Non-VRT'd cars seizure N11

MSporty

They should be going harder after all those Eastern European skangermobiles, these guys are working over here and driving their own cars from home. Its a f**king joke

meathstevie

According to the taxman VRT is due at the latest the next working day after landing the car. For our continental pals the VRT is non-existant if the car has been in their possesion for at least six months prior, even if it's VRT liable it should be a pittance since they nearly all have LHD which should seriously reduce the market value.

Johnny Utah

MSporty wrote: »

They should be going harder after all those Eastern European skangermobiles, these guys are working over here and driving their own cars from home. Its a f**king joke

+1

One law for them, and one law for us.:mad:

DonJose

drunkmonkey wrote: »

No foreign drivers importing there personal car to Ireland are VRT exempt if they can prove the've being using the car for 6mts or more in there home country....

But if they are living and working in Ireland and using our roads, shouldn't they pay Irish road tax and Irish insurance rates like the rest of the motorists?

Steve

Johnny Utah wrote: »

+1

One law for them, and one law for us.:mad:

Not really, if you emigrate and bring your Irish car over 'there' then you are entitled to the same relief.

MSporty

stevec wrote: »

Not really, if you emigrate and bring your Irish car over 'there' then you are entitled to the same relief.

Do we get our VRT money back then?

Steve

DonJose wrote: »

But if they are living and working in Ireland and using our roads, shouldn't they pay Irish road tax and Irish insurance rates like the rest of the motorists?

Like the rest of us they must have insurance. They have 6 months grace to drive 'as is' before they succumb to the money hole that is Irish motoring taxation. After that, they are fair game for the cops.

TheDriver

Pure Irish, if the Poles seem to get away with their cars, then we should too if we have uk plates. Law is law and paying vrt to UK doesn't pay for our roads. Its like the billion euro spend in New York every Christmas and then everyone complains when our Govt doesn't have money for schools and roads because other governments have made it out of our money.

drunkmonkey

Onkle wrote: »

Wether anybody supports it or not isn't the point. Point is I've paid my VRT and these people haven't. Comments like yours make you [EDIT]...[/EDIT]

Edit: Comments like yours will result in a ban next time!

It's lucky you got to him before i did, it wasn't going to be pretty!!:D

Your card is marked Onkel, i'll kick your ass the next time:p

Steve

MSporty wrote: »

Do we get our VRT money back then?

Course not, nobody said taxation was fair - I certainly didn't vote for that:mad:

Steve

TheDriver wrote: »

Law is law and paying vrt to UK doesn't pay for our roads.

You lost me there

Capital Slow

MSporty wrote: »

Do we get our VRT money back then?

Nop! Their government did not charge you VRT in the first place. You don't get anything back from them.

As here, you have owned and enjoyed the luxury of that item, there is nothing to claim back.

peasant

stevec wrote: »

Like the rest of us they must have insurance. They have 6 months grace to drive 'as is' before they succumb to the money hole that is Irish motoring taxation. After that, they are fair game for the cops.

Actually the law is a bit vague here.

Theoretically "they" have to re-register their cars here 24 hours after arrival, minus the VRT issue if the had the car for more than 6 months prior.

But ...there are several exemptions, mainly to do with residency. Only Irish residents have to re-register immediatedly, others like visitors, employees on short term contracts and students are given varying grace periods.

Most of "them" that come here initially do not fall into the "resident" category but are exempt one way or another (ussually only on temp contracts) and it is a very grey area at what point they actually are considered resident. (You could hangle yourself from one temp employment to the next for years for example) ...in short ..it is a minefield that neither "they" nor the guard at the roadside understand properly.

Add to that the fact that most Irish guards would not be able to understand foreign insurance and tax documents (and therefore couldn't be arsed to check them properly) and you will begin to understand how "they" get away with driving on foreign plates for so long in some cases.

The blame here clearly lies with vague legislation and total lack of enforcement (but how do you enforce something that is so vague ?)

Devil's Fuel

cbyrne wrote: »

From what I heard this was a zero tolerance checkpoint, no excuses were taken and they seized quite a number of vehicles. I'd say unless you had a ferry ticket from within the last 24hrs at this checkpoint you'd not have had much luck, moral of story good times are over for those on UK plates, serious risk of fines and seizure if you don't pay up now.

So what then if your from the North , do they take your legit vehile off you too! How are they supposed to prove that your not from Northern Ireland or the UK?

testicle

Devil's Fuel wrote: »

So what then if your from the North , do they take your legit vehile off you too! How are they supposed to prove that your not from Northern Ireland or the UK?

That's up to you to prove to the Customs & Excise.

waxon-waxoff

Its amazing that some of these foreign reg cars made it across Europe to get here. The average eastern european car is 10 years old at least. Id be just as worried about the lack of an NCT as VRT. Some of these cars are not fit to be on the road

Steve

peasant wrote: »

Actually the law is a bit vague here.

Theoretically "they" have to re-register their cars here 24 hours after arrival, minus the VRT issue if the had the car for more than 6 months prior.

It this were true then anyone on a day trip from the UK would have to do the same.

peasant wrote: »

But ...there are several exemptions, mainly to do with residency. Only Irish residents have to re-register immediatedly, others like visitors, employees on short term contracts and students are given varying grace periods.

Yes, the law is (IMO) unfairly biased against Irish residents

peasant wrote: »

Most of "them" that come here initially do not fall into the "resident" category but are exempt one way or another (ussually only on temp contracts) and it is a very grey area at what point they actually are considered resident. (You could hangle yourself from one temp employment to the next for years for example) ...in short ..it is a minefield that neither "they" nor the guard at the roadside understand properly.

Fair point, if the same applied to you bringing your car to the UK or Poland would you complain?

peasant wrote: »

Add to that the fact that most Irish guards would not be able to understand foreign insurance and tax documents (and therefore couldn't be arsed to check them properly) and you will begin to understand how "they" get away with driving on foreign plates for so long in some cases.

The blame here clearly lies with vague legislation and total lack of enforcement (but how do you enforce something that is so vague ?)

Dont get me started....:mad:....:D....:confused:

astraboy

murphaph wrote: »

Other countries do "have a problem with it". Germany rigorously enforces registration of foreign vehicles and it's a much more stringent process....vehicle must pass their equivalent of the NCT before anything else. It is right and proper that people living here have their vehicles registered here. The fact the VRT itself is imposed is another matter. By the way, VRT is a tax on a luxury item (a car is luxury guys) and I prefer VRT on cars to VAT on life's daily essentials. The tax shortfall would have to be made up elsewhere if VRT was scrapped.

Bollix. Try getting from A to B anywhere in Ireland outside dublin without a car. A car is a necessity for most people, not a luxury. Cop on.

ZygOte

slightly OT
but afaik the EU has stated that VRT in ireland is double taxation and therefore illegal (i think), if the Irish government ever pulls its head out of its ass and accepts this would they be legally obliged to return all VRT money to the poor people who have been made cough up ?

Slidey

Well as one of these people who have been avoiding this taxation for some time while waiting for july1st I thought it best not to push my luck further and bought another car to keep me going til then. Gonna park the other yoke til then.
Can honestly say it has been a total pain in the arse permanelty thinking when you are gonna get stopped and if they will lift the car etc..

drunkmonkey

I stumbled across this on the Irish Drivers Association webiste....

http://www.irishdrivers.org/21043.html

It's heavy reading but it's important to know it's a about your rights ....don't hand over your keys is the most important bit, once you do, your guilty;)

here's a taster.....

"Your EC law rights , are now a higher source of law than our own Constitution in terms of Community matters. The four fundamental freedoms under EU law are Free Movement of Persons (Article 39), Free Movement of Goods (Articles 23-31), Freedom of Establishment (Articles 43-48) and to provide services (Articles 49-55) and Freedom of Capital (Articles 56-60)."

cbyrne

Devil's Fuel wrote: »

So what then if your from the North , do they take your legit vehile off you too! How are they supposed to prove that your not from Northern Ireland or the UK?

Not sure, but I imagine like most check points they will first ask for your licence and if thats an Irish one and your in a Uk reg plate then you have some explaining to do, if its a UK one they'd prob just let you on your way..

unkel

astraboy wrote: »

Bollix. Try getting from A to B anywhere in Ireland outside dublin without a car. A car is a necessity for most people, not a luxury. Cop on.

This is not the politics forum, astraboy. A car remains to be a luxury until you (and many others) vote otherwise

waxon-waxoff wrote: »

The average eastern european car is 10 years old at least

Wow! The average waxon-waxoff car in your movie was much older than that

My car is 22 years old and passed the NCT in the last few months...

kaizersoze

ZygOte wrote: »

slightly OT
but afaik the EU has stated that VRT in ireland is double taxation and therefore illegal (i think), if the Irish government ever pulls its head out of its ass and accepts this would they be legally obliged to return all VRT money to the poor people who have been made cough up ?

Wasn't it the case that the predecessor to VRT was deemed to be illegal as it was a second tax on the vehicle so it was replaced with the VRT system? The VRT system moved the tax away from the vehicle itself and onto the registration of it to get around the EU legislation.

I wait to be corrected but I don't recall the EU outlawing VRT.

I'm delighted with the crackdown aswell btw, about time.

bo-bo

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I stumbled across this on the Irish Drivers Association webiste....

http://www.irishdrivers.org/21043.html

It's heavy reading but it's important to know it's a about your rights ....don't hand over your keys is the most important bit, once you do, your guilty;)

here's a taster.....

"Your EC law rights , are now a higher source of law than our own Constitution in terms of Community matters. The four fundamental freedoms under EU law are Free Movement of Persons (Article 39), Free Movement of Goods (Articles 23-31), Freedom of Establishment (Articles 43-48) and to provide services (Articles 49-55) and Freedom of Capital (Articles 56-60)."

you do realise that even though you dont have to hand over your keys the car can still be seized. all that usually happens is that a local recovery truck is called and they tow the car.

Steve

ZygOte wrote: »

slightly OT
but afaik the EU has stated that VRT in ireland is double taxation and therefore illegal (i think

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Free Movement of Goods (Articles 23-31),

You're both right. VRT in it's pre July form was deemed unjust under EU law. The fact that they changed it to a 'carbon tax' has made it ok though. They just didn't bother to rename it as such. IMO this is a major 'simpsons "haww-haww"' to the Irish mororist.

Steve

unkel wrote: »

My car is 22 years old and passed the NCT in the last few months...

What age is she exempt - 25?

blastman

I don't agree with VRT, I think it's a liberty the goverment here continue to get away with, but as someone with two imported cars outside my house, I agree even less with people taking the p*ss and driving around on English regs for months and even years on end. I don't think the Eastern European, etc, cars are such a problem as most would probably be VAT exempt anyway, although most people don't drive from Latvia to Ireland for a two-week holiday, so questions should continue to be asked.

To quote Thomas Otaway "Honest men are the soft easy cushions on which knaves repose and fatten." Mind you, Abe Lincoln said the best way to get a bad law repealed was to enforce it strictly...

Esel

stevec wrote: »

What age is she exempt - 25?

30 years. Rumour is that this is going to be frozen soon - something like "any car first registered before 01 January 1979". Hate people calling a car 'she' btw! :pac:

unkel

stevec wrote: »

VRT in it's pre July form was deemed unjust under EU law. The fact that they changed it to a 'carbon tax' has made it ok though

Not quite. Berties cunning conversion of (soon to be illegal) import tax into VRT at the very last moment way back when is pretty amazing. Do a search for it!