Call for review of additional motor tax charges

A REVIEW of the practice of charging more for car tax renewal on a three or six-month basis has been called for by members of Clare County Council.

At this week’s meeting of the local authority, Councillor PJ Ryan urged the council request the Minister for the Environment to review the cost, saying the practice of incurring an excess on three and six monthly renewals in the present economic climate is “unacceptable”.
“It’s a very penal charge for taxing a car. A 2200 cc car would cost €780 to tax for the year but to pay it on a quarterly basis incurs an extra €25 per quarter. I understand that this was on the basis that renewing in this way incurred more paperwork but in these days of modern technology where things are done at the press of a button, I can’t see how they can charge extra,” he said.
This was seconded by Councillor Brian Meaney, who suggested that a fairer method of tax would be to use a system where people are charged by the amount of road they use.
Councillor Pat Keane commented that it is “ridiculous, there are young people who can’t afford to tax their car for a full year and they pay the extra charge. They can pay insurance in instalments and there is no extra charge for that, there is no reason nowadays to have an extra cost on the car tax,” he said.