Updated on 31 October 2015 by Accountant
You need to pay motor tax and display tax disc on the windscreen of your vehicle if you want to drive your vehicle on public roads in Ireland.
Failure to pay and display a current tax disc on your vehicle may result in a €60 fixed-charge fine issued by a Garda.
If your vehicle is off the road (for example is broken down) and you won’t drive it on public roads more than 3 months, you don’t have to pay motor tax.
You have to declare in advance that your vehicle will be off the road and not in use for a period of between 3 and 12 months using Declaration of Non-Use of a Motor Vehicle Form RF150 (pdf), which you submit to your motor tax office. The declaration of non-use must be made in the same month that your current motor tax disc expires. If arrears in motor tax are due these must be paid in full and you must also pay a minimum of 3 months motor tax, before a declaration of non-use can be made.
It is important, that you send the declaration off in sufficient time to reach your local motor tax office or do it in person at motor tax office. If you do your declaration correctly you will receive confirmation from motor tax by post or at motor tax office if you submit the form in person.
If you have just bought a new vehicle or just acquired a second hand one and you do not intend to use it immediately, you will have ten days from the date of purchase to make a declaration of non-use.
If you declared your vehicle off the road and your NCT test is due, you can bring it to and from a test centre for the test or to bring it for repair after a re-test, or back to where you are keeping it while it is off the road after the repairs. You can do this only if you already have made an appointment for a test or re-test and you need to carry a copy of the appointment for the test or re-test with you.
After you declared non-use period for your vehicle, you cannot keep/park or use the vehicle in a public place. It must be kept off the road to avoid a liability for motor tax and possible penalties for non-payment of motor tax and for making a false off-road declaration. If you make a false or misleading declaration you can be liable to a fine of up to €4,000 and/or six months in prison.
Source:
www.motortax.ie,
Environment, Community and Local Government