Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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886. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the measures he will take to close the loophole whereby a person with an untaxed motor vehicle which is not declared off the road can transfer ownership to another person and escape the financial liability for the period of non-declaration. [49593/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Non-Use of Motor Vehicles Act 2013 introduced a system of prospective declarations if a vehicle is temporarily not being used in a public place. This replaced a procedure which had allowed non-use of a vehicle to be declared after the fact, which was unverifiable and was estimated as leading to losses of some €50 million annually.

In 2014, following the introduction of the new system, gross motor tax receipts, at €1.159bn, increased by €41m on 2013. This occurred despite the fact that there have been no increases in motor tax since the new measures took effect and that reductions could otherwise have been expected given the ongoing changeover of the car fleet to the CO₂based system, which carries a lower average tax. It should be noted that arrears in 2014 amounted to some €60m compared to €22m - €24m in the years prior to the introduction of the new system, suggesting that the new system has been effective in improving compliance.

Under the current provisions, motorists are now required to either tax their vehicle or declare it off the road in advance. The operation of the motor tax system is kept under regular review and amending legislation is brought forward where it is deemed necessary to do so.