Fixed Charge Notice for non display of tax disc

Hamadeusentman

Hi all. My wife recently received an FCN from the gardaí for non display of tax disc. It was my own fault. I had forgotten to renew the thing and the car was a week or so on road without a valid disc. The odd thing is that the FCN states that she was in Tuam, Co Galway at 9:30 in the morning. We live in Meath and neither of us were near the place! Very odd.

My query is whether the fault is on their side and do we have grounds for not paying the fine as we can both prove we were not in Tuam on the morning in question.

Thanks in advance.

L1011

That detail can be corrected at basically any moment; its not worth the hassle of going to court and hoping you get off for it.

Creamy Goodness

How much is the fine?

How much is your hourly rate, your wife's hourly rate and the cost of representation/legal advice going to cost you?

If fine is €60, and you both earn min. wage at 10.50 (x2), if you spend more than 3 hours in court and preparing for it you're at a loss.

Hamadeusentman

Thanks for prompt replies. It’s €60 but I can’t get my head around the location. I am convinced it’s mistaken identity/human error. There’s a representative looking further into it who is to get back to us. From Day 28 it goes to 90€.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118826084#Comment_118826084

If you were actually out of tax at the time its almost certainly going to be an error in putting in the locaiton, not the vehicle.

You would have to value your time at zero to bother fighting this; and you'll probably end up with the higher fine as the outcome.

callaway92

Ah come on.

You know you were driving without valid tax and have admitted such. Some coincidence to get the notice as a ‘mistake’

If you question it they’ll likely be able to correct it and still prove it was you definitely.

Hamadeusentman

Thanks for feedback. I’ll take the hit and move on!

Claw Hammer

It may well be a number plate error. Some numbers with a 0 are read as 8 particularly if there is a screw going through the centre of the 0.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058238582/fixed-charge-notice-for-non-display-of-tax-disc

As far as i know we are allowed up to a month grace... so if it was taxed to the end of the previous month and you back-taxed you should be ok... Just wonder if it was Gardai or Traffic warden...

Rket4000

My car once got clamped in a train station car park for not having a valid parking ticket. I was furious because I'd put the money in the machine to cover parking for a week. It was early on a winter morning and pitch dark and I did notice the ticket didn't fall down to be easily extracted and I had to fish around inside to get it out. Turns out the ticket on the car was for a day and not a week. When I found the car clamped the next day, the notice on the window said it was in a different station than the one it was actually parked in. I appealed to the company and the appeal was rejected. However there was a mechanism to take things further to an independent adjudication. I did this and had to fill out all details and provide the relevant documentation. I stressed that while the notice said X Station, the car was parked in Y Station. When I got the reply it stated that I was in the wrong and it was my responsibility to check the ticket was valid. However it also said that because the notice contained the incorrect location it was unenforceable and I got the clamping fee back.... Together with a free parking pass for a week!

Atlantic Dawn

Find out if it was issued by a Garda or a parking warden, usually the warden will take a photo. You should pay it either way when clarified but the concern would be if a car is operating on cloned plates you are basically admitting you were there if you say nothing about it.

mumo3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058238582/fixed-charge-notice-for-non-display-of-tax-disc

I was stopped once with no tax displayed (it was taxed just waiting on the disk) and was informed by the Guard that they'll allow a 4 week grace period anything after that they can actually seize the car . I presume if she wasn't aware of it and just received it in the post, it was an over excited guard checking cars parked on public streets and I would call and question it . If it was a check point stop there is nothing you can do, except waste a day in court at the hopes of getting it struck out.

GM228

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118827886#Comment_118827886

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118828457#Comment_118828457

There is no grace period for out of date tax, that is a myth, what there is however is the Garda power of discretion (and of course some common sense).

A car can not be seized until the tax is two months out of date.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118828523#Comment_118828523

I was a passenger in car some years ago an driver stopped by Gardai and asked about tax... he said to Gardai he was allowed a Month and was going to back tax... The Gardai was happy with that... The driver told me later that it would be thrown out if summons issued... H e was a haulier so that's all i know...

Witcher

Well he was wrong

I love these 'grace periods' people dream up for everything and anything.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118828723#Comment_118828723

Many years ago, I'd say.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831369#Comment_118831369

I will have a wager that you cannot find where someone was successfully fined for having within the first Month after expiry...

macvin

Very odd if old disc was on display and it was just a few days into the month.

You'd want to get a very bad humoured jobsworth for a ticket to be issued.

Probably a digit incorrect especially if it says Tuam.

If you went to court with copy of old and new disc showing no gap in tax, the case would be struck out.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831429#Comment_118831429

Of course FCNs have been issued and paid n those circumstances. What planet are you on?

Even the OP received one

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831459#Comment_118831459

I am talking about court...

GM228

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831499#Comment_118831499

That's because most people in such circumstances will just pay and move on and never go to court.

There is no grace period and never has been., just discretion as I already noted. In fact when the 2013 off road declaration changes were made the AA actually unsuccessfully lobbied the Government to introduce such a grace period amongst other things.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831624#Comment_118831624

Of course there is no official grace peropd as if there was people could not be procuted... what i am saying if you are stopped at a checkpoint you will be given the opportunity to tax if the tax is out by a few weeks... once it goes over a month new game...

GM228

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831653#Comment_118831653

There is no official policy in this regard, saying you will be given the opportunity is not correct as it very much depends on the Guard on the day, that said, most Guards will usually allow two months (not one) discretion because that is the statutory time frame for seizure.

It is also worth pointing out that the offence is one of failure to display a valid tax disc, the question of actually having valid tax or not is immaterial to the qualifying conditions of the offence.

hierro

Not legal advice but I don't think anyone should pay an FCN for an offence they haven't committed. At face value, the OP did not fail to display tax in Tuam.

Appeal the fine. Forms on garda.ie

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831990#Comment_118831990

You do realise the offence is not displaying tax? The location is not set in legislation and is just for clarity.

Tippman24

Officially if you fail to tax the vehicle, it should not be on a public road. However, the renewal notice from the County Council does state that you can renew the tax within one month of its expiry. For that reason most Gardai will afford you the opportunity to get things in order without going down the issuing of an FCN if the detection occurs for the few weeks after tax expiry. One other thing to be aware of is that there are two seperate charges, one being that of not having tax and the other being that of not displaying the disc. If you are caught for the second offence sending in a copy of same to the relevant Garda should result in its cancellation at that point. I spoke with a Garda a few years ago and he advised that if the the matter goes to Court in those circumstances, the judge will usually dismiss the case. Thus why waste time with it.

Dayo93

It is worth following up on this if you where no where near the area the gaurds possibly took down the wrong reg or entered it wrong on system, happened me before and when I eventually tracked down the gaurds he had entered the wrong reg.

Hamadeusentman

Thanks for all the advice, folks. It’s appreciated. Waiting to hear back from the Garda who is looking Into it.

Claw Hammer

The moral of the story is to pay your taxes on time!