Lawlor welcomes closing of motor tax loophole

Thursday, April 4th 2013

Fine Gael TD for Kildare North, Anthony Lawlor, has today (Thursday) warmly welcomed the publication by the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan TD, of the Non Use of Motor Vehicles Bill 2013 . This Bill will stop the practice of retrospectively claiming that your car has been ‘off the road’ in order to avoid paying arrears on motor tax. This loophole currently costs the state in the region of €55 million per annum.

“Since being elected in 2011, I have been calling on the Minister to address this problem. This loophole provided the perfect opportunity for motorists to evade motor tax and placed the onus on the Gardaí to certify that the car was off the road.

“This Bill is a practical solution to a practical problem whereby if someone intends to take their car off the road for a period of time, they will be responsible for notifying the Motor Tax Office in advance in order to prevent arrears accruing. This will be particularly useful, for example, to people who need to spend time working abroad. Furthermore, it will exclude the Gardaí from the process and free up their time from this administrative burden.

“I am now urging Minister Hogan to expedite this Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas as quickly as possible. It has been known for sometime now that the closing of this loophole should generate approximately €55 million per annum in taxes that are currently being evaded by opportunistic motorists. It is vital that the Bill is operational without delay to increase the revenue intake for financially strapped local authorities”.

ENDS