asked the Minister for Local Government if he is aware that the motor tax on car XYI 430 was paid twice for the same period in 1963, and why a refund of the tax paid by Mr. Martin Carroll, Clones, County Monaghan, who applied for such a refund, has not been made.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Refund of Car Tax.
11.
I am aware that Mr. Vincent J. Carroll paid tax on vehicle XYI 430 in 1963 and that the vehicle was subsequently taxed in the same year by another person. As the Deputy has already been informed by my Department, there is no statutory provision for a refund of motor licence duty to Mr. Carroll by the licensing authority in the circumstances of his case.
Surely there must be some way in which a refund of tax can be made where two people tax the one car for the same period?
There is no statutory provision whereby that can be done.
Is it not a fact that, in this case, £11 4s is being illegally held, which belongs to this man? That being so, surely there should be some way in which it could be refunded either to the first or to the second man? It is quite obvious that the same motor vehicle could not legally be taxed twice for the same period. That being so, would the Minister have another look at the matter? The tax was, in fact, refunded to the man but then he was asked to send it back because somebody was likely to get into trouble about it. The Minister should devise some way to refund the money.
If it had never gone back, this would not have happened. This is not of my making. I repeat, without having checked, that there is no statutory authority for a refund such as this.
Should there not be, to cover an obvious mistake?
You cannot legislate for everything.
Is there any law that says it could not?
I do not think that answers Deputy Tully's question.
I think so: the Minister is trying to give the impression that the law says you cannot refund.
Do not put words into my mouth. I said nothing of the sort.
If the law does not say it cannot be refunded, would the Minister consider refunding the money?
It is not possible.
Is there not an obvious source from which it can be done? If the Minister feels there is a lacuna in the law and that an injustice is being done, can he not do it through the Contingency Fund and get retrospective authority for the payment?
The question here is whether there is power to do it. I say there is not.
Could the Minister refund it as conscience money?
It is not on my conscience.
The question is not whether or not there is authority to refund it. It is why it has not been refunded. It is a different thing.
Because there is no authority to refund it.
The person concerned should not tax his car for 12 months and see what will happen.
Are you empowered to take the tax for the same car three or four times?
It is very difficult to have a law to prevent them from doing it.
The mistake was made. I think the Minister could get around it if he wanted to.
We have power to refund in certain circumstance but this is not one of them. It was never envisaged that people in this country would pay their tax twice.
Why was the money taken?
The tax book should have been produced.
We are not getting nearer a solution.
We might be.