Customs crackdown on VRT

Inishowen motorists without vehicle registration tax have been issued with over 120 warnings during recently stepped up Customs operations. The Inishowen warnings were given out from June 1, however, throughout Donegal from January 1 to July 31, 257 warnings were issued, 135 vehicles were seized with a value of Ä1.2 million and Ä482,000 in VRT and penalties was collected. During the same period Donegal Town vehicle registration office registered 4,895 second-hand vehicles and collected Ä10.58 million in VRT/VAT. A senior Revenue official at the Letterkenny office explained any person resident in the State without vehicle registration tax (VRT) must pay the VRT due no later than the end of the following working day. He explained the Revenue’s general tax collection strategy was to maximise compliance and deter tax evasion and avoidance by increasing public awareness of the legal requirement to register a vehicle and pay VRT and the penalties for non-compliance. He said: “Cases where the warning notices have not been complied with are now being targeted for seizure and possible prosecution as non-compliance renders the vehicles liable to seizure and the owners liable to prosecution. “Where a person is found guilty in the District Court the fine is Ä5,000 for every charge and the fine for obstruction is also Ä5,000.”