Parking fine for not displaying valid motor tax

Sammy_Jankis · 21-03-2018 09:27PM #1

I bought a new (old) car on the 1/3/ and just got the log book on Tuesday 20th. I then paid the motor tax yesterday on my phone and took a picture of the receipt.

Fast forward to today I come out of the barbers to see a fine on the windscreen for non display of valid motor tax. The drill sergeant was in the middle of giving out another ticket so I went over to show him I paid it yesterday but he had zero interest. He said to just appeal it.

I did so straight away including the picture I took of my receipt of proof of payment. It then says it takes up to four weeks for a response. What a joke.

Any who do you think I'll be fine? From Kildare.

Cheers.

CiniO · 21-03-2018 09:30PM

Sammy_Jankis wrote: »

Any who do you think I'll be fine? From Kildare.

Cheers.

Probably not.
You were fined for non-displaying motortax disc, and that's exactly what you did.

James 007 · 21-03-2018 09:32PM

No, not fine at all, 2 years jail. Put it down to a learning.:rolleyes:

Fred Swanson · 21-03-2018 11:35PM

This post has been deleted.

Sammy_Jankis · 21-03-2018 11:36PM

CiniO wrote: »

Probably not.
You were fined for non-displaying motortax disc, and that's exactly what you did.

I get that but I only received the log book on Tuesday. Is it my fault that I paid motor tax for the month of March on the 20th and can’t print my own disc?

Should I keep track of motortax.ie to check when change of ownership goes through? Get a life

Sammy_Jankis · 21-03-2018 11:37PM

James 007 wrote: »

No, not fine at all, 2 years jail. Put it down to a learning.:rolleyes:

Cheers

duffman13 · 21-03-2018 11:40PM

You'll be fine, it'll be overturned. You have a valid reason and the car is actually taxed. Don't stress it

elperello · 21-03-2018 11:41PM

What people do to avoid what happened to the OP is park in a private car park ie. supermarket until the disc arrives.
It's a tough one to get caught but that's the system.

endacl · 21-03-2018 11:45PM

Sammy_Jankis wrote: »

I get that but I only received the log book on Tuesday. Is it my fault that I paid motor tax for the month of March on the 20th and can’t print my own disc?

Should I keep track of motortax.ie to check when change of ownership goes through? Get a life

If you were there to explain it before the ticket was issued, it probably wouldn't have been issued. In the same way a guard at a checkpoint would probably respond with a 'grand so' when you'd explained the situation. People tend to be reasonable. I changed my car a month ago and had to explain at a checkpoint why the insurance disc displayed was for a different make and model. I also had an email from the insurance company showing the policy number attached to the new car from 3pm the day before - new disc to follow. Once he issues the ticket, the warden can't un-issue it. You're caught in a bit of pain-in-the-hole procedure now. Nothing more. These things happen. Appeal it and move on. You'll most likely win. No real harm done.

CiniO · 22-03-2018 12:50AM

Sammy_Jankis wrote: »

I get that but I only received the log book on Tuesday. Is it my fault that I paid motor tax for the month of March on the 20th and can’t print my own disc?

No, it's not your fault.

It's a system which is wrong in allowing things like that.
Law and procedures around motoring are wrong here, and should be changed.
You are just a victim of it.

Examples are plenty.

One is surely your case, when you can't tax a newly purchased vehicle until logbook is issued in your name, which effectively means you can't drive legally until then. And it might take weeks sometimes for logbook to arrive.

Worth mentioning as well about NCT being required straight away on any vehicle over 4 years imported and registered in Ireland, but you're not able to even book NCT for couple of days after first registering, and after you book it might be few days or few weeks for nearest appointment. Effectively it means, that anyone who imports a car over 4 years old into Ireland, can't legally drive it for a while (between few days to few weeks) directly after registering it in Ireland.

Or your driving licence, which can be only renewed withing 3 month time frame before expiry, which prohibits your from travelling abroad for longer than that in time before your licence expiry if you need a licence.
F.e. if your licence expires 10th August 2018, and you plan to go abroad now for 6 months from 1st April to 1st October, and will need your licence when away, you just can't do that, as your licence will be gone on 10th August, and you can't do anything about it or renew it before you go.

I could probably spend whole night describing more cases like that, especially if I referred to car insurance, but it's time to go to bed now....

charcosull · 22-03-2018 03:36PM

Happened to me a few months ago. I had the tax disc at home and had just forgot to put it in the car.
Emailed a photo of the tax disc to the CoCo and they cancelled the ticket.

Borderfox · 22-03-2018 08:34PM

Happened to me in Leixlip and no cancelling, they said the offence was committed and even if I had the disc it didn't matter

Fred Swanson · 22-03-2018 08:38PM

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NickNickleby · 22-03-2018 08:54PM

I know someone who had their car taken off them for non-display of tax. Went like this:

Owner gets new tax disc in post and puts it in the window, discarding old one. Unfortunately this was in the final days of the last month of the previous year's tax.

Garda stops him, "Where's your tax disc?"
"there it is there"
"no, that doesn't come into force until Monday"
"Jayziz, I tossed the old one when I got the new one"
"your ve-hicle is confiscated"

A tow truck arrived and took it away despite his constant objections.

Next day, having retrieved the old tax disc from the bin, he went to the yard to get his car. When he explained to the people on duty, they called the Garda all the b's under the sun , and told your man to just take the car without charging him the fee.

Same Garda took a car from a woman I knew - she was in her 70's and lived in Raheny. She was trading her car in and the tax was expiring that day. Turned out the new car wouldn't be ready , please call tomorrow. Next day she drives to the garage, sorry still not ready, come back tomorrow. Driving home along Griffith Avenue she encounters yer man, tells him the story "so, you knew your tax was out and you took your ve-hicle out on the public road. Confiscated"
She had to ring someone to come and get her. Don't know what the outcome was.

Consider yourself lucky:pac::pac::pac:

Fred Swanson · 22-03-2018 09:04PM

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CiniO · 22-03-2018 09:05PM

NickNickleby wrote: »

I know someone who had their car taken off them for non-display of tax. Went like this:

Owner gets new tax disc in post and puts it in the window, discarding old one. Unfortunately this was in the final days of the last month of the previous year's tax.

Garda stops him, "Where's your tax disc?"
"there it is there"
"no, that doesn't come into force until Monday"
"Jayziz, I tossed the old one when I got the new one"
"your ve-hicle is confiscated"

A tow truck arrived and took it away despite his constant objections.

Next day, having retrieved the old tax disc from the bin, he went to the yard to get his car. When he explained to the people on duty, they called the Garda all the b's under the sun , and told your man to just take the car without charging him the fee.

Same Garda took a car from a woman I knew - she was in her 70's and lived in Raheny. She was trading her car in and the tax was expiring that day. Turned out the new car wouldn't be ready , please call tomorrow. Next day she drives to the garage, sorry still not ready, come back tomorrow. Driving home along Griffith Avenue she encounters yer man, tells him the story "so, you knew your tax was out and you took your ve-hicle out on the public road. Confiscated"
She had to ring someone to come and get her. Don't know what the outcome was.

Consider yourself lucky:pac::pac::pac:

Which pub did you hear those stories?

:D:D:D:D

Fred Swanson · 22-03-2018 09:09PM

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Guy:Incognito · 22-03-2018 09:27PM

Fred Swanson wrote: »

I would chance it in court at that rate.

On what grounds . The offence isn't not having tax. It's not displaying the disc. That's fairly cut and dry if the disc isn't on display.

Guy:Incognito · 22-03-2018 09:29PM

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Tax must be expired 2 months to use Section 41 powers to seize.

Pah, the law has no relevance to 3rd party bulls......, eh, stories.

mickdw · 22-03-2018 09:30PM

A tax disc doesn't have a start date so the story about throwing the old disc away a few days early is clearly horse sh1t.

antodeco · 22-03-2018 09:35PM

I'm about to encounter this. Car has been declared off the road since October. Being retaxed on 1st April. I have to wait until April to tax it, which means a while before the disc arrives. So I'll be driving around with a tax disc out by 6 months, but the car is actually taxed. Lets hope I don't meet a grumpy Garda!

Killinator · 22-03-2018 09:55PM

Yeah not a hope a guard took the car with the tax out a couple of days.

NickNickleby · 22-03-2018 10:12PM

CiniO wrote: »

Which pub did you hear those stories? :D:D:D:D

Hahaha, yep the first one was in the pub alright, but I was talking to the 'victim'. The second was a colleague of my wife, and she was left very distressed by the experience.

This particular Garda was well known in the area for doing terrible things like that, and the local gossip was that he was hoping the Super would shift him.

I've no reason to disbelieve the people involved.

appledrop · 22-03-2018 10:17PM

I can believe some people's response to this post. A crime has not been committed here. A car changed ownership + you have to wait for log book. There is nothing you can do about that. Then tax disc was purchased + waiting for it to arrive. Appeal Appeal Appeal!

doolox · 22-03-2018 10:21PM

...and had no tax disk I avoided like the plague parking in public places and used private car parks where the jobsworth traffic warden parasites could not ticket you for non display as I was warned by the garage men that they were not sure I would not be done for non display but not to chance it. I was usually given a contract and letter from the garage on headed notepaper explaining that the car was registered in my name and the tax papers were on the way to Shannon to be re-issued in my name and then I would be able to buy a new tax disk.

Twice in my 7-car buying life I had to produce these documents to the Guards and there was never any problem.

The problem is with the traffic wardens, semi-educated jobsworths told not to exercise any discretion on the issue of fines and penalties by the severely dysfunctional local authorities that infest this country.

Until someone takes them to court and challenges this corrupt and idiotic system then they will continue to shill and extort fines from a known source of compliant and lucrative wealth because everyone knows motorists have money and do not want too much trouble from greedy and avaricious local vultures.

I will never forget the officious witch in Meath county council who berated my father when he was trying to tax his car and present documents that were not folded correctly or given in the correct order. My father would not have gone beyond Inter Cert level of education and paperwork would not be his strong suit. I use to accompany him to help out. We got the tax sorted but I fervently wish I had complained about the tax witches bahaviour at the time. I hope she dies in hell.

My Dad went downhill emotionally and physically and died two years later after this and other incidents involving jumped up little Hitlers that infest our nation.

Too many semi educated scum are given too much power in this country. Clampers, one of whom left my daughter in a very dangerous part of town by clamping her car, come to mind as do traffic wardens and speed van operators.

Roll out the tumbrils and bring on the revolution.

coylemj · 22-03-2018 10:26PM

NickNickleby wrote: »

I know someone who had their car taken off them for non-display of tax. Went like this:

Owner gets new tax disc in post and puts it in the window, discarding old one. Unfortunately this was in the final days of the last month of the previous year's tax.

Garda stops him, "Where's your tax disc?"
"there it is there"
"no, that doesn't come into force until Monday"
"Jayziz, I tossed the old one when I got the new one"
"your ve-hicle is confiscated"

A tow truck arrived and took it away despite his constant objections.

Along with your other yarn, that is complete nonsense. A tax disc doesn't display a start and end date, it shows that you are taxed up to a specific date. If you're driving a car in (e.g.) late March 2018 with a disc which expires in March 2019, you are fully compliant and there is no way (per Fred's post above) that a Garda can seize your car.

TallGlass · 22-03-2018 10:28PM

21st century technology and we are going around still displaying paper discs. Mind boggling, the waste of paper for starters then comes the cost of implementing the system.

coylemj · 22-03-2018 10:30PM

There are separate offences here - non-display and not paying the tax. Technically you are committing an offence of parking a car in a public place without displaying a tax disc, whether you've paid the tax or not.

As another poster has pointed out, you need to park in shopping centre car parks or your own drive until the disc arrives.

NickNickleby · 22-03-2018 10:31PM

Killinator wrote: »

Yeah not a hope a guard took the car with the tax out a couple of days.

While I don't share your confidence about this, admittedly other than those two instances I talked about, I have never heard of it happening, and know of instances where a Garda said, well make sure to put it up as soon as you get it - or words to that effect.

Actually, I always keep the old tax disc under the new one, just in case. Pub-story induced paranoia. the best kind:D.

Killinator · 23-03-2018 03:30AM

NickNickleby wrote: »

While I don't share your confidence about this, admittedly other than those two instances I talked about, I have never heard of it happening, and know of instances where a Garda said, well make sure to put it up as soon as you get it - or words to that effect.

Actually, I always keep the old tax disc under the new one, just in case. Pub-story induced paranoia. the best kind:D.

As a point of view from someone in the job I don't believe it happened given there is no legislation to allow such a seizure. As stated it would need to be out 2 months minimum before it could be seized. Either it didn't happen or someone was telling porkies about how much their tax was out by.

NickNickleby · 23-03-2018 11:31AM

Killinator wrote: »

As a point of view from someone in the job I don't believe it happened given there is no legislation to allow such a seizure. As stated it would need to be out 2 months minimum before it could be seized. Either it didn't happen or someone was telling porkies about how much their tax was out by.

Well, thanks for that very specific info. While I didn't know the legal position on it, its common knowledge that a Garda won't lift a car on a whim.

I can tell you that in the first story, a group of us listening to the lad telling the story (about something that he said happened that week) most responses were incredulity, as we all figured that the gardai never do anything about a car tax in the first month - but this case was different, and we - like the lad - actually believed if "a guard said that it must be true". None of us questioned the legality or otherwise of his action, what we more thought was that it was unfair and unreasonable. The bit about the guys in the depot handing out the car without taking a release fee or whatever its called was witnessed by the lad's father. Which is what lent credibility to the story at the time. Knowing the father for at least 15 years, it would be beyond belief that he would concoct such a story. As you say there may have been some sort of 'omission' :pac: from their account.

The second one I didn't speak to, so perhaps it is actually a case of "dúirt bean liom..." .

Given the amount of sceptism expressed to my posts, I want to make sure that no one thinks I'm on some sort of 'bash the gardai' jaunt. That is absolutely NOT my thinking, and I've raised my now adult kids to show utmost respect to Gardai, which they do. As do I, and when I hear someone bad mouthing the force my first thought is "you'd change your tune pretty sharpish if you needed them in a hurry" and my second is that these people would have neither the balls nor the brains to do the job. (nor would I, truth be told!).

Thanks for your civil clarification.

ebbsy · 23-03-2018 11:38AM

I'm from Kildare.

Tax was out of date by a 6 weeks. Warden in Kildare Town gave me a ticket.

Did'nt pay it. Went to court. Judge asked if I was up to date. I said I was.

That was the end of it.

Although I do remember guys getting hammered for not turning up or not paying the arrears.

uck51js9zml2yt · 23-03-2018 01:16PM

mickdw wrote: »

A tax disc doesn't have a start date so the story about throwing the old disc away a few days early is clearly horse sh1t.

It has an issue date printed on it

Sammy_Jankis · 07-04-2018 10:15PM

Just to give you all an update. I heard back from KCC on Friday and they accepted my appeal "as a gesture of goodwill". They did advise me to make sure I have a valid tax disc in the future.

Anywho thanks for the replies. Glad its over now.

appledrop · 07-04-2018 10:18PM

Delighted for you. 'A gesture of good will' yeah right. They knew well they did have a leg to stand on. Different if you just hadn't bothered to pay your tax on time but not case when new car ownership.

Tigger · 08-04-2018 12:02AM

Paisley Dead Windowpane wrote: »

It has an issue date printed on it

Yes but back tax must be paid

Parking fine for not displaying valid motor tax

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