Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, line 7, after “extend” to insert “the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act 1952,”.

Amendment No. 1 is a technical amendment which provides for amendments to the Long Title of the Bill to allow for amendment No. 6. Amendment No. 6 consists of two changes to the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act 1952 relating to motor tax matters. The first amendment is to section 1 of the Act. From time to time clarification is required in relation to the requirements set out in primary legislation for eligibility for taxing in a particular motor tax class or in relation to an exemption from motor tax. Currently, such matters are dealt with by way of circular instruction to motor tax offices. The amendment provides that clarification in relation to the construction and use requirements for eligibility to any motor tax class, and the supporting documentation that may be required with a tax application, will henceforth be provided for in secondary legislation rather than by way of circular, giving a clear legislative basis underpinning instructions to motor tax offices.

The second change is an amendment of the definition of a motor caravan. The definition for motor tax purposes was most recently amended in the Motor Vehicles (Duties and Licences) Act 2013 to align with the definition that has been introduced for vehicle registration tax purposes in 2010 which had no minimum interior height requirement.

Before 2010, both VRT and motor tax codes contained the same interior height requirements of 1.8 m. After the height requirement had been removed from VRT legislation while remaining for motor tax, it led to vehicles being classified as motor caravans for VRT purposes but then being refused motor tax at the motor caravan rate. The alignment of the definitions in 2012 was intended to remove the discrepancies.

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