Motor tax arrears when selling car

eggy81

I recently changed my car through a private purchase.
My old cars tax was out at the end of September and I hadn't planned on changing cars but all of a sudden an opportunity to buy something I liked cheaply came up and I just took the plunge.
The problem is my old car is sitting outside with 2 months arrears on it now.
My question is if I sell this car will the new owner be liable for the arrears. It's not worth much. Sub €1k so what's the best thing to do. Tax it for 3 months and clear arrears or just try to sell it as is in which case the lack of tax may restrict any interest that it might attract.

mickdw

As above, no arrears once name is changed. New owner has to pay from beginning of month in which it went into their name.

That is not to say that some chancer wont come along to buy your car and try to tell you it will cost them 3 months tax just to get the arrears sorted. Send them on their way if you hear that crap.
Also, just in case you dont know - Do not under any circumstances hand over the registration cert to new owner. YOU send it to department of transport in shannon. If you did hand it over, the car may remain in your name and you might be busy paying tolls and fines.

coylemj

LIGHTNING wrote: »

You don't pay back tax on a car when you purchase it so there is no point in paying for it now if your going to sell the car.

+1 The new owner only has to tax it from the first day of the month in which he bought it so ideally you'd sell it in the last week of a month, then send the registration cert off to Shannon on the first of the month with that date on it as the effective date for the change of ownership. The buyer then has to tax it from that date.

Do not hand over the cert. to the buyer as he may be tempted to delay registering the change of ownership to get another free month with no tax and you'll start getting his speeding tickets.

eggy81

Thanks for the info lads. Yeah I knew to be careful about the cert alright but was unsure as to the tax situation as I assumed technically I should have had car signed off road if it wasn't taxed and not driving it.

mickdw

Yes you should if you intended putting it on the road again.
There is a quirk in the law here that means motor tax only comes due once the car is on the road so despite any letters you may receive stating your tax is out, if you do not use the car in public, you are not bound to have tax on it so if never going on the road in your ownership, no issue.

The system in the uk is different even though they operate a similar system of declaring off road. In the uk, you either tax it or declare it off the road. If either of these is not in place, an automatic fine will issue.

eeguy

How can a buyer test drive the car with no tax? Or drive it away?

Atlantic Dawn

eeguy wrote: »

How can a buyer test drive the car with no tax? Or drive it away?

With a good eye out for Garda cars

eeguy

eeguy wrote: »

How can a buyer test drive the car with no tax? Or drive it away?

Most cars aren't tax when sold. No new car sold is ever taxed for instance, its no big deal.

coylemj

Noah Dry Ale wrote: »

Most cars aren't tax when sold. No new car sold is ever taxed for instance, its no big deal.

A new car is no big deal as the Garda will be able to see from the reg. no. that it's brand new. An untaxed car bought from a dealer is no big deal either as you will have the sales receipt but an untaxed car bought privately is potentially a big deal as you won't have any paperwork worth talking about to blag your way out of it. You'll just have to promise to produce a valid tax disc within a couple of weeks and hope that that gets you off the hook, otherwise the car might be seized.

eeguy

Noah Dry Ale wrote: »

Most cars aren't tax when sold. No new car sold is ever taxed for instance, its no big deal.

Learn something new every day

coylemj

coylemj wrote: »

A new car is no big deal as the Garda will be able to see from the reg. no. that it's brand new. An untaxed car bought from a dealer is no big deal either as you will have the sales receipt but an untaxed car bought privately is potentially a big deal as you won't have any paperwork worth talking about to blag your way out of it. You'll just have to promise to produce a valid tax disc within a couple of weeks and hope that that gets you off the hook, otherwise the car might be seized.

You will normally have a receipt signed by you and the seller in a private sale too and often just as believable as what you get with a used car from a dealer which is often very little.

eeguy wrote: »

Learn something new every day

It's often a few weeks on the road before a new car will see tax while waiting for paper work etc.

earlytobed

coylemj wrote: »

+1 The new owner only has to tax it from the first day of the month in which he bought it so ideally you'd sell it in the last week of a month, then send the registration cert off to Shannon on the first of the month with that date on it as the effective date for the change of ownership. The buyer then has to tax it from that date.
.

Tax is due from the date of transfer of ownership, so if sold on last day of month, tax has to be paid from the first, regardless of when the form was sent to Shannon.
Happened to me last, I purchased on the 28th October, the car was out of tax and I had to pay tax from the First October