Worried Sick - Caught with no Motor Tax

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Smellz

Guest
I was recently stopped by a Garda and i had no Motor Tax on my car - I know i was very stupid and please don't give me any lectures :) The Garda said that he'll send me a summons to appear in court and i'm worried sick about this - I'm considering studying for a career in the legal area and i'm so worried that this will put a black mark against my name. Has anybody been in this situation ? Will i need to get a solicator for the court appearance ? What is the likely outcome, Fine/imprissionment ? Is there anything i can do to avoid this going to court ? What if i made a plea at the Garda station ? I've since back paid all the tax.
 
It's likely that you are facing a minor fine at most. A road traffic conviction is not a bar to a legal career. If it were I can think of quite a few of my colleagues ( and myself) who would be out of a job! You can have a solicitor represent you, or you can represent yourself. Strictly speaking you should appear in court but if represented by a solicitor you do not really need to for this kind of minor matter.

As for trying the guards, you can always try. You'd never know. Much is up to the individual guards discretion. If they do go ahead you may not receive a summons for up to 6 months or slightly longer.
 
I wouldn't approach the guard at this stage. You will as pointed out get a summons to appear at court on a certain day and you will simply be asked how you're pleading and just plead guilty and say you have back paid your tax since. A good story about poverty, studenty/sad type may help your cause with the judge and you'll get a small fine. The guard may not even issue the summons though as things like this can get lost in transit or forgotton about or dare I say may interfere with getting off on time. The main thing is not to worry too much, there's loads of people have bigger problems than this.
 
You will have to go to court, yes. You will most likely get a fine. It is not that serious really.
 
If you are going to represent yourself, then you should ensure that you have produced the evidence of back paying the tax to the guard before court and that he is satisfied with same. Also a good excuse to go talk to the guard now and see if there is any way he might not proceed with the summons. Also be careful how you present a sob story to the judge- poor student with car simply will not wash. In general you will do better with a solicitor representing you who will know what will work in your favour.
 
Smellz,
I find it a bit weird that the guard in question did not give you seven days to produce a valid tax cert at a station of your choice!
It happens all the time so get your tax, head to the Garda stn and produce it for inspection,ask for the guard in question if you know who he/she was.
They wont proceed if you do this.


D
 
Diddles,

You don't get 7 days to produce a Tax Disc as it is an offence to fail to display a valid tax disc. If that was the case no one would tax their car until they were stopped and then run out and get one.

You are giving 10 days to produce your insurance certificate which of course can't be back dated.

Johno
 
Johno said:
You don't get 7 days to produce a Tax Disc as it is an offence to fail to display a valid tax disc. If that was the case no one would tax their car until they were stopped and then run out and get one.
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I was given 7 days to show up in a Garda Station with a tax disc that I wasn't displaying at a time when I was stopped. At least I had the tax disc and had neglected to put it on display.

Given the comment by the OP about backpaying tax, it seems here that they hadn't actually paid the tax at all.

Which isn't as innocent a mistake as not displaying the tax. It's tax evasion - throw the book at them. No sympathy at all. :mad:
 
Smellz - I wouldnt rule out the possibility of going to prison for a little while. Tax evasion is a serious, serious offence. Why on earth did you not tax your car?
 
Do you get a summons straight away for no tax :eek:
I presumed it would be a fine first.
 
slightly off topic, my tax is out of date, needed to be renewed in Nov, but car has been off the road because i was on holidays for a month and then has been in the garage since i came home so im only back motoring this week, does anyone know can i still renew my tax online or because there are arrears will i have to go into the tax office??
 
Not online, you need to go to your local Garda station and get them to sign a form saying the car was off the road, to exempt you from arrears.
 
tml said:
slightly off topic, my tax is out of date, needed to be renewed in Nov, but car has been off the road because i was on holidays for a month and then has been in the garage since i came home so im only back motoring this week, does anyone know can i still renew my tax online or because there are arrears will i have to go into the tax office??
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You need to get a guard to sign for the fact that the car's been off the road - but I don't know if a holiday counts as enough to get this done. And you need to got to a tax office ad the internet automatically charges you overdue tax.
 
Smellz - I wouldnt rule out the possibility of going to prison for a little while. Tax evasion is a serious, serious offence. Why on earth did you not tax your car?
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Ah for gods sake, stop trying to wind this poor person up. They made a mistake, they got caught, they are going to be punished. But unless they have a list of prior convictions longer than my arm, there is no possibility of prison for this offence.
 
Smellz- You dont say how long the tax was out of date, or long you had the car.But since you have paid it up to date,you will be alright. Atmost a small fine,no need to worry.Let us know how you get on.
 
Hate if some of ye were in the justice system
Refer to previous post dont worry
Its a minor offence actually v minor

D
 
Abolish road tax and you will solve the problem of road tax evasion - increase the price of petrol/ diesel to compensate the exchequer. Those who use roads the most will also pay the most ie a sales rep in a 2l car doing 50k miles per year currently pays the same road tax as someone doing 7k miles per year in their 2l motor - not fair imo. Forecourts can include the increased fuel taxes along with their VAT returns which they have to do anyway .
 
2 big problems with this proposal:

1. It would discriminate against rural dwellers and favour urban dwellers.
2. There is nothing to stop the govt reintroducing road tax at a later date while leaving the increased excise duty on petrol & diesel in situ.
 
Wheres that legendary *cough* post about road road tax evasion? I was dying to see the "reprimands" that would ensue...
 
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