Buying without tax

grogi

It's 21st of April, buying a car without valid tax.

I'd want not to pay the tax for April - the car will not be driven by May anyway. How to best play it?

GustavoFring

It's quite simple - Wait until May to buy or complete the change of ownership late. If it's on the road in April (even taking it home) you might have some explaining to do. Also some insurance implications if it's not registered to you.

Personally I'd just give a deposit and pick it up on the 1st May.

CiniO

Buy it today, and once you receive logbook, make declaration that car was off the road since purchase. You can do it online on Motortax website. You have 21 days from today to do it.

Then on 1st of may tax the car.

biko

For declaring off the road you need to do this in advance and it cannot be done for less than 3 months.
http://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/motor-tax/vehicle-road/qa

Imo, pay deposit now and sign and send paperwork 1st of May.




EDIT, see correction below

Buffman

I had this situation with the last car I bought.

When the logbook/VRC changes into your name, you can declare it off the road from the start of the month you bought it, regardless of the current month (has to be within 21 days of purchase date). Then tax it normally from then on.

So in your case, transfer of ownership date is 21/04/17, when it goes through, you declare off the road from 01/04/17, then tax as normal in May.

It's a stupid set up that forces the new owner to sign a declaration covering a period that they didn't own the car, so how can they know it was off the road! But that's the way it is.

Obviously, to keep the high horses around here happy, it goes without saying that you shouldn't be using the car in April if doing it this way.

Q14. I've just bought a vehicle - how can I make a declaration that I intend to keep it off the road for a while?
A14. If you have just bought a new vehicle or just acquired a second hand one and do not intend to use it immediately, you will have twenty one days from the date of purchase (as specified in the registration document or the notification of transfer of vehicle ownership) to furnish a declaration of non-use. In that case, the declaration will commence from the first day of the month in which the sale takes place, or the first day of the month of registration in the case of new vehicles.
Make sure you notify the seller that you are intending to declare the vehicle off the road and that you need him or her to ensure that the change of ownership is notified to the National Vehicle and Driver File as soon as possible.

CiniO

biko wrote: »

For declaring off the road you need to do this in advance and it cannot be done for less than 3 months.

That's incorrect.
You can declare vehicle you just purchased restrospectively up to 21 days from purchase date.
Can be done both in motortax office or online.

So if OP buys a car today (21st April), he can make a declaration as late as 12th of May.
He will just need to declare that he didn't use the car in public place since 21st of April (purchase date).

Indeed minimum declaration period is 3 months, but that's irrelevant, as declaration can be cancelled anytime by taxing the car.


So f.e. OP can buy a car today.
Let's say he will get his logbook on 2nd May.
He can then make an online declaration that he didn't use a vehicle since 21st April, and will have to declare that he is not going to use it for 3 months (or 6 or 12), but then a minute later he can tax the car and tax and start driving straight away.

biko

Thanks guys, seems there is a provision for new cars I have missed.