Customs question

Never heard of a customs official cracking open an injector before.

Normally they take a sample from the tank afaik. I don't know what your rights are from a legal viewpoint...

-Corkie- wrote: »

They can sample fuel from the engine. They have more power than the Gardai..

I didn't know that! I'd imagine that they would be deeply suspicious of the driver if they went down that route.

As far as I'm aware they can check at the engine if they so wish, if it is white diesel though they have to put it all back as they found it and their liable for any damage but if they find something they don't have to put anything back, to the best of my knowledge

colm_mcm wrote: »

Don't they just check the fuel filter?

Yup...

john reilly wrote: »

well if it was a mondeo you would want a good battery in it. they wouldnt be touching anything under the bonnet in my car

Enjoy the walk.

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

You have next to no rights im afraid. Even if you're on private property you can't refuse to open the tank.

Yep, they have all the power and we have none. I've heard of them opening buildings looking for cars for VRT.

I've never been stopped by customs, but one thing makes me wonder. Is it really that common thing people using green diesel in cars and vans (and buses and trucks maybe)?
What actually is green diesel? Is it the agricultural diesel you can buy at pumps for like 60% of normal diesel?
Can anyboday buy it, or maybe you just need some permission that you own a tractor or something?

Plese if someone could explain it to me, as I just have no clue what is it all about.

MugMugs wrote: »

It's diesel without the duty on it so its really cheap. It is dyed green in colour to show no duty has been paid. It can only be used off the public roads. Tractors in fields.... Cars in fields... Refrigeration units of trucks.... It's an offence to drive anything on a public road propelled by green diesel as the duty hasn't been paid and yes, people do use it hence customs "dipping" tanks to check.

The green element is only an initial indication.... There's a second tell tale in the diesel too...

Cheers to explaining.

But does that mean anyone can buy it without any problems?
I've seen guys filling it to the 25 litre containers and putting them to their boot. I've never seen anyone filling it into their car or tractor.
But are petrol stations obliged somehow to make sure person is not filling it into their car on petrol station?
I undestand that if it's for off-road use only, then there isn't any limitation like "only for farmers" or something, and therefore there isn't any special permission needed for purchasing it.

If you had a generator and needed diesel for it. Why would you pay duty first of all and secondly, how would you prove that you had a generator?

Yakuza wrote: »

What if you charged a Leaf or eFluence off a generator powered by green diesel?

Customs have massive powers to track down revenue loss to the state.

What if I found a way to remove the dye from the diesel and use it on a public road..... Oh wait....

Technique wrote: »

Why do farmers etc. not pay the full whack and then claim the duty back at the end of the tax year?

It would save an awful lot of work for customs, as well as putting the fuel launderers out of business.

Why indeed. Marking diesel in this way is not done in Germany anyway. Here farmers etc. claim a rebate of duty based on receipts. No fuel laundering etc. to worry about.

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Because farmers would claim to be using a million litres a month!

The Revenue has ways of verifying use of many other things, why not fuel? The ability to put out of business the criminal element who launder diesel and wreck engines would be worth a few farmers overclaiming. I think that successive governments are too scared to stand up to the farmers lobby.