1,000 drivers fail to reclaim cars after VRT seizures

MORE than 1,000 motorists have failed to reclaim their cars after they were seized by Revenue in recent months because vehicle registration tax (VRT) had not been paid.

Revenue has launched a major crackdown on VRT evasion this year, establishing random checkpoints across the country where cars can be seized on the spot if they have not been registered.

The cars are only returned to owners when the VRT is paid.

To date, about 1,300 cars have been seized through the enforcement drive, but less than one in five people have managed to come up with the sum to reclaim their car, with just 284 cases settled. As a result, more than 1,000 vehicles have defaulted to the State.

VRT can cost from €100 to €2,000.

“A total of 284 cases have been settled,” a Revenue spokesperson said. “In cases where vehicles default to the State, depending on the condition of the vehicle, it may be sold to an authorised dealer or sent for destruction by the state warehouse to authorised scrappage dealers.”

Enforcement officers are carrying out checks at Revenue mobile units around the country.

The roadblocks are mostly concentrated in border regions and, in some cases, are part of a joint effort with officials from the Department of Social and Family Affairs who are looking out for welfare fraud by residents of the North signing on for benefits in the South.

At least €1.3 million has been paid in fines by VRT evaders since April 2008, with more than €240,000 of that collected in the past four months alone.

Under Revenue rules, residents in Ireland cannot drive foreign-registered private cars at all, and those who import such vehicles should have them re-registered within 24 hours of arrival in the country.

Drivers are usually given up to a week to register their cars here, while visiting tourists can drive foreign-registered cars here for no more than 30 days.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said the State is losing out on between €50m and €100m a year because of people failing to pay VRT.

It claims there are a number of loopholes, including motorists being issued with temporary insurance certificates to allow them to import the car and these certs being extended even if the car is not registered in Ireland.

The Irish Insurance Federation said its members do not issue certs to foreign-registered cars.

The gardaí have also begun a crackdown on vehicles whose owners avoid paying VRT, with the use of automatic number plate recognition to scan cars at ports of entry, as well as interviewing their owners.

Government income from VRT fell by €597m over the first six months of this year as a result of the 63% fall in new car sales.