Motor tax - late paying

My motor tax is due at the end of this month, and I'm wondering if I leave the car idle for the month of January, and pay the tax at the end of January, will my motor tax begin from 1/1/07 or 31/1/07?

It will begin from 1/1/07 unless you declare the car was off the road for January. You'll need a Garda to sign that.

1/1/07

exile said:

It will begin from 1/1/07 unless you declare the car was off the road for January. You'll need a Garda to sign that.

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This is a pretty regular thing, at least for older cars.

There's a form you will need to fill out and get stamped by a Garda. If you know the local officers it shouldn't be a big problem, if not they may be a little more argumentative in the matter, all depends on the officer.

If your concerned about the matter it may prove beneficial to call into the station and inform a member of staff that you intend leaving the car idle for the month in question. If you state where the car will be left for the time and request that this officer will certify the claim a month down the line it could help prevent any problems getting the form done (although I'm sure you could get it done without taking this unnecessary step).

With the form stamped you can call into motor tax in Feb and get the car taxed without having to pay for the month of January.

Satanta said:

This is a pretty regular thing, at least for older cars.

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Yep, I actually did it myself for six months and it was no problem.

Slightly funny story about it. When the tax initially expired, I just did nothing (car was off the road) After four months I got a letter from the tax office telling me to pay immediately, or return a declaration that the car was off the road. It said if I didn't reply in 10 days my details would be passed to the Gardai.

I took the letter with the "off the road" box ticked into the tax office in person. The guy claimed he had never seen a letter like that before and wouldn't know what to do with it, so wouldn't take it. Just in case, I also took it to the nearest Garda station. The Garda told me to bin it and just come back when I was re-taxing the car.

Personally have a family member working in a Motor Tax office so I can confirm each member of staff there will have a few of these to deal with on a daily basis. It's got to the stage where the Motor Tax staff can let people know which officers will give them a grilling over the period the car was off the road and which ones will just want rid of them and sign straight away.

I have a related query. I have a car that I stopped driving about 2 years ago. I got a new car and passed the old one to my wife who was to learn how to drive. She still hasn't learned how but will be in the coming weeks. I haven't taxed the car since I stopped driving.

When I go to the guards will I be asked for proof that the car was off the road and sitting idle in my garden for 2 years? How do I prove this?

peno said:

When I go to the guards will I be asked for proof that the car was off the road and sitting idle in my garden for 2 years? How do I prove this?

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There really isn't anyway to prove this. It seems to come down to good faith.

You may be grilled as to why it was sitting up, why it's about to be reused, why you didn't do it sooner etc. Once you have the answers and can satisfy the Garda you should be fine. As I said, depends on who you get and if there having a good day as to how tough they might be.

Worst case, tell them they can come inspect the car. If it's been idle for 2 years the signs will be on it (this won't be needed, fact is a lot of the cars signed as being off the road were simply on the road and untaxed for the time).

And for the Dubs!!! don't forget, the Dublin City Council Car Tax Office has been moved from River House, Chancery Street, to Blackhall Walk, off Queen Street.