Problem is, if u dont have tax on ur car, the gardai can take it off u, impound it and charge u €125 to release it. U cant win!!

And don’t forget the fuel costs. At least in the cities they have all the transport they need, but if you live 20 to 30 miles from a big town then your F**ked.

Generally speaking the government does not hypothecate it’s tax revenues so there is no way knowing how any particular tax revenue stream is allocated.

Because there is not enough tax on fuel as it is!!!

You are missing the point. Of course its not nice to impose further taxes on anything, let alone fuel. But in return you have cut out the cost of running the motortax office, the cost of garda time on checking motortax fines and prosecutions. Plus those visiting the country with their car, truck etc.., will also contribute. Given that you cut out all of those costs you don’t need to impose such a high tax to pay for those things, as those costs are gone! It is much fairer in that you pay for what you use, the more you drive the more you pay, the higher the consumption the more you pay etc…

While I agree with you in theory, this idea will disproportionately hit rural dwellers more so than city dwellers…

Totally agree with you Jack, those who use it most pay most makes perfect sense. Just like those with expensive homes pay proportionately more in household tax. But sense and Government don’t really go hand in hand.

Problem there though is we have a land border with another jurisdiction; price it too high & punters will go North to fill up; also diesel laundering will increase.

Obvioiusly those who have to rely on their cars will pay more, which impacts on those living in rual areas. However, you could say the Stamp Duty on purchasing a house is disproportionale too, in that the cost of purhasing a house is much more for those living in a city or town, than those living in the arsehole of nowhere! Thereby they have to pay more stamp duty. Under the Troika agreement we are required to cut the costs of our inter-governmental departments and councils, this is an immediate cost saving which is not too difficult to impliment.

And if you travel 90km to get to and from work you pay more yeah… Great idea.

dbz that is true, but you’re always going to have that problem. Increase VAT, impose minimum pricing on drink, ohh everyone will run to the north for their shopping and drink. This will always happen especially around the boarder counties, and anything you do will not change this. But with currency exchange rate differences it doesn’t always make sense to travel north for such things. People living outside of the boarder counties are unlikely to be making such trips to fill their car to save a few euro each time.

I’m not talking about lobbing on a euro or two to the cost of petrol/Dissel. I don’t know what the overall consumption or purchase of fuel is in Ireland. But I can only guess that increasing the cost by 2 or 3 cent will take in as much as currently earned from the motortax system. Without the cost of running a motortax office, the govt are getting in as much revenue in a less costly manner.

Makes perfect sense so not a hope of it ever happening this country is a fucking joke

Where’s the slap in the face? It has always been the case that paying monthly costs more in terms of motor tax. Basically some people just asked for a reduction, were told no, end of story.

I see no reason for righteous indignation here. That 20 million would have to be taxed elsewhere, either by spreading it to more prudent motorists, or by making non-drivers pay. I fall into the category of motorists who pay the full amount once a year.

The reductions for full year payments can easily be seen as an incentive to pay up front, rather than a punishment for paying quarterly.

Oh sorry, do only working class people pay road tax? newsflash for you – everyone in this country is squeezed, but clearly the chip on your shoulder has got in the way of your eyes…

Yes Rónán, you are correct. But you are on a thread here that is full of leftie moaners who are not representative of common sense or of the whole of the population.

@ronan
The precise reason the Q was asked to the minister is that many people have not got enough money at one particular time of year to pay 12 months in 1 go.

@dave
a)Read above & b) I’ll gladly remove the chip from my shoulder when cronies don’t run the country, until then chip fairly cemented in place.

Labour are in government are they not?

“Why don’t all FG/Labour/FF supporters do the country a favor, pull on the green jersey and emmigrate.”

Well one reason is that according to the latest opinion polls that would involve roughly 70% of the population leaving, including pretty much anyone who is currently paying taxes.

Or alternatively, you meant to say FG/Labour/FF politicians, in which case you mean government about Sinn Fein and the ULA, and never having to worry about motor tax again, much in the same way as they don’t worry about it in Cuba.

That’s my favourite thing about the comments on thejournal, they are always so insightful, relevant and logically coherent.

Obviously you didn’t bother to read the article.

I wouldn’t say “rural dwellers” drive any more than others on average.

Maybe you wouldn’t but the NRA and the Ministry of Tansport etc would.

David that is ridiculous, of course rural dwellers drive more. I drive to college everyday, approximately 40 km round trip. If I lived in the town my campus is in, I would either walk or drive one to two km to college. That means that my urban classmates drive approximately 180 km less than me each week to get to college.

Maybe so Ultan. All the farmers, etc walk to work though and many urban dwellers work/study in different town/cities. Also if you travel from one side of a city to the other you wouldn’t be long clocking up 30 or 40 miles per day often in traffic. It would be very hard to quantify but i wouldn’t be taking the governments numbers as gospel.

No….Ming’s idea is to maximise exposure for himself by picking “causes” that the government can do nothing about. That way he can keep picking the scab and get media coverage.

He’s a bit of a scab himself if you ask me!