Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost of issuing a motor tax certificate for those that apply online; the cost of an over the counter application; if this is comparative to the extra cost which is applied to those that tax their vehicles quarterly and six monthly compared to yearly; if not, the reason therefor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42016/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Motor tax can be paid on an annual, half-yearly or quarterly basis. The rates of duty for half-yearly and quarterly motor tax are set at a higher rate than a pro-rata proportion of the annual rate of duty. The differential takes account of the extra workload for staff in motor tax offices and my own Department, which operates the online motor tax system, as well as the resultant administrative, banking and printing costs that arise, including the issuing of renewal notices. Each quarterly renewal of motor tax follows the same administrative procedure as the annual renewal process. Consequently, renewing on a quarterly basis generates four times the workload of an annual renewal for the equivalent period.

While motor tax policy is a matter for the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government, I understand, based on motor tax receipts in 2016, receipts from the surcharge associated with the half-yearly and quarterly options was €55.4m, and accordingly the cost of abolishing the surcharge would be likely to be of that order in a full year. The loss of income that would arise from changing the current arrangements, whether at setting motor tax at a pro-rata rate or introducing a lower percentage additional charge, would have a negative impact on the total collected via motor tax and would have to be borne elsewhere in the motor tax system or through the taxation system generally. The basis of charging for half-yearly and quarterly discs is provided for in secondary legislation.

Data compiled by the Controller and Auditor General Report for a recent report on the ‘Administration and Collection of Motor Tax’ found that the average cost of a motor tax transaction in a motor tax office (over the counter) as being just over €10, and the cost of an online transaction being just under €5.