Taxi scam in Dublin

topper75 · 07-03-2019 10:54AM

Can somebody please inform the ignorant such as myself how Revenue interfaces with the taxi industry?
It is a cash business chiefly. Can you collect fares all day-night and then radically under-declare? Where are the checks?

The term 'racist' has now actually become a joke through misuse. These people were operating illegally in the country and perpetrating fraud.
If the first port of call on this story for you is whether the people had dark-coloured skin, pale freckly skin, or green and pink striped skin, then maybe the race obsession is in fact all yours.

Fiftyfilthy · 07-03-2019 10:56AM

Bigus wrote: »

Twice I complained to the taxi regulator, about driver issues, one being wrong driver for taxi ID displayed and second for same but this fella literally could not drive , and I mean not drive at all , he must never have driven a manual before that night.

On both occasions the regulator tried to deflect my complaints at every point of communication, including a gruff phone call , insisting I might end up in court as a witness and would I really really go ahead with the hassle of this.
it was only at my insistence that he "says " he went ahead with a fine , which I as the instigator got no confirmation of subsequently .
Now that I think about there's a good chance these complaints were still buried.
All went to hell when the Garda carriage office was disbanded as the regulator.

I firmly believe the government and in this example the taxi body are fine with the situation. I can imagine the back handers and blind eyes that’s going on

Pythagorean · 07-03-2019 11:07AM

Yurt! wrote: »

This was a very evident problem, particularly over the past two years. I had one fella who asked me where O'Connell Street was and could I direct him there (no joke). The way he was driving, his skills were likely gleaned from piloting a motorized goat around the streets of Chittagong.

I saw a dreadful case of dangerous driving by a taxi, which was being driven by a man of African appearance. He was driving in the bus lane through Rathmines at speed, with pedestrians and cyclists only inches away. At the end of the bus lane, where the bus , or taxi, is supposed to yield to traffic, this lunatic nearly took the nose off a car coming behind. With the horn blaring, he continued in this bullying dangerous manner, till I lost sight of him. The sooner these fraudsters are off the road, the better.:mad:

conorhal · 07-03-2019 11:12AM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

This would not surprise me in Cork either,
what's the hardest night to get a taxi in Cork ?

Any night the taxi regulator and gardai are doing a checkpoint . Alot of the drivers whom I would be slightly suspect of have WhatsApp groups and will warn all the rest once a checkpoint is setup. You will see the taxi ranks are cleared out and cars/drivers that have been working constant for months go missing that night .

The same as everything else on Ireland no enforcement of the rules and regulations .

This is one of those 'the dogs in the street have known for years' scenerios.

I remember about 6 or 7 years ago standing at the taxi rank on Eyre Square in galway when a Garda car pulled up ....and a full HALF of the taxi's on the rank just pulled away and drove off... for ..reasons...
Everybody knew the reason of course, except the taxi regulator, which has to be one of the single most incompetent regulatory bodies in the state.

bigpink wrote: »

Wait till they start on the kebab/pizza places

I was visiting my brother who lives near Galway, one night the cops were called to a row outside the local takeaway across the road from him and as soon as they arrived (we were watching this from upstars in his gaff) the entire kitchen staff lit out the back door and bolted across the fields as soon as the guards arrived.... again.. for 'reasons'.

Illegals working here do so because regulation and enforcement is so poor that working here illegally is pretty easy to get away with.

biko · 07-03-2019 11:18AM

Amongst those identified in the operation were two ISIS supporters and a number of sex offenders all of whom were subsequently deported.

Happy day!

Big Words · 07-03-2019 12:11PM

The glow plugs should be removed from them taxis at lukewarm temperature.

Ashleigh1986 · 07-03-2019 12:26PM

Some of the nonsense regulation we have to deal with .
2008 cars are now deemed to old to be used as taxis .
So 2008 Mercedes Sclass / Audi A8 / bmw 7 series can't be used yet a Nissan Almera 2010 can .
Rear tint can't be on rear windows of taxis .
So all Mercedes / audis / bmw with rear tint can't be used unless windows are replaced !!!!
Reason I was given by taxi inspector .... So the gardai can see whose in the back of taxis !!!

Fiftyfilthy · 07-03-2019 12:29PM

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Some of the nonsense regulation we have to deal with .
2008 cars are now deemed to old to be used as taxis .
So 2008 Mercedes Sclass / Audi A8 / bmw 7 series can't be used yet a Nissan Almera 2010 can .
Rear tint can't be on rear windows of taxis .
So all Mercedes / audis / bmw with rear tint can't be used unless windows are replaced !!!!
Reason I was given by taxi inspector .... So the gardai can see whose in the back of taxis !!!

Yet they don’t know who is in the front most of the time....

The_Kew_Tour · 07-03-2019 12:49PM

biko wrote: »

Happy day!

That's ridiculous. That really should not been happening on that type of level. 1 or 2 will always break through but no way should we be talking more then that

malinheader · 07-03-2019 01:21PM

biko wrote: »

Happy day!

Happy day I wish.
People worried we would become like the UK. Well the day has come.

Edgware · 07-03-2019 01:51PM

malinheader wrote: »

Happy day I wish.
People worried we would become like the UK. Well the day has come.

Allroite mate, wah abowt those Gunners?

Pronto63 · 07-03-2019 02:43PM

topper75 wrote: »

Can somebody please inform the ignorant such as myself how Revenue interfaces with the taxi industry?
It is a cash business chiefly. Can you collect fares all day-night and then radically under-declare? Where are the checks?

The term 'racist' has now actually become a joke through misuse. These people were operating illegally in the country and perpetrating fraud.
If the first port of call on this story for you is whether the people had dark-coloured skin, pale freckly skin, or green and pink striped skin, then maybe the race obsession is in fact all yours.

Excellent point.
I used to work in social welfare. On a number of occasions I dealt with Jobseeker claims from the kids or partner of taxi drivers. Never saw one earn over €15k!
Yeah right!!

Always felt that revenue should run some kinda check on the mileage done vs claimed income.

razorblunt · 07-03-2019 02:58PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

How would you report so many unless you are jotting all their details down on a notepad , it's not for Joe public or other taxi drivers to enforce the regulations , all it takes is some regular random checks . Currently the checks seem to happen only once or twice a year.

I have observed it myself , there was a taxi checkpoint on Washington Street and the ranks on Patrick Street and grand parade were virtually empty at a time they would normally be overflowing with taxis .

But it is their duty to report crime surely?
If I were a legit taxi driver and this was affecting my livelihood I would be all over this.

Ashleigh1986 · 07-03-2019 03:36PM

Razorblunt .... The government have used the oldest trick in the book regarding the taxi industry .
DIVIDE AND CONQUER !!!
We as a group are so split its beyond mending !!!!
Most TAXIDRIVERS don't look at the bigger picture , they just look at their next fare !!!
Comedy gold is going to a TAXIDRIVERS meeting .
Think gaa mixed with killnaskully .
They haven't the ability to even hold a meeting nevermind organise something to come out of them .

Spook_ie · 07-03-2019 04:21PM

Pronto63 wrote: »

Excellent point.
I used to work in social welfare. On a number of occasions I dealt with Jobseeker claims from the kids or partner of taxi drivers. Never saw one earn over €15k!
Yeah right!!

Always felt that revenue should run some kinda check on the mileage done vs claimed income.

They can have the data taken from the meters once a year, as of now part of the SGS test a printed receipt is taken, primarily I think to check the time but as there is a receipt number it would be fairly easy to tell how many customers have been in the taxi for the last year or even just since the meter was last updated/fitted, they also take a note of the odometer so again they know how much distance the taxi has covered and by applying averages they should be able to target those whose declarations seem way off target, but is the work involved too much for the amount of tax they might acquire back?

Spook_ie · 07-03-2019 04:25PM

razorblunt wrote: »

But it is their duty to report crime surely?
If I were a legit taxi driver and this was affecting my livelihood I would be all over this.

A lot of drivers were, but due to their way of reporting it they'd just be classed as racist/bigots it is in reallity a job for the NTA and Gardai to do.

Even now the NTA use the number of reports from their taxi driver check app to inflate the number of checks they do, where in reality after driving some 15 years as a taxi driver I've been spot checked once, and that was when I wasn't actually working as a taxi but dropping off the daughters boyfriend at Heuston.

malinheader · 07-03-2019 04:29PM

So as I expected. This thread is now about bashing taxi drivers. I don't really give a ****e about the tax. I am more concerned that the person who is transporting me is a proper taxi driver and not some chancer who hasn't a clue and even worse what kind of a background or history has the driver got. Someone else's Tax is not my problem but the safety of me and my family is.

DrumSteve · 07-03-2019 04:41PM

Not sure why the garda don't just set up random checkpoints throughout Dublin City Centre every night.

Would clear up the problem pretty quick.

topper75 · 07-03-2019 05:41PM

malinheader wrote: »

So as I expected. This thread is now about bashing taxi drivers. I don't really give a ****e about the tax. I am more concerned that the person who is transporting me is a proper taxi driver and not some chancer who hasn't a clue and even worse what kind of a background or history has the driver got. Someone else's Tax is not my problem but the safety of me and my family is.

I feel I may have unwittingly derailed the thread by raising it so apologies. It wasn't my intention to pull taxi driving per se into the spotlight. The thinking behind my post, which I should have stated plainly as part of it, is that the illegals and fraudsters are specifically attracted to cash industries, typically fast food, barber shops, ethnic food stores, internet (sic!) and phone shops, and -- of course -- taxi driving unfortunately. Not alone is their presence here illegal but this status by its nature provides a platform for other illegality such as laundering of money on an international basis.
It was revealed in recent years that some outlandish flows of money were going in particular to Nigeria, amounts that bore no reasonable proportion to the number of people living in Ireland of Nigerian origin.
That is just Nigeria. There is a whole lot more inspection required here. Journalists seem slow to highlight any of this. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.
As a burdened Irish PAYE citizen, all of the above very much IS my problem alongside safety concerns. You stamp out one - you get a handle on the other.

weldoninhio · 07-03-2019 05:50PM

DrumSteve wrote: »

Not sure why the garda don't just set up random checkpoints throughout Dublin City Centre every night.

Would clear up the problem pretty quick.

Think of the paperwork!!!

riclad · 07-03-2019 11:31PM

Taxis have to inspected every year ,and their meters are checked .
Maybe some drivers are letting someone else drive the car ,
when they are not working .
The test is basically you have to know how to get to all major buildings in the area ,hospitals,churches , garda station,s etc And you need to know the roads ,routes,all the roads, streets in the area etc
eg write down how to get from rathmines village to stevens green .
When we are in a boom , theres so many jobs going ,driving a taxi is a
tough job,
To make good money you need to work weekend, nights up to 1 am.
Drivers have to make a tax return every year as a self employed person.
There,s no way a driver could live on 15k.
They have to keep the car in good nick, buy petrol diesel etc
Why do,nt the welfare ask to see a tax return for the previous year.

07-03-2019 11:59PM

good thread but I cannot listed to anything from that clown williams.
Not after his part in stitching up maurice mcCabe, ****ing mouthpiece.
Westies feud this, kinahan that, bloodbath the other..
No sign of him on white collar crime the scumbag.

WoollyRedHat · 08-03-2019 12:59AM

As much as like a good expose, Paul Williams can go done, thank you very much.

Pronto63 · 08-03-2019 02:25PM

Spook_ie wrote: »

They can have the data taken from the meters once a year, as of now part of the SGS test a printed receipt is taken, primarily I think to check the time but as there is a receipt number it would be fairly easy to tell how many customers have been in the taxi for the last year or even just since the meter was last updated/fitted, they also take a note of the odometer so again they know how much distance the taxi has covered and by applying averages they should be able to target those whose declarations seem way off target, but is the work involved too much for the amount of tax they might acquire back?

Worth it? As a deterrent - Yes

Catch 10 drivers in Dublin for not declaring some income and word will get around that it ain't worth the risk.

Part of the problem with illegals heading for the taxi business is the temption to work cash in hand.

Edgware · 08-03-2019 02:29PM

Pronto63 wrote: »

Worth it? As a deterrent - Yes

Catch 10 drivers in Dublin for not declaring some income and word will get around that it ain't worth the risk.

Part of the problem with illegals heading for the taxi business is the temption to work cash in hand.

The "illegals" are always at that. Thankfully the Irish drivers are always fully tax compliant

Wibbs · 08-03-2019 03:01PM

conorhal wrote: »

Everybody knew the reason of course, except the taxi regulator, which has to be one of the single most incompetent regulatory bodies in the state.

And they face stiff competition in that realm.

RasTa · 08-03-2019 03:04PM

Taxi's? Do they not have uber back home?

malinheader · 08-03-2019 03:17PM

Pronto63 wrote: »

Worth it? As a deterrent - Yes

Catch 10 drivers in Dublin for not declaring some income and word will get around that it ain't worth the risk.

Part of the problem with illegals heading for the taxi business is the temption to work cash in hand.

These illegals sometimes use the taxi service for much more than just the cash in hand.

GinAndBitter · 08-03-2019 03:26PM

malinheader wrote: »

These illegals sometimes use the taxi service for much more than just the cash in hand.

Yeah there are a few girls in Dublin know that all too well.

Spook_ie · 09-03-2019 12:08AM

Pronto63 wrote: »

Worth it? As a deterrent - Yes

Catch 10 drivers in Dublin for not declaring some income and word will get around that it ain't worth the risk.

Part of the problem with illegals heading for the taxi business is the temption to work cash in hand.

But the illegals probably aren't going to be registered as self employed, therefore not doing a tax return at all.

Taxi scam in Dublin

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