, the OP will get a hefty fine if he fails to turn up and there is no response when the case is called.

It appears that the tax was already paid when the parking ticket was issued so my suggestion is that the OP writes a letter to the court (better still, send someone) with evidence that the tax was already paid, you should get a small fine or even a dismissal.

The road traffic act defines use as including parking or parked. But you are correct about bench warrant, I have seen DJ's deal with minor cases with out the accused turning up.

BTW the OP said the car was his private car so he would receive the fine.

coylemj

infosys wrote: »

The company had taken responsibility to pay the tax on the OP's private car, they had done so, but not passed on the disc to the OP. Leading to the OP getting a fine, (which he should have at least asked the company to pay).

The company might have agreed to pay the OP's tax and insurance when he was recruited but in no way does that involve them taking 'responsibility' for those matters. It's still up to the OP to ensure that the car is taxed and insured and that a valid tax disc is displayed, regardless of who actually pays.

roadsmart

Stella Virgo wrote: »

add CONVICTION to that list,and it be FOREVER on his record. not something you want to be explaning everytime you apply for a visa etc etc.

Minor traffic offences taken into account for a visa??? ffs.

coylemj

infosys wrote: »

The road traffic act defines use as including parking or parked. But you are correct about bench warrant, I have seen DJ's deal with minor cases with out the accused turning up.

Non-display of a tax disc is not an RTA offence, it falls under the Finance Act 1976.

scwazrh

Thanks all.I think given the fact that I am the registered owner and ultimately I should of made sure the car was taxed ,insured and discs displayed I will have to go to court and explain my case.

I will post back and let you all know the outcome

Pro Hoc Vice

coylemj wrote: »

The company might have agreed to pay the OP's tax and insurance when he was recruited but in no way does that involve them taking 'responsibility' for those matters. It's still up to the OP to ensure that the car is taxed and insured and that a valid tax disc is displayed, regardless of who actually pays.

You must have skimmed over the thread

The OP said "Thanks .It was no road tax displayed.The disc in the car was a month out of date.Its a private car but the company look after tax and insurance and they taxed it but left the disc sitting in a drawer.I never realised it was out of date so didn't ask for the new disc. Looks like I'll have to spend a day in court so."

I said "Get the company to have their solicitor deal with the matter, it may after all be their fault. A bench warrant will not issue for such a matter."

Pro Hoc Vice

coylemj wrote: »

Non-display of a tax disc is not an RTA offence, it falls under the Finance Act 1976.

The definition of use would fall under the RTA, unless you are saying it is not an offence to have a motor vehicle in a public place with out motor tax. If so then thousands of fixed penalty notices and summons are invalid.

coylemj

infosys wrote: »

You must have skimmed over the thread

No, I read the entire thread.

infosys wrote: »

I said "Get the company to have their solicitor deal with the matter, it may after all be their fault. A bench warrant will not issue for such a matter."

You also said the following ....

infosys wrote: »

The company had taken responsibility to pay the tax on the OP's private car

Which I take issue with. Agreeing to pay the OP's tax and insurance does not involve taking responsibility for the same. Whoever pays, its still the OP's responsibility to ensure that it is paid (by whoever) and that a valid disc is displayed.

Pro Hoc Vice

coylemj wrote: »

No, I read the entire thread.



You also said the following ....



Which I take issue with. Agreeing to pay the OP's tax and insurance does not involve taking responsibility for the same.

I never said it waived the OP's responsibility I said as they caused the issue they could pay for a solicitor to defend the matter, to limit the OP's loss of a days work. The company could also agree to the OP having a paid day off.

While the company may or may not be criminally liable, there error helped to cause the issue.

coylemj

infosys wrote: »

The definition of use would fall under the RTA,

Says who?

infosys wrote: »

unless you are saying it is not an offence to have a motor vehicle in a public place with out motor tax. If so then thousands of fixed penalty notices and summons are invalid.

I said no such thing.

challengemaster

infosys wrote: »

The company could also agree to the OP having a paid day off.

You'd want to be having a right laugh, considering if the OP was bothered to pay the fine there'd be no need to take any day off.

Pro Hoc Vice

coylemj wrote: »

Says who?



I said no such thing.

Sorry I misunderstood your post.

Oral Surgeon

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

How's that working out for you at the moment?

What are you getting at????!!

Stavros Murphy

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

What are you getting at????!!

The OPs car was taxed, the fee was paid. High horses, etc..

Oral Surgeon

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

The OPs car was taxed, the fee was paid. High horses, etc..

The original post;

scwazrh wrote: »

Last July I got a ticket for no road tax from a traffic warden in kildare.I was supposed to pay the fine and never bothered .This progressed onto solicitors letter from kildare council and I have now received a summons to go to court in two months because of it.I really need to be in work on the day I'm supposed to go to court and I don't want to waste a day in court ( I know of should have paid fine to avoid this etc ) .

What's the usual outcome for this and also does anyone know what will happen if I dont bother going to court.

The op conveniently changed his story after getting some stick.

Why did he say that he forgot to pay the fine?? I wouldn't pay a fine if I knew that my road tax was paid and I just forgot to display.

corktina

but the fine was fro not displaying, it's a separate offence to not having tax

Oral Surgeon

corktina wrote: »

but the fine was fro not displaying, it's a separate offence to not having tax

Again, not in the op!!

corktina

you wouldn't pay a fine you got because you consider that non-display is not a real offence like not having tax?

Oral Surgeon

corktina wrote: »

you wouldn't pay a fine you got because you consider that non-display is not a real offence like not having tax?

No, but again, the op said that he got a ticket for no road tax (not failure to display). While failure to display is an offense (I think), if I had paid road tax and forgot to display, I would appeal it. The op mentioned not such thing and IMO did not have valid road tax paid and just back tracked when he got some stick....
Nothing about this adds up.
Why not mention the failure to display in the op?
Why would your employer pay road tax on a private motor vehicle?
Why would there be any problem getting a day off work trying to sort out an issue with the road tax apparently paid by your employer who then forgot to give you the disc??

I call BS on this one

thecomedian

Can an employer insure an employees private car?

Spook_ie

Hang by the neck until dead that'll teach him to tax/display it next time :-)

oldyouth

thecomedian wrote: »

Can an employer insure an employees private car?

No, but they can do the paperwork for you