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16 1976

FINANCE ACT, 1976

Chapter II

Liability for, and Consequences of Non-Payment of, Vehicle Excise Duty

Payment and recovery of vehicle excise duty.

68. —(1) Vehicle excise duty which is charged in respect of a vehicle and which is for the time being unpaid shall be payable to the relevant licensing authority by any person who, either at the time when the duty is charged or at any other time during the period to which the duty relates, is in relation to the vehicle the relevant person.

(2) In case vehicle excise duty charged in respect of a vehicle remains unpaid after the expiration of the period of fourteen days beginning on the day on which the duty is charged, the duty shall be recoverable by the relevant licensing authority as a simple contract debt and proceedings for its recovery may be taken in any court of competent jurisdiction by the authority, or by any person appointed by the authority for the purposes of this section (which appointment the authority is hereby authorised to make), against any person by whom, by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, the duty is payable to the authority.

(3) Where vehicle excise duty is chargeable on any vehicle, the relevant licensing authority may issue a certificate under this section certifying either or both of the following, namely;

(a) the amount (if any) of duty which is unpaid on the date of the certificate, and

(b) the name of the person standing entered on that date in relation to the registration of the vehicle.

(4) In any legal proceedings a certificate issued under subsection (3) of this section shall be prima facie evidence of the facts thereby certified, and any document purporting to be such a certificate shall be admitted as evidence without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign the certificate or that the person was an officer of the licensing authority issuing the certificate, until the contrary is shown.

(5) In any proceedings for the recovery of vehicle excise duty charged on a vehicle, other than a vehicle to which section 70 of this Act applies, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the vehicle was not at any time during the period to which the duty relates used either by him or by another person pursuant to a duly given authorisation.

Vehicles to which section 70 applies.

69. —(1) Section 70 of this Act applies to a vehicle to which a declaration under this section relates.

(2) The Government may by order declare that any mechanically propelled vehicle which is a vehicle to which this Part applies and is of a class or description specified in the order shall, for so long as the order remains in force, be a vehicle to which section 70 of this Act applies.

(3) The Government may by order revoke or amend an order under this section (including an order under this subsection).

(4) Where, on an application being made in the prescribed manner as regards, and on the prescribed particulars being furnished in respect of, a vehicle which apart from this section would be a vehicle to which section 70 of this Act applies, the relevant licensing authority is satisfied that the vehicle is permanently incapable of being used or has been broken up or destroyed or has been exported permanently, the relevant licensing authority shall amend in the prescribed manner the particulars furnished as regards the vehicle pursuant to section 5 of the Act of 1920 or pursuant to this Part, and thereupon the vehicle shall cease to be one in relation to which the said section 70 applies.

(5) Where an application is made in the prescribed manner as regards, and the prescribed particulars are furnished in respect of, a vehicle which apart from this subsection would be a vehicle to which section 70 of this Act applies and the relevant licensing authority is satisfied that the vehicle has been stolen and has not been recovered and that such conditions or requirements (if any) as may be prescribed for the purposes of this subsection have been complied with, then for so long as, after the determination of the application by the authority, the vehicle continues not to be recovered, the said section 70 shall not, as respects the vehicle, apply to the person making the application.

(6) An application under this section shall be determined as soon as may be by the licensing authority by which it is duly received.

(7) When an order under this section is proposed to be made by the Government, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

Continuous liability for vehicle excise duty payable as regards certain vehicles.

70. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, vehicle excise duty shall be chargeable in respect of a vehicle to which this section applies whether or not the vehicle is used in a public place and any person who, either at the time when the duty is charged or at any other time during the period to which the duty relates, is in relation to the vehicle the relevant person shall be liable for payment of the duty.

(2) A person shall not be liable by virtue of subsection (1) of this section to pay vehicle excise duty for—

(a) any period for which such duty has been paid and has not been repaid in consequence of the surrender of a licence,

(b) any period during which he keeps the vehicle solely for the purpose of repairing, maintaining or selling it in the course of his business as a motor dealer or using it under the authority of a general licence in the course of his business as a motor dealer.

Using and keeping vehicles on which chargeable vehicle excise duty is unpaid.

71. —(1) Where vehicle excise duty is chargeable on a vehicle (whether by virtue of this Act or the Act of 1952) and is unpaid, then any person who, at any time while the duty remains unpaid, uses, parks or otherwise keeps the vehicle in a public place or causes another person to so use the vehicle or who authorises such use of the vehicle by another person shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Where a defendant charged with an offence under this section was the servant of the person by whom the vehicle was kept, it shall be a good defence to the charge for the defendant to show that he was using the vehicle in obedience to the express orders of that person.

(3) (a) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section he shall not be liable to have imposed on him in respect of the same act a penalty under section 13 (1) of the Act of 1920.

(b) Where a penalty referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection is imposed on a person, he shall not be convicted of an offence under this section in relation to the same act.

Additional liability for using vehicle on which vehicle excise duty is unpaid.

72. —Where a person convicted of an offence under section 71 of this Act or section 13 (1) of the Act of 1920 is, at the time of the offence, as regards the vehicle in respect of which the offence was committed, the relevant person, the court shall, in addition to any penalty which it may impose in respect of the offence, order him to pay the relevant licensing authority a sum equal to the amount or, as may be appropriate, the aggregate of the amounts, of vehicle excise duty which, on the date of the conviction, is, by virtue of section 68 of this Act, recoverable from him by the relevant licensing authority.