I move amendment No. 88:
In page 142, subsection (1), line 44, to delete "on" and substitute "in respect of".
SECTION 113.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 89:
In page 142, subsection (2), line 51, to delete "on" and substitute "in respect of".
Amendment agreed to.
Section 113, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 114 to 117, inclusive, agreed to.
SECTION 118.
I move amendment No. 90:
In page 144, paragraph (b), line 35, to delete "£60" and substitute "£25".
That is a pro rata amendment arising from representations made by the operators of amusement arcades in caravan parks for the summer reason and emanates from the county of Kerry. If the 12 month rate is £100 the three month season rate should be £25, not £60. I am told by my colleague, Deputy Moynihan, that at £60, operators will opt not to apply for licences.
I support Deputy Quinn in this matter. I have had representations from people in Louth who have only a three month period in which to operate, £60 per machine is an onerous charge.
The licenses will not be applied for. My amendment applies the charge pro rata.
The summer season is the high season and applies from St. Patrick's Day till Hallowe'en. The mobile travelling units such as circus units are exempt. In fact at the Spring Show the other day I was thanked by people who move from Dundalk to Kerry for the exemption.
These caravan parks have a small children's facility for rainy days when the kids get on the parent's nerves. It is a tiny space but provides a welcome distraction for children. The operators have told me as I suspect they have told Deputy Ahern that at £60 a machine it takes the cream out of it and is not worth the trouble. My amendment reduces the charge to its appropriate level for a three month season.
What is the yield from these licenses?
What machines are these?
Children video games machines etc.
I support the point being made here. Small machines in small caravan parks around the country yield little revenue; we are not talking about gambling machines but video games. If we insist on £60 per machine there will be wide scale breaches of the law. Whatever chance we have of compliance with a more modest fee, there is no chance of licenses at £60 each being paid. The Minister should consider the point made for Report Stage.
I will consider it at Report Stage if the Deputies would guarantee that of those people who come to them would comply. It is like the argument of the dance licence tax——
I can see Deputy Quinn going out there to get them to comply.
On a commission basis we will go out and collect the fees.
It is like the dance licence tax. Dancehalls claim to hold one dance a week or month, instead of which it is often about four a week. I will look at it for Report Stage.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Section 118 agreed to.
Sections 119 to 124, inclusive, agreed to.
I move amendment No. 91:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
"CHAPTER IV
Registration and Taxation of Vehicles
125.—(1) In this Chapter, save where the context otherwise requires—
‘ambulance' means a vehicle which is specially designed, constructed or adapted for the conveyance of injured or seriously ill persons to a hospital on stretchers and which is permanently fitted to accommodate and hold in position two or more standard stretchers;
‘the Act of 1952' means the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952;
‘authorised person' means a person authorised under section 131;
‘ bus’ means a vehicle which is designed, constructed or adapted for the conveyance of persons and so as to provide seating accommodation in permanent fixtures for more than 16 persons (inclusive of the driver) and for the purposes of this definition—
(a) each separate such seat in the vehicle which is 40 centimetres or more in width when measured lengthwise on the front of the seat shall be reckoned as providing seating accommodation for one person, and
(b) each continuous such seat (which expression includes 2 or more separate seats which are divided by such means as to allow them to be used as one continuous seat) shall be reckoned as providing seating accommodation for one person in respect of each 40 centimetres of the width of the seat when measured lengthwise on the front of the seat;
‘category A vehicle' means a vehicle other than a motorcycle or a listed vehicle—
(a) which is designed, constructed or adapted, solely or mainly for the carriage of the driver alone or the driver and one or more other persons, or
(b) which is of not more than 3 tonnes unladen weight and has, to the rear of the driver's seat, a roofed area—
(i) which is fitted with one or more side windows, or,
(ii) in which openings, suitable for the fitting of side windows, are or were incorporated and are not closed and sealed in accordance with such conditions as may be prescribed, or,
(iii) in which one or more seats have been fitted or in which are provided fixtures or other devices for the purpose of fitting one or more seats, or
(iv) in which the floor is constructed or fitted otherwise than in accordance with such conditions as may be prescribed;
‘category B vehicle' means a vehicle (other than a category A vehicle, a motor-cycle or a listed vehicle) which is of not more than 3 tonnes unladen weight and which has a roofed area to the rear of the driver's seat the floor of which is less than 2 metres in length when measured in such manner as may be prescribed;
‘category C vehicle' means a vehicle other than a category A vehicle, a category B vehicle or a motor-cycle;
‘certificate' means a certificate of registration issued under section 126 (5);
‘the Commissioners' means the Revenue Commissioners;
‘conversion' means the modification of a category B vehicle in such a manner as to make it a category A vehicle or the modification of a category C vehicle in such manner as to make it a category A vehicle or a category B vehicle and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
‘cylinder capacity of an engine' means the cylinder capacity of an engine calculated in accordance with regulations for the time being in force under section 1 (3) of the Act of 1952, for the purpose of a rate of duty specified in the Schedule to that Act;
‘deal' means offer for hire, lease or sale in the State one or more unregistered vehicles or converted vehicles prior to the entry of the prescribed particulars thereof in the register, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
‘listed vehicle' means one of the following vehicles, namely, an ambulance, a hearse, a bus, a special purpose vehicle, an agricultural tractor, a two-wheeled tractor, a fire engine, a fire-escape, a road sweeper, an invalid carriage, an armoured fighting vehicle, or a vehicle (not including a motor-cycle) which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to be more than 30 years old at the time of registration;
‘licensing authority' means the council of a county or the corporation of a county borough which licenses a vehicle under Section 1 the Act of 1952;
‘manufacture' means the making or assembling in the State of a vehicle and includes conversion and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
‘mechanically propelled vehicle' means a vehicle intended or adapted for propulsion by a mechanical means, including—
(a) a bicycle, tricycle or quadricycle propelled by an engine or motor with an attachment for propelling it by mechanical power, whether or not the attachment is being used, a moped, a scooter and an autocycle, and
(b) a vehicle the means of propulsion of which is electrical or partly electrical and partly mechanical,
but not including a tramcar or other vehicle running on permanent rails or a vehicle as respects which the Commissioners are satisfied that it is designed or constructed for off-road use (other than racing vehicles, scrambling vehicles or other sporting vehicles);
‘the Minister' means the Minister for Finance;
‘motor-cycle' means a vehicle specified in paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘mechanically propelled vehicle';
‘owner' means—
(a) in relation to a vehicle (other than a vehicle specified in paragraph (b)), the person by whom the vehicle is kept,
(b) in relation to a vehicle which is the subject of a hire-purchase agreement or a lease, the person in possession of the vehicle under the agreement or lease;
‘the Order of 1979' means the Imposition of Duties (No. 236) (Excise Duties on Motor Vehicles, Televisions and Gramophone Records) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 57 of 1979);
‘the Order of 1984' means the Imposition of Duties (No. 273) (Excise Duty on Motor-cycles) Order, 1984 (S.I. No. 354 of 1984);
‘prescribed' means prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners under section 136;
‘the register' means the register of vehicles established and maintained by the Commissioners under section 126 and ‘registered' and other cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
‘special purpose vehicle' means a vehicle which is designed, constructed or adapted solely or mainly for a purpose other than the carriage of persons or goods;
‘vehicle' means a mechanically propelled vehicle.".
Amendments Nos. 91 to 105 inclusive form a composite proposal and amendment No. 1 to amendment 91 is related. Amendment 1 to amendment 91 and amendments 92 to 105, inclusive, to be taken together by agreement.
Amendments 1 to amendment 91 not moved.
I would like to lead on from this by explaining what this new section is about. I signalled in my budget speech my intention to replace the existing excise duty on motor vehicles with a first registration charge designed to produce broadly equivalent revenue. EC internal market obligations mean that the current excise duty cannot be maintained because it is reliant on border controls for enforcement. Budgetary considerations ruled out any foregoing of the substantial revenue arising from this source. The purpose of this amendment is to establish the legislative framework for the new vehicle registration tax in keeping with EC requirements and for the consequential administrative arrangements arising from the transfer of vehicle registration functions to the Revenue Commissioners whom the Government have decided should handle the collection and enforcement of the new imposition. Responsibility for road tax will remain with the local authorities as will the other functions which are performed in the motor taxation offices. Under the new system provided for in this chapter, there will be a single registration charge subsuming the current flat rate administrative charge for registration imposed under the present road tax regime. In the case of new vehicles, the chargeable basis will be the open market selling price, inclusive of VAT and the vehicle registration tax as declared to the Revenue Commissioners by the authorised manufacturer/distributor. The tax will also be based on the open market selling price for those second hand vehicles which are liable to tax and which have been registered in the State for the first time. This is a significant change to the present system which uses predetermined depreciation scales. Specifically assigned revenue officers will be employed in determining the open market selling price for second-hand vehicles and will have references to trade guides, various depreciation scales and back-up from a central valuation unit. Provision is also made for the appeals system in relation to the tax charged for motor cycles; the framework will be provided to allow for the continued taxation. The tax will be levied at the dealer stage rather than at the importer/distributor level as at present. The system will also cater for individuals registering vehicles which they have purchased outside the dealer network. Discussons are taking place between the Revenue Commissioners and the trade on the detail of the system as will operate at the dealer and distributor levels. Broadly speaking, provision will be made for maintaining the current scope of reliefs which will apply to excise duty. For example, in the case of transfer of residence and temporary importations and there will be no effective change in the disabled driver scheme, to insure compliance with the new tax, in the absence of border controls the Revenue officers will be given the powers necessary to secure the tax including the power to stop vehicles, to check the registration status and provision is also being made for penalites, including forfeiture of vehicles, in the case of defined offences and for the making of administrative regulations. The actual rates of vehicle registration tax to apply will be set out in the autumn Finance Bill.
I would like to thank the Minister first of all, for the arrangements he suggested for dealing with this set of amendments. While it is quite long the net point seems to be straightforward, that after the 1st of January next any possibility of vehicles being cheaper to the consumer because of reductions in excise is going to be negatived by this set of measures. It would be very nice for a Minister if he could come in to the House and announce that motor vehicles on average were being reduced by about £3,000 because of the arrangements between our European partners. I suppose if the situation were to be worked on the basis of swings and roundabouts that would be the net effect. Certainly it is against the spirit of the community that harmonization measures have to be negatived by local measures which take in the yield in another way. We all live in the real world and even though that is the principled position I appreciate that any Minister for Finance would be forced to take measures along these lines and that you protect the yield to the Exchequer. The first question I would like to put is what is the yield in the latest available year and how will that yield be the separate measure in this Finance Bill to reduce excise on motor vehicles by a small amount? Following on that, is it the policy of the Minister to continue to reduce excise on motor vehicles as the budgetary situation allows or was this year's small reduction a once off measure? Secondly, I would like if the Minister once again went through the arrangements for enforcement in some detail. I understand from what the Minister said at Second Stage that some officers of Customs and Excise who will be redundant as a result of the abolition of border controls between member states will be transferred into a central office which will deal with this matter and I understand that that office will be in Rosslare, where there are quite a number of customs and excise officers. Another office collecting statistics will be up in Dundalk, again for the reason that a lot of excess officers are up there. I want to put it to the Minister whether he would the matter in this way if he did not have the problem of redeployment of permanent staff? On a neutral pitch, is there a better way of making the arrangement and is he not, doing it in this because there is pressure on him to maintain the careers of revenue officials with the least possible domestic upset? Is it necessary at all to have a central office and could this not be done through the local taxation office as simply another part of the first registration of a vehicle? There has been a first registration fee in all the local taxation offices for a long time. That was one of our brighter introductions to the tax code, Deputy Quinn, when we were both together in Cabinet. The mechanism is there for a first registration fee. Whether the first registration fee is £50, £100 or £3,000, it seems to me that there is no additional cost in dealing with the matter. I will first put it to the Minister and I am someone who has lobbied him fairly hard on behalf of the Customs and Excise officials but the question is still worth asking: if he did not have the problem of redeployment of staff, could this be solved simply through the local registration?
I would like the Minister to say something about leakage. As he said the obligation is now being transferred from the importers, of whom there are about six or seven, to a multiplicity of dealers all over the country. The obligation will now be on the multiplicity of dealers and we all know dealers in our own constituencies and there are an awful lot of them there. There is different category of dealers as well and I would like to put one particular point to the Minister on this.
It is quite common for a person who became redundant as a car salesman or even as a mechanic to be involved in selling a car here and there. He might sell one in the week or two in the month and he is working through a main dealer usually and he gets the car and sells on. Where is the obligation there? Is the obligation going to be on the main dealer who supplies the vehicle or is the obligation going to be on the person who is selling the car out of the back yard and who is the person who makes the arrangement with the customer?
I would also like the Minister to dwell at some length on the exemptions. The exemptions are quite far reaching and the exemptions which apply to officials of the Commission and people who are in the employ of the Brussels bureaucracy seem to be extraordinarily generous because they seem to be able to bring cars over, back and forth over any international boundary. Is this fair play for the ordinary citizen or is there some special arrangement here for European civil servants? Following on that, I see an exemption under which anybody who is moving with his private motor vehicle across an international boundary can bring it in. There is a free travel area between ourselves and the United Kingdom for a long time and I would suggest that the Minister will have difficulty in establishing where somebody is actually resident. At present the arrangements are fairly clear for the importation of vehicles from the United Kingdom. I think this is going to make them less clear and certainly it seems to me that the possibility of persons, who claim to be permanently resident in the United Kingdom, bringing cars back opens the door for a lot of potential leakage from the system.
I would now like to move to the question of price and I did not quite follow the Minister there. Maybe he would go over that section of his introductory note again in more detail. What is going to be the price of the vehicle? Is it the price that you buy it at, after getting whatever deal you can? Is it going to be the recommended price from the manufacturer? As regards the importation of second hand vehicles, last year, 12,000 or 15,000 people went to the United Kingdom and bought cars, come back and paid VAT and exise on the sliding scale. They have their documents right on entry at Rosslare and they drove away. That is all going to be replaced by first registration fee. There will be no VAT and excise applicable so it seems to me that the sliding scale has to go out the window for importation. The first registration fee will then have to be paid through a central office. In practical terms, if you spend the week in England and purchase a fairly good second hand two years old, car drive it on to the ferry and come back in the middle of 1993, I presume you do not need any importation documentation when you are driving off because there is no excise or VAT and your liability for first registration does not arise until you enter the country. Then you have to notify the central office. Because we are moving away from an obligation to pay excise and VAT on a sliding scale depending on the age and value of the car, how is it going to work? If my neighbour brings a car home and says that this car was bought for £1,500 in Liverpool——
We will have more work at the clinics.
I think we will. How are the enforcement officers going to look behind that? Or, what exactly will be the mechanism? Do I understand from the Minister's note that he says it will be based on market price rather than anything else? That presents a difficulty in this country where I understand, from the last Dáil question I put down, that there were 22,000 foreign cars registered in this country last year and 13,000 or 14,000 of those were from the UK and the rest from Japan.
This brings me to the next question: what will be the position for those who import Japanese cars — and those who buy them — since they come from outside the Community? Will the same rules simply apply and will there simply be a first registration fee on Japanese cars as well, or will they be involved in the older system? Will it be on the purchase price of the car in Tokyo, where I understand they buy them for small amounts of money, or will the old regime of sliding scales on VAT and excise apply because they are coming from outside the Community?
What kind of paperwork will be attached? What obligations will be on the dealers, for example? What does the Deputy tell his local garageman as this comes in? Is there going to be an enormous amount of paperwork and an enormous amount of checking and is there going to be some kind of audit system or will it be simply a claim by somebody that he sold ten cars in the month, these are the models and I return the first registration fee?
We know that a practice has arisen where people deduct PRSI and VAT and income tax from transactions. Quite frequently they are a bit tardy in returning what they deduct and without libelling anybody, I would not say that the garagemen would be the first to make their returns to the Revenue Commissioners. What will be the position in this regard? It seems that when you buy the car the dealer will agree a price and then put the first registration fee on top of that; the customer has parted with his or her money and then the obligation is on the dealer. Is there going to be any time limit? Will he have to return it forthwith or will he be given a month, three months or six months? What will be the system in that regard? It seems that it is not spelled out either.
Does the Minister expect to get the same yield as he has been getting? Looking into the future, what does he think the position should be at the end of the decade? Does he regard the first registration fee as a permanent part of our tax code? I believe there is benefit in dealing with it as a kind of a Second Stage debate rather than going through the sections at this stage. As the Minister started introducing in that manner, I would like if he dealt with those questions later on.
I would like to inform the Minister and, indeed, his advisers regarding a certain amount of concern that has been generated within the motor industry regarding this heading in the Finance Act. I want to make it quite clear that I am not promoting any individual company versus any other company within the motor business; I am just highlighting the major difficulties and the changes within the motor industry as a result of this measure. There is a certain company in the country at present assembling van-type vehicles; I understand they are employing up to 400 people. They are manufacturing vans built for trading and I do not think there is any doubt——
That will be dealt with at a later stage rather than on this particular section.
I though it came in under the heading of page 23 of the amendments.
I do not mind if we accept Deputy Noonan's proposal and take it all altogether, if that suits, once we all know what we are doing.
I have no objection to that — a Second Stage Committee debate.
OK.
Within confines.
I thought it was OK under page 23. Basically, in those opening remarks I was emphasising the point that there is a company in this country assembling van-type vehicles employing 400 people. They are not for passenger use in any shape or form. In fact, these vehicles are nearly non-convertible to passenger service. I understand that this tax, increase or reduction, as the case may be, is specifically to avoid the situation of conversion of vans to ordinary passenger use. In this case, the vehicle in question is specifically built for van use, for commercial use and the fact that it does not comply with the regulations of the floor space recommended in this heading means that they are now in a position where the cost of the production of the van will be increased by 10 per cent whilst competitors who were not in that market will now be able to sell at 10 per cent lower. To me this is a massive change by the stroke of a pen of a 20 per cent differential between two different types of motor companies in the area of a van-type vehicle.
It has been suggested that, without the State losing any revenue, the system of calculation of tax on a cubic area would be a much more favourable way of dealing with the matter and I understand that the companies in competition with one another — Ford and Opel for example — are quite amenable to that type of suggestion. I understand that the advisers are aware of the fact that Opel and Ford have given an indication that they are not against such a system of charging tax. I would like the Minister to have another look at that situation to see if it is possible to bring in that type of new scale rather than the one suggested. There is a danger that investment could be lost as a result of this because the company in question, which employs 400 people, may have difficulty in trading. They are trading with semi-State bodies here such as An Post and the ESB. The type of vans they have are clearly not for conversion for passenger use, yet they are being identified for this new tax. I understand the Revenue Commissioners are also reasonably sympathetic to the idea of a cubic area system of charging. I would like to ask the Minister to have another look at this measure and see if he can alter it.
In relation to the last point made we are taking, in effect, what is now section 131. I have just received representations from Renault in respect of their company based in Wexford to which Deputy Hilliard was referring. The amendment down in the names of both Deputy Noonan and myself would meet, within the confines of the legislation, the concerns that have been expressed by Deputy Hilliard. There seems to be a fair case for it, as the case was presented to us. No doubt the same case was presented to the Minister. We would like to hear the Minister's reply.
I think it might be appropriate to say to Deputy Quinn that we are not on section 131 at this stage. However, given the contribution made by Deputy Hilliard on this area which he is focusing on, it might be relevant to deal with the matter at this point, if the Deputy wishes to elaborate on the point.
In relation to the main substantial amendment that is being brought in by the Minister, we are at a slight disadvantage in that a very substantial amendment involving many technicalities was circulated late on Friday. I do not want to repeat points that have been raised here but there are question marks as to how this system will actually function in reality, on the ground. The questions have been asked and, if the Minister is a position to respond to the questions posed by Deputy Noonan, he might clarify many of the points that are on everybody's mind.
I know a number of Deputies missed the start of this but Deputy Noonan was here on time and I am sure he will not mind if I just go over some of them again. The purpose of the amendment is to establish the legitimate framework for the new vehicle registration tax in keeping with EC requirements, and for the consequential administrative arrangements arising from the transfer of vehicle registration functions to the Revenue Commissioners, whom the Government have decided should handle the collection and enforcement of the new imposition. Responsibility for road tax will remain with the local authorities, as will the other functions which are performed in the Motor Taxation Office. The road tax will remain with the local authorities, as at present, and the other functions will also.
The registration numbers given to motor cars being registered for first time will be given by the local authority?
What will happen is that there will be a proper statutory base registration file. The file exists at present and is held by the local authority but it is not statutory based.
All right.
There is a file at Shannon but that is not statutory based. At present there are 21 distributor importers, as Deputy Noonan said. They deal with all new cars in the bonded warehouses. They pay the duty and the VAT on those cars. What will happen now is that the dealers — there are over 600 of them — will be responsible. That will be the port of call for making sure that registration tax is paid, rather than the previous system which under EC law we cannot operate now. The dealer will pay the vehicle registration tax and release the car to the customer. The distributor/dealer rather than the importer will not let the car out on the road — nor can the first registration tax be paid — until that tax is paid; so they police each other.
Is that a single transaction, where the customer takes the car to be registered?
Yes.
As before? So, from the customers points of view, does anything change significantly?
No. Not from the customers points of view.
Can the Minister define importer, dealer and distributor?
The recognised people who bring the cars in are wholesalers and retailers. There are 21 of them at present and they deal with practically 100 per cent of the cars brought into the country at the moment. That process is now being transferred to approximately 600 people who will be responsible for getting the vehicle registration tax. The file will be opened by the Revenue Commissioners and then the information they have gathered on the national file will be made available to the local authority which will keep the records afterwards, for the renewal of the ordinary tax. There will be a national file which will provide some protection.
Under the new system provided for in this chapter, there will be a single registration charge subsuming the current flat rate administration charge for registration. That is the question Deputy Noonan raised. In the case of new vehicles the chargeable basis will be the open market selling price inclusive of VAT——
What does that mean?
I will come back to that in a moment — as declared by the Revenue Commissioners and authorised by the manufacturer distributor. The tax will also be based on the open market selling price for those second hand vehicles which are liable to tax and which are being registered in the State for the first time. The same applies to cars being imported by private individuals.
The obligation, there, would be on the private motorist?
Yes. It has to be on a private motorist. The individual has to come forward and the Revenue officer will then make an assessment based, not on the old scaling rate, but on other criteria, the market value in the country, from information he has——
The market value in this country?
In this country.
So if I go across to the UK or France, buy a car and come back here, I will not be stopped now at the Customs and Excise. What do I do if I want to be onside and pay my taxes? To whom do I go?
You come forward to the Revenue Commissioners and they will make the assessment based on the criteria of market value.
Then you could buy a car for £1,500 in Liverpool and Revenue would decide it was worth a lot more in this country?
Yes, they could do. Deputy Noonan asked what the yield was. The excise is £210 million, VAT, £40 million, subject to the flows of the marketplace.
The Deputy also asked what would be involved at Rosslare. There will be about 100 officers involved in the process, 30 at the head office base and approximately 70 officers on the road. That is not finalised yet because discussions are still going on about the 680 people from customs and excise who will be displaced.
Deputy Noonan asked whether we would be establishing the system this way were it not for the displaced officers. Yes. We would have to do it this way. There are two questions here. We are limited in what we can do because of the EC changes. We cannot do it the way we would like to. Revenue had importation well fenced in over the years. That fence is gone but experienced people are needed in this, because of the level of revenue involved. It is not just the ordinary motor taxation, that is only one aspect of it. People are brought into the system for that tax by the process of first registration. The protection of the whole system is based on the motor registration tax. If you do not get that right at the start, you have a continuing difficulty. These revenue officers are experienced and qualified. Equivalent officers would be needed, anyway, to protect the system. That is how the system will work. customs and excise are gone but there will have to be check points and protection points to protect that level of revenue. A figure of £250 million is involved. Discussions with the industry are ongoing. We will have to talk to them later in the year on the second Finance Bill. At present we deal with 21 distributor importers and the vehicles are left in warehouses. In future we will deal with 600 people, which has its own difficulties. I have some work to do before I will be satisfied that it can be adequately policed——
But does that mean there will be the same old delays at Rosslare with the truck drivers lining up behind one another?
No, there will not be so much paperwork.
What does the Minister mean when he refers to the usual checks?
They will not be Rosslare. The system will have to be policed, in some way, throughout the country.
At the Red Cow roundabout?
Will the Gardaí stop people?
The problem of untaxed vehicles is widespread in the country at present. With this new scheme, the incentives for people to avoid or evade paying this new registration tax would be even greater. What exactly has the Minister in mind, as regards new checkpoints?
Will I go back to the start? If the registration tax has not been paid the car cannot be on the road. The person who pays the tax, in the first place, is the distributor. The car does not go out on the road, to the customer, until the distributor pays the tax.
But what about the individual who goes to Liverpool.
There is no problem for the individual.
The individual could be on the road as Deputy Power suggests.
How will the individual be on the road? Do you mean, if he imports a second-hand car? That is happening at the moment.
At the moment, people can be stopped at the customs and excise and queried, that is the point. The Minister is saying that, after January 1, that will go?
On the first of January next, custom and excise as we know it, border frontier tax control checkpoints will be gone completely. To police the system, the cars coming in will have to be dealt with elsewhere. Let us not go into the question of secondhand cars now, let us deal with the new ones, first of all.
The car bought in Liverpool need not be second-hand. There is nothing to stop an Irish citizen from buying a new car, registering it in Liverpool and driving it back. It will no longer be just the secondhand market that will be involved after 1 January.
But the car's market value would be different. The registration tax would not be based on what was paid for it in Britain but on the local market value?
It would be based on the Irish price?
The Irish price would include the additional tax for that size. There would be no incentive for an individual to import a new car.
There would be other factors too.
The incentive is, as Deputy Power said, the evasion potential.
I was answering that question of why we need well experienced customs and excise people for this duty. The reason is that £200 million of revenue has to be protected. That is the point, as Deputy Power's question indicates, it will not be easy.
The first point we have to sort out is how to deal with our 600 distributors rather than 21 importers as heretofore. We are all familiar with the kind of people who import cars, bring them into the warehouses. They are the people who paid the tax heretofore. At least those cars which are on the national register. The dealer/distributors will pay the first registration tax, and the owners will pay their ordinary annual tax. After that the same process we have at present will apply. It has to be enforced by the gardaí. From listening to customs and excise people I know they are cute enough about what happens at borders. They will be equally cute, I think, about what happens off the borders, though they will have a more difficult task.
It is because of the EC considerations that we cannot have border controls. We cannot apply a higher level of tax to an imported car than that applies to a domestically owned vehicle.
In answer to one of Deputy Noonan's questions, the registration and the issue of numbers would be the responsibility of revenue. The VAT rate——
Are we confusing the two numbers? Who will issue what is known as the licence number of a car, such as 92D 1600? Will that be the same as the car tax registration number? Will there be a common set of numbers for each car or will we have two sets of numbers attached to each vehicle?
The present system continues, there will be a common set as at present and revenue will do the registration.
Yes, but the car logbook, has the registration number, such as 92D 1600 once the tax is deemed to have been paid by one of the 21 importers. From a customers point of view, will there be another number which a customer will need to know? What will be the mechanism of registration, will there be a national register or a national file of cars, will that be correlated to the licence number or will there be a whole new family of numbers peculiar to the cars?
It is the same process as at present. There will be a statutory national registration. The issue of a number such as 92D 1600 will be done as at present, but it will be done by Revenue——
By Revenue?
By Revenue. The national file will be a better file than anything we have at present.
Will the new car owner go down to Chancery Street, Riverside House, to register the car? Or does the car come registered?
They will to go where the revenue office is, the Custom House, I think. Revenue officers will be responsible for protecting the system.
If there are 30 officers in Rosslare and only 70 for the rest of the country they cannot register all the new vehicles.
They are the people who will protect the system. Revenue offices nationwide will have to register the vehicles. The information will then go into the same national file. There are Revenue offices in all parts of the country.
Are you saying that instead of going to the County Council I will be going to the Customs House in Limerick?
Yes.
And what is the necessity for that?
The national file and the first registration tax will be the responsibility of Revenue in the local offices throughout the country.
Will they give you a document to take to the County Council?
They will register your vehicle and give you your certificate.
The logbook?
It is a tight system.
It would put you back on the bus, by the time you had finished all that paperwork.
No, the individual will go to the Revenue rather than to the motor taxation office. The motor tax people are dealing with first registration at the moment, but we have no national file of vehicles.
Revenue will now become involved at the initial stage whereas, prior to this, they were not involved at all at that stage. Given Revenue's track record in other areas, that might mean a significant improvement in national coordination. The establishment of a national file might be an improvement.
The concept of a national register and the first registration tax means that area is well policed. What is not well policed as Deputy Power said, is the situation where somebody can drive in off the ferry boat and take off. There are certain difficulties with that type of person, at the moment, as we all know.
If we are going to have 70 people doing spot checks at random on the first car tax registration, can we put them on commission and ask them to check for insurance and driving licences and even breathalyse motorists just to cover all the options? Is there a possibility of integrated surveillance or will they be complementing the gardaí?
The primary task we are looking at in this provision is to find an alternative to the current VAT and excise arrangements. It could well be necessary to have a bigger presence on the roads checking cars. I think we have to structure the system to meet our requirements. The first one is to establish the system properly.
There is hardly any point in having gardaí doing spot checks on car insurance and car tax for drivers around the country and not checking to see if the car was properly registered in the first instance. It does not make sense to have somebody go to the trouble of stopping a car and not check all the statutory requirements.
The gardaí would be doing that anyway.
They are not.
In the case of road tax, the Revenue people would be complementing the gardaí. Do you think that the gardaí will not check it?
Instead of just 70 people on the road checking this——
There will be far more, the gardaí will be doing it.
There will be integrated surveillance.
They will complement the gardaí.
The gardaí have no statutory power to check first registration fees. They will check road tax, insurance and anything under the Road Traffic Acts but at the moment, no garda stops a motorist and asks if first registration has been paid.
But if you did not have it, what would your status be with the gardaí?
This is like Eastern Europe. We will have more administrators, law enforcers and paperwork. This is a bureaucratic mess.
There will actually be far less paperwork in future because the huge process which takes place at the point of entry at the present will be gone. That is why over 600 custom and excise staff, will be required no longer.
I am talking about the customer, not about the importer, obviously it will relieve the burden on the importer.
Yes.
But it increases the burden on the ordinary motorist to a degree, he will have to trot from the Revenue to the motor tax office; enforcement will be carried out by a number of agencies. I thought we were freeing up the system.
I do not honestly see it that way. What is the difference to a member of the public who, at the moment, does not know whether it is the importer or the distributor who deals with this matter? If you went out and did a survey of the first hundred motorists you would find they did not have the foggiest notion which was in involved. As far as they are concerned, they get the car and the registration will be done by a greater number of people — all 600 distributors. The customer involved will have the car registered on the national file, and the first road tax paid up.
This is my very question from the customer's point of view. If a person is stopped on the Naas dual carriageway by one of these new people doing a random check on first registration, what will that person be looking for, specifically, on the car?
A certificate.
Will a certificate be issued to the driver and have to be carried at all times?
The two things involved are the certificate and the plate.
The plates are not changing 92D etc. Will the certificate be an integral part of the logbook as we know it currently?
The logbook may not survive in its present form but that will be your certificate.
There will be a certificate that travels with the car?
Yes. Revenue will operate the roadchecks and will back up the work of the gardaí. The key point is that Revenue can and will detain and seize the car. I think that is a huge deterrent. These people know their business. I think that is what happens in other countries too, by the way. There will be a much higher enforcement level which will have a positive——
Will they impound or seize the car?
Seize it.
That is a pretty severe deterrent.
You do not mess around with the system.
We seized 1,200 cars last year. While numbers will be issued by Revenue in future, continuation of the current numbering system is envisaged, allocation by reference to County Councils will be retained, current number plates style and layout, including EC aspects will be retained. Secondhand vehicles being registered in the State for first time will continue to be assigned numbers relating to the year of first registration abroad, and strict enforcement of the law regarding the display of identification marks can be expected of the Revenue Commissioners.
Deputy Noonan asked about the VAT rate on cars. It has been reduced from 25 to 21 per cent, as we know, in the last few years, to the benefit of the trade and to the motorists. The excise duty has come down from 21.7 to 20 per cent on most cars. That is a budgetary matter. Naturally enough, as regards VAT generally, the trend would be to keep going downwards but there could be no commitment to that. What can be done is based on the annual review at budget time.
To further elaborate on the prices and on the chargeable value, the section sets up the basis for charging tax on category A vehicles, cars and minibuses and category B vehicles, car-derived and small vans. The tax base is defined as the open market selling price of the model in question on the Irish retail market. The price is inclusive of all taxes including the vehicle registration tax. For new vehicles on sale here the distributor will declare the open market selling price to the Revenue Commissioners who will use that price to calculate the tax on vehicles going through the dealer network as well as new vehicles being brought into the State by private individuals.
Very big discounts are being offered, at present, off the recommended price in the Irish motor car market. Is the Minister referring to the discounted price?
It is up to the distributor. You are talking about the distributor's discount.
Supposing I go in and he gives me a car for £11,000 on a straight cash deal for a small car. Deputy Rabbitte goes in and he does not know the Deputy so well so he charges him £11,500. Is my car returned at £11,000 and his car return to £11,500?
No.
The open market price is the price you can get on the open market. I know the man better, so I can get a better price.
The declared price applies.
He can declare £11,000 to me and declare £11,500 to Deputy Rabbitte. This is a serious point.
I know your point. You are asking about instances of discount such as when one buys ten cars.
I am not talking about the number of cars but about the fact that there may be different prices for different people. Is the price one pays or some kind of recommended retail price returned? Open market prices have been mentioned.
If one bought a car from one's brother, one would expect to pay a lower than market price.
It is the price estimated by the distributor for that model.
We have 21 importers at the moment who fix prices for models imported. Their list of prices is circulated to wholesalers and down through the pyramid network system. Those importers are going to disappear for the purposes of excise and VAT under the new regime. Who is going to replace them and supply recommended prices to the Revenue Commissioners? We all know that an open market price is a moveable feast unless determined by an authority within the marketplace and ratified by a statutory body i.e. the Revenue Commissioners. The market price at present is understood to comprise the imported price plus excise and VAT. That is being changed. What does the Minister propose to put in its place?
The tax must be imposed on the price declared by the dealer. I do not see how else it may be done.
That is not necessarily the open market selling price which is my point. The declared price in the example Deputy Noonan gave is £11,000 in his case and £11,500 in mine for the same car.
Deputy Rabbitte is losing again.
If there is a disputed price the Revenue Commissioners will have to make an assessment on it. The distributors have gone. If dealers want to give a cut off a declared price that is their business. The tax is paid on the declared price.
Let me ask this question. If the new system has not been worked out yet that is fair enough. The amendment has come early and this is not the final court in relation to this matter and there is no guarantee we will get it right first time out. An exclusive importer for Opel controls the price of Opel cars throughout the system and fixes a base price. Three or four Opel dealers makes for a very competitive situation. The dealer may decide to offer a discount so as to get a bigger market share. The dealer for Opel in Wexford may quote a price £500 below the price of the dealer in Newbridge. Does that mean that the person in Wexford getting the benefit of an open market selling price there will pay tax as a proportion on that discounted price or will the tax be assessed on the higher original price? These questions will be raised and there may be opportunities to be exploited. If the Minister does not have an answer, that is fair enough.
I said at the outset that the motor industry and the Revenue Commissioners are still devising a system. I think the tax will have to be calculated on the declared price. I cannot see an alternative.
In that case we need a method of appeal and opportunities for clarification or the arrangements will break down. Citizens will be obliged to trust the Revenue Commissioners' assessments and arbitrary valuations and decisions will undermine trust.
I accept that point because appointing the Revenue Commissioners as arbiters is not an ideal way of dealing with the problem. There will be variations in prices as well as declared prices. I still think that the declared price will prevail. It will have to be worked out with the trade. If a distributor wants to give a discount he should not be prevented from doing so.
When Gay Byrne hears this, he will go mad.
What about Japan?
The new registration tax will be administered and controlled through the network of revenue offices around the country. I have made sure that there will be a local service for dealers and members of the public which will absorb some of the Customs and Excise staff. They will be needed and will not be additional. I am satisfied with that.
I will not deal with the other point now.
Is it going to be as the Minister described for all dealers?
Yes. Deputy Noonan asked if tax would be calculated on the Japanese valuation or on the Irish valuation in the case of Japanese cars. It will be on the Irish value.
That should put the Japanese cars off the road.
It is a single system and must be adhered to strictly.
The VAT and the excise duty will apply to the Irish value.
The VAT will be different.
Amendment agreed to.
NEW SECTIONS.
I move amendment No. 92:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
126.—(1) (a) The Commissioners shall establish and maintain a register of all vehicles in the State (in this Chapter referred to subsequently as ‘the register').
(b) The Commissioners may enter in the register such particulars in relation to a vehicle and its ownership and connected matters as they consider appropriate.
(c) The Commissioners may amend an entry in or delete an entry from the register.
(d) The register may be established and maintained in a form that is not legible if it is capable of being converted into a legible form.
(2) (a) The prescribed particulars of each vehicle that, on or after the 1st day of January, 1993, is not a registered vehicle shall be declared to the Commissioners for the purposes of registration.
(b) A vehicle in relation to which the prescribed particulars have been furnished under this subsection shall be deemed to be a registered vehicle.
(3) (a) Where a registered vehicle is converted, the prescribed particulars shall be declared to the Commissioners for the purpose of the entry in the register of particulars in relation to the conversion and the Commissioners may enter in the register such particulars in relation to the conversion as they consider appropriate.
(b) The owner of a vehicle which has been converted shall deliver to the Commissioners with the declaration under paragraph (a) in relation to the conversion the certificate in relation to the vehicle and the Commissioners shall enter on the certificate such particulars in relation to the conversion as they consider appropriate.
(4) A person shall not have in his possession or charge after the 1st day of January, 1993, an unregistered vehicle or a converted vehicle as respects which the prescribed particulars in relation to the conversion have not been declared to the Commissioners unless the person is an authorised person or the vehicle is the subject of an exemption under section 130 in force for the time being.
(5) The Commissioners shall assign in the prescribed manner a unique identification mark to each vehicle entered in the register and shall issue to the owner of the vehicle a certificate of registration in the prescribed form in respect of each such vehicle.
(6) (a) There shall be displayed in the prescribed manner on each registered vehicle in the State the identification mark assigned to it under subsection (5).
(b) An identification mark assigned to a vehicle under subsection (5) shall not be displayed on any other vehicle.
(c) A mark which purports to be but is not an identification mark assigned to a vehicle under subsection (5) shall not be displayed on a vehicle.
(d) A person (other than an authorised person) shall not have in his possession or charge a vehicle in respect of which there is a contravention of paragraph (a).
(e) A person shall not have in his possession or charge a vehicle in respect of which there is a contravention of paragraph (b) or (c).
(7) The Minister for the Environment shall have access to and may inspect and examine the register and—
(a) may take, or be supplied by the Commissioners with, such information from the register as he considers appropriate for the purpose of his functions, and
(b) take or be supplied by the Commissioners with, copies of the register or of such extracts from the register as he considers appropriate for the purpose of his functions and, if the register is in other than legible form, of copies of or of such extracts from the register when reproduced in legible form as he considers appropriate for the purpose of his functions.
(8) The Roads Act, 1920, is hereby amended, with effect from the 1st day of January, 1993, by the substitution of the following section for section 6:
‘6. (1) On the first application to a licensing authority for a licence in respect of a vehicle under section 1 of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952, the authority shall not issue the licence unless and until the authority is satisfied that the vehicle has been registered in the register maintained under section 126 of the Finance Act, 1992.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a certificate of registration under the said section 126 or such other (if any) evidence as the Minister for the Environment may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, direct shall be sufficient evidence of the registration of the vehicle in the register aforesaid.'.
This section sets up the register to be maintained by the Revenue Commissioners on which details of vehicles will be held. The Revenue Commissioners will issue the appropriate registration numbers and certificates and record the details of conversions of vehicles from one registration tax category to another. The system will replace the existing registration procedure operated by local authorities. The section also provides for the passing of information from the register to the Minister for the Environment and provides that the first licensing of a vehicle by a licensing authority shall not take place unless the vehicle has been registered. That affords maximum protection with the minimum of paperwork.
Could I get back to amendment No. 91 and the issue of floor area?
Some of the Members feel that this can be dealt with under section 131.
It is under section 131.
The Committee is discussing section 125.
The old section 131 will now become section 144 because of the insertion of 13 new sections.
The reason Deputy Hilliard brought it up initially is that it arises under the Minister's new section in the interpretation.
We will discuss it on section 131.
Amendment agreed to.
We have agreed amendment No. 92.
It was discussed with amendment No. 91.
I know that but does that mean we have agreed all the new sections from section 125 to section 139? Are all of those new sections going in under one amendment?
We dealt with amendments Nos. 91 to 105, inclusive. They form a composite proposal.
My confusion is the same as that of Deputy Roche. There are a whole series of new sections, from section 125 to 139. But in the Bill, as printed, there are other sections with the same numbers. Will you take each section with the amendment or will you take them separately or are you putting all the car registration sections by way of one queston on amendment No. 92?
When we set out to discuss amendment No. 91 we indicated at that stage that we were talking about the new sections. Sections 91 to 105, inclusive, form a composite proposal. There was sufficient flexibility allowed in the debate for the necessary toing and froing.
I am not arguing about that. I am trying to find out what has been done. Amendment No. 91 says: In page 145, before section 125, but in chapter III, to insert the following new section. So the amendment seems to take the whole section. Will they be put to us separately or together?
There are 15 amendments.
Deputy Noonan is confusing section with chapter.
I am trying to find out which of them applies here.
(Interruptions.)
Hope for the best.
Drive on.
The wisdom here is that we should drive on with first time registration.
We have to agree all amendments separately up to No. 105.
In amendment No. 98 in the name of An tAire on the green list of amendments, dated 11 May, this word "registered" in the second line of the new section proposed to be inserted should read "unregistered".
Can we formally agree the various amendments.
I move amendment No. 93:
NEW SECTION.
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
127.—(1) In addition to any other duty which may be chargeable, subject to the provisions of this Chapter and any regulations thereunder, with effect on and from the 1st day of January, 1993, a duty of excise, to be called vehicle registration tax, shall be charged, levied and paid at whichever of such rates as may stand specified for the time being by an Act of the Oireachtas is appropriate on—
(a) the registration of a vehicle, and
(b) a declaration under section 126 (3).
(2) Vehicle registration tax shall become due and be paid at the time of the registration of a vehicle or the making of the declaration aforesaid, as may be appropriate.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 94:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
128.—(1) Where the rate of vehicle registration tax charged in relation to a category A vehicle or a category B vehicle is calculated by reference to the value of the vehicle, that value shall be taken to be the open market selling price of the vehicle at the time of the charging of the tax thereon.
(2) (a) For a new vehicle on sale in the State which is supplied by a manufacturer or sole wholesale distributor, such manufacturer or distributor shall declare to the Commissioners in the prescribed manner the price, inclusive of vehicle registration tax, which, in his opinion, a vehicle of that model and specification, including any enhancements or accessories fitted or attached thereto or supplied therewith by such manufacturer or distributor, might reasonably be expected to fetch on a first arm's length sale thereof in the open market in the State by retail.
(b) A price standing declared for the time being to the Commissioners in accordance with this subsection in relation to a new vehicle shall be deemed to be the open market selling price of each new vehicle of that model and specification:
Provided that where, at the time of its registration, a new vehicle has fitted or attached to it enhancements or accessories which have not been taken into account in the price declared under this subsection, an amount equal to the declared price, increased by the addition thereto of such amount as, in the opinion of the Commissioners, is the retail value of such enhancements or accessories, shall be deemed to be the open market selling price of the vehicle.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b), where a price is declared for a vehicle in accordance with this subsection which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, is higher or lower than the open market selling price at which a vehicle of a similar type and character is being offered for sale in the State at the time of such declaration, the open market selling price may be determined by the Commissioners for the purposes of this section.
(3) In this section—
"new vehicle" means a vehicle which is less than 3 months old when reckoned from its first entry into service or which has travelled less than 3,000 kilometres;
"open market selling price" means the price, inclusive of vehicle registration tax, which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, a vehicle, including any enhancements or accessories fitted or attached thereto or sold therewith, might reasonably be expected to fetch on a first arm's length sale thereof in the open market in the State by retail, subject to the provisions of subsection (2).
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 95:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
129.—(1) A vehicle may, subject to any conditions, restrictions or limitations prescribed by the Minister by regulations made by him under section 136 be registered without payment of vehicle registration tax if the vehicle is—
(a) the personal property of a private individual and is being brought permanently into the State by the individual when he is transferring his normal residence from a place outside the State to a place in the State,
(b) being brought permanently into the State as part of the capital goods and other equipment of a business undertaking which definitively ceases its activity outside the State and moves to the State in order to carry on a similar activity there,
(c) the personal property of a deceased person and is being brought permanently into the State by a person resident in the State, or a person or body of persons established in the State and engaged in a non-profit making activity, who either acquired by inheritance the ownership or beneficial ownership of such vehicle or is the personal representative resident in the State of the deceased person,
(d) given as a gift, in token of friendship or good-will by an official body, public authority or group carrying on an activity in the public service or interest, which is located outside the State, to an official body, public authority or group carrying on an activity in the public service or interest, which is located in the State and is approved by the Commissioners for the purposes of this paragraph,
(e) for official use by an institution of the European Communities,
(f) for the personal use of officials or other members of the staff of an institution of the European Communities who transfer their residence to the State to take up a position there with an institution of the European Communities,
(g) supplied under diplomatic, consular or similar arrangements by virtue of the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Acts, 1967 and 1976, and orders made thereunder.
(2) Effect may be given to the provisions of subsection (1) by means of a repayment of duty subject to any conditions the Commissioners see fit to impose.
(3) The reliefs allowed under the Disabled Drivers (Tax Concessions) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 340 of 1989), shall apply with any necessary modifications to vehicle registration tax.
(4) A vehicle may be registered, subject to such conditions, limitations and restrictions (if any) as the Commissioners may impose, without payment of vehicle registration tax and with the repayment of any such tax paid, where the Commissioners are satisfied that such vehicle is for use—
(i) in the establishment or maintenance of an international air service using or involving the use of an airport in the State,
(ii) in the establishment or maintenance of radio or meteorological services or other aids to air navigation ancillary to any such international air service, or
(iii) for experimental purposes in connection with the establishment or maintenance of any such international air service.
(5) Whenever the Minister so thinks proper, he may authorise the Commissioners to register a vehicle, subject to such conditions, limitations or restrictions (if any) as they may impose, either without payment of vehicle registration tax or on payment of the tax at less than the rate ordinarily chargeable or, where the said tax has been paid, to repay the tax in whole or in part.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 96:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
130.—A vehicle which is temporarily brought into the State may be exempted by the Commissioners from the requirement to be registered, in such manner and subject to such conditions, restrictions and limitations as the Minister may prescribe if the vehicle is—
(a) brought into the State by a person established outside the State for his private or business use,
(b) brought into the State solely for the purpose of a competition, exhibition, show, demonstration, or similar purpose and is not intended to be sold or offered for sale in the State and is intended to be taken out of the State on the fulfilment of such purpose, or
(c) designed or specially adapted as professional equipment brought into the State by a person established outside the State for use exclusively by such person or under his personal supervision.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 97:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
131.—(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 126, a person may be authorised by the Commissioners to manufacture, distribute, deal in, deliver, store, repair or modify unregistered vehicles and to convert registered vehicles.
(2) A person shall not be authorised under this section unless he appears to the Commissioners to satisfy such requirements as they may think fit to impose.
(3) The Commissioners may, at any time for reasonable cause (which shall be stated to the authorised person) and following such notice as is reasonable in the circumstances, revoke an authorisation made under this section or vary its terms.
(4) An authorised person shall not deliver, send out or otherwise make available for use an unregistered vehicle other than to another authorised person.
(5) An authorised person shall not deliver, send out or otherwise make available for use a vehicle which, but for compliance with this subsection, would be unregistered, to a person who is not an authorised person without first—
(a) declaring the prescribed details of the vehicle to the Commissioners in accordance with section 126, and
(b) paying vehicle registration tax in respect of the registration of the vehicle.
(6) For the purposes of subsection (5) the Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions for securing payment as they may think fit to impose, permit payment of vehicle registration tax to be deferred to a day not later than the 15th day of the month following that in which the said tax is charged.
(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4) and (5), the Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, allow an unregistered vehicle to be delivered by an authorised person for temporary display or exhibition.
(8) No provision of this section shall be deemed to permit the use of an unregistered vehicle on a public road.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 98:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
132.—An authorised person shall account to the satisfaction of the Commissioners in the prescribed manner for all registered vehicles and converted vehicles received by him or manufactured by him.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 99:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
133.—(1) Any person who has paid or who is liable to pay vehicle registration tax may appeal to the Commissioners against the amount of tax charged.
(2) An appeal under this section (referred to subsequently as ‘an appeal') shall be in writing and shall set forth in detail the grounds of appeal.
(3) An appeal shall be lodged with the Commissioners within a period of 21 days from the date on which vehicle registration tax becomes due.
(4) An appeal shall be determined by the Commissioners within a period of 21 days from its lodgement with the Commissioners and, for that purpose, the vehicle concerned shall be produced to the Commissioners for inspection, if so required.
(5) The Commissioners shall notify an appellant in writing of the result of their determination of his appeal.
(6) Where the Commissioners determine on appeal that the amount due in respect of vehicle registration tax is less than the amount paid, they shall repay the amount overpaid to the appellant concerned.
(7) Where the Commissioners determine on appeal that the amount due in respect of vehicle registration tax is greater than the amount paid, the appellant concerned shall pay the amount underpaid within the prescribed time limit.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 100:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
134.—(1) It shall be an offence under this subsection for a person, in respect of a vehicle in the State,—
(a) to make a declaration under section 126 which is false or in any material respect misleading or to allow any other person to make such a declaration on his behalf,
(b) to be in possession of a vehicle on which an identification mark referred to in section 126 (6) is not displayed or is not displayed in the prescribed manner,
(c) to display an identification mark on the vehicle in contravention of section 126 (6),
(d) to destroy, mutilate, deface, alter, amend or in any other way interfere with a certificate without authorisation from the Commissioners,
(e) to fail to make a declaration under section 128 (2) (a), or to make it in the prescribed manner, when required to do so by the Commissioners, or
(f) to contravene or fail to comply, whether by act or omission, with any other provision of this Chapter or of regulations under section 136.
(2) Without prejudice to any other penalty to which he may be liable, any person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty under the law relating to excise of £1,000.
(3) It shall be an offence under this subsection for a person, in respect of a vehicle in the State,—
(a) to be in possession of the vehicle if it is unregistered unless he is an authorised person or the vehicle is the subject of an exemption under section 130 for the time being in force and the vehicle is being used in accordance with any conditions, restrictions or limitations referred to in section 130,
(b) if the vehicle is the subject of an exemption under section 129, to be in possession of the vehicle other than in accordance with any conditions, restrictions or limitations referred in section 129,
(c) to issue or to be in possession of a document which purports to be, but is not, a certificate,
(d) to fail to pay any vehicle registration tax due by him,
(e) if the vehicle is an unregistered vehicle or a converted vehicle, to fail to account for it in accordance with section 132, or
(f) if the vehicle is an unregistered vehicle or a converted vehicle in relation to which particulars of the conversion have not been declared in accordance with section 126 or a converted vehicle in relation to which particulars of the conversion have been so declared but vehicle registration tax has not been paid on the declaration, to deliver the vehicle to a person other than an authorised person.
(4) Without prejudice to any other penalty to which he may be liable, any person guilty of an offence under subsection (3) shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty under the law relating to excise of £1,000.
(5) A vehicle in respect of which an offence under subsection (3) was committed shall be liable to forfeiture.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 101:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
135.—(1) In any proceedings for an offence under this Chapter in respect of failure to pay any amount of vehicle registration tax, it shall be presumed until the contrary is shown that the vehicle registration tax in respect of the vehicle to which the charge relates has not been paid.
(2) A certificate or a document purporting to be signed by an officer of the Commissioners and to contain particulars extracted from the register or a document purporting to be signed by an officer of the Commissioners and to contain particulars extracted from any other records relating to vehicles shall, without proof of the signature of such officer, or that he was an officer of the Commissioners, be evidence, until the contrary is shown, of the particulars aforesaid stated in the certificate or document.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 102:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
136.—(1) (a) The Commissioners may make such regulations as they consider necessary or expedient for the purpose of managing the registration of vehicles and managing, securing and collecting vehicle registration tax.
136.—(1) (b) The Commissioners shall not make regulations for a purpose specified in subsection (3).
(2) In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under subsection (1) may—
(a) prescribe the method of establishment and maintenance of the register,
(b) prescribe the particulars to be declared to the Commissioners under section 126,
(c) prescribe the manner in which a declaration under section 126 shall be made,
(d) prescribe the form and contents of certificates,
(e) prescribe the manner of assigning identification marks under section 126 (5),
(f) prescribe the size, shape and character of the identification marks aforesaid and the manner in which they are to be rendered easily distinguishable, whether by night or by day,
(g) require that specified particulars shall be marked on a vehicle and shall be accessible and legible,
(h) prescribe the method of charging, securing and collecting vehicle registration tax,
(i) make provision in relation to the authorisation of persons under section 131,
(j) make provision in relation to the manufacture, storage, conditions of use and disposal of unregistered vehicles and of converted vehicles in respect of which any vehicle registration tax has not been paid,
(k) require an authorised person to keep in a specified manner, and to preserve for a specified period, specified records and accounts relating to the receipt, manufacture, delivery and sale of unregistered or converted vehicles and to allow an officer of the Commissioners, duly authorised by them in that behalf, on production of his authorisation if so requested by any person affected, to inspect and take copies of or extracts from such records and accounts and any other books or documents kept by him relating to any of the matters aforesaid,
(l) require an authorised person to make proper entry with the proper officer of the Commissioners of all premises intended to be used by him in the carrying on of his business and to provide for the method of entry with the said officer,
(m) prescribe the form and contents of declarations under section 128 and the times at which they shall be made, and
(n) prescribe the manner of accounting for vehicles under section 132.
(3) The Minister may make such regulations as he considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving full effect to sections 129 and 130.
(4) In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3) regulations under subsection (3) may—
(a) prescribe the criteria for eligibility for the remission or repayment of vehicle registration tax,
(b) prescribe the amount of vehicle registration tax that may be remitted or repaid in respect of vehicles or specified vehicles or classes of vehicles,
(c) specify the time limits within which applications to the Commissioners for remission or repayment of vehicle registration tax under section 129 shall be made,
(d) prohibit the grant of such remission or repayment as aforesaid to a person in respect of vehicles in excess of a specified number,
(e) specify the periods during which a vehicle, in respect of which vehicle registration tax has been remitted or repaid, may not be disposed of, hired out or lent, and
(f) provide for such other matters as the Minister considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of giving full effect to this subsection.
(5) Regulations under this Chapter shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after they are made and, if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulations have been laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr. Ahern
I move amendment No. 103:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
137.—(1) An officer of the Commissioners, duly authorised by the Commissioners in that behalf, may, on production of his authorisation if so requested by a person affected, at all reasonable times, enter premises in which the manufacture, distribution, storage, repair, modification, importation, dealing, delivery or disposal of vehicles is reasonably believed by the officer to be carried on or in which books, accounts or other documents or records relating to such activities are reasonably believed by such officer to be stored or kept and may there—
(a) require any person to produce all books, accounts or other documents or records relating to such activities and, in the case of such information in a non-legible form (including such information in a computer), to produce it in a legible form or to reproduce it in a permanent legible form,
(b) make such search and investigation as the officer shall think proper,
(c) inspect and take copies of or extracts from any such books, accounts or other documents or records there found which are reasonably believed by the officer to relate to such activities as aforesaid, and
(d) remove and retain the said books, accounts or other documents or records for such period as may be reasonable for their further examination,
and such person shall provide to such officer all facilities and assistance necessary for the exercise by such officer of any power conferred on him by this subsection.
(2) (a) Any person in charge of a moving vehicle shall, at the request of an officer of the Commissioners in uniform, stop the vehicle.
(b) Any person in charge of a vehicle shall, at the request of an officer of the Commissioners, duly authorised by them in that behalf and on production of his authorisation if so requested by any person affected—
(i) allow the vehicle to be examined by the officer,
(ii) furnish, within such time and in such form and manner as may be specified by the officer, all such information in relation to the vehicle as may reasonably be required by the officer and is in the possession or procurement of the person, and
(iii) within such time and in such manner as may be specified by the officer, produce and permit his inspection of and the taking of copies of or extracts from all such books and documents relating to the vehicle as are reasonably required by the officer and are in the possession, custody or procurement of such person.
(3) Whenever an officer of the Commissioners reasonably suspects that—
(a) a vehicle has not been registered, or
(b) a vehicle has been converted and a declaration in relation to the conversion has not been made under section 126, or
(c) any vehicle registration tax in respect of a vehicle has not been paid,
the officer, if duly authorised by the Commissioners in that behalf and on production of his authorisation if so requested by any person affected, may detain the vehicle until such examination, enquiries or investigations as may be deemed necessary by the officer, or by another officer of the Commissioners, have been made for the purpose of determining to the satisfaction of either such officer whether or not the vehicle has been registered, the declaration aforesaid has been made or the vehicle registration tax has been paid, as may be appropriate.
(4) When a determination referred to in subsection (3) has been made in respect of a vehicle, or upon the expiry of a period of one month from the date on which the vehicle was detained under the said subsection, whichever is the earlier, the vehicle shall be seized as liable to forfeiture under the statutes which relate to duties of excise and the management thereof and any instrument relating to the duties of excise made under statute or released.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 104:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
138.—(1) A vehicle registered by a licensing authority for use in a public place before the 1st day of January, 1993, shall be deemed to be a registered vehicle.
(2) Any vehicle on which motor vehicle excise duty has been paid, secured, relieved or remitted under the Order of 1979 or the Order of 1984 before the 1st day of January, 1993, and which is required to be licensed under the Act of 1952 for use in a public place but which has not been so licensed before that date shall be entered in the register without payment of the duty imposed by section 127.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 105:
In page 145, before section 125, but in Chapter III, to insert the following new section:
139.—The provisions of the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and the management thereof and of any instrument relating to duties of excise made under statute, and not otherwise applied by this Chapter, shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to registration, vehicle registration tax and declarations under section 126 (3) as they apply to duties of excise.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 125, agreed to.
Section 126 to 130, inclusive, agreed to.