Finance (Excise Duties)(Vehicles) Act , 1952

1. Excise duties in respect of mechanically propelled vehicles used on public roads.

1.—(1)On and after the 1st day of January, 1953, there shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be charged, levied and paid in respect of mechanically propelled vehicles used F1[in any public place] duties of excise at the rates specified in the Schedule to this Act.

F2[(1A) For the purposes of subsection (1), a mechanically propelled vehicle, in respect of which duties of excise are charged or levied under this section at the rates specified in paragraph 5 of Part I of the Schedule, shall be taken to be the vehicle inclusive of all additions specified in paragraph (a) of section 2 (2) of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) (Amendment) Act 1960, subject to paragraphs (b) to (d) of the said section 2(2).]

F3[(2)(a) Subject to paragraph (b), the duties charged under this section shall be paid annually upon licences to be taken out by the person keeping the vehicle.

(b) A licence may be taken out in respect of a vehicle (not being a vehicle on which a duty ofF4[€119]or less is chargeable) for such periods of the year and on payment of duty at such rates as the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government may by regulations prescribe, but—

(i) a rate of duty so prescribed shall be such as to bear to the full annual duty no less proportion than the period of the licence bears to a year, and

(ii) the rate of duty so prescribed for a licence for a vehicle for one quarter of the year only shall not exceed 30 per cent of the full annual duty.]

(3)For the purposes of any rate of duty specified in the Schedule to this Act, the following shall be calculated in accordance with regulations made by the Minister for Local Government:

(a)the cylinder capacity of an engine,

(b)the horse-power of a vehicle,

(c)the seating capacity of a vehicle.

F5[(3A) For the purposes of the description of any vehicle specified in Part I of the Schedule or in respect of any vehicle specified in subsection (4), the Minister may by regulations prescribe the following:

(a) the physical characteristics required of the vehicle;

(b) the dimensions or proportions of any fittings, fixtures or attachments to the vehicle—

(i) relating to the dimensions of such fittings, fixtures or attachments themselves, or

(ii) in relation to such dimensions relative to the height or width of the vehicle;

(c) the use or uses to which the vehicle may be put or limited;

(d) any documentation required to support a claim for a particular rate of duty.]

(4)Duty under this section shall not be charged or levied in respect of any of the following vehicles:

(a)refuse carts, sweeping machines or watering machines used exclusively for cleansing public streets and roads,

(b)ambulances road-rollers or fire engines

(c)vehicles kept by a local authority and used exclusively for the purpose of their fire brigade service,

(d)vehicles which are used exclusively for the transport (whether by carriage or traction) of road construction machinery used for no purpose other than the construction or repair of roads,

(e)vehicles which are used exclusively for the transport (whether by carriage or traction) of lifeboats and their gear or any equipment for affording assistance towards the preservation of life and property in cases of shipwreck and distress at sea.

F6[(f)vehicles (including any cycle with an attachment for propelling it by mechanical power) not exceeding 400 kilograms in weight unladen adapted and usedF7[for invalids,]]

F8[(g) vehicles which are used exclusively for mountain and cave rescue purposes,

(h) vehicles which are used exclusively for underwater search and recovery purposes.]

(5)A vehicle which is used for the purpose specified in paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of this section shall not become liable to a higher rate of duty by reason of such user.

(6)Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) and subsection (5) of this section shall have effect only where the vehicle or trailer (as the case may be) is constructed or adapted for use for the conveyance of road construction machinery built in as part of such vehicle or trailer or otherwise permanently attached thereto and is not constructed or adapted for the conveyance of any other load except articles or material used for the purpose of the road construction machinery.

(7)A vehicle which is used for the purpose specified in paragraph (e) of subsection (4) of this section shall not become liable to a higher rate of duty by reason of such user.

F9[(7A) Duty under this section shall not be charged or levied in respect of any vehicle by reason of its use by the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough or the council of an urban district (including use by any such body on being taken by them on hire) for spreading material on public roads to deal with frost, ice or snow, or for clearing snow from public roads by means of a snow plough or other contrivance, whether forming part of the vehicle or not, or by reason of its use for the purpose of going to or from the place where used for the foregoing purposes.]

(8)The Minister for Local Government may by regulations provide for the total or partial exemption for a limited period from the duty under this section of any vehicle brought into the State by a person making only a temporary stay therein.

(9)The duty under this section is in lieu of the duty under section 13 of the Finance Act, 1920, and the latter duty shall accordingly cease to be charged as from the 1st day of January, 1953.

(10)The provisions made under subsection (5) of section 13 of the Finance Act, 1920, and section 22 of the Finance Act, 1921, shall, until corresponding provisions are made under this Act, apply to the duty under this section.

F10[(10A) In Part I of the Schedule to this Act "tricycle" shall (without prejudice to the provision with respect to that word contained in subparagraph (1) of paragraph 1 of Part II of that Schedule) be construed as referring to a vehicle conforming to such definition of a tricycle as the Minister for Local Government prescribes for the purposes of the said Part I by regulations.]

F1[(11)In this section—

"public place" means any street, road or other place to which the public have access with mechanically propelled vehicles as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge;

"quarter" means any period of three months.]

F11[(11A) In such cases and subject to such conditions as the Minister for Local Government may prescribe by regulations—

(a) a licence under this section or a general licence under section 9 of the Roads Act, 1920, may be surrendered prior to its expiry, and

(b) a repayment in respect of the duty paid on a licence surrendered under this subsection may be made at such rate as the Minister for Local Government may prescribe by regulations.]

F12[(11AB) A person who, in connection with an application for a repayment in respect of the duty paid on a licence surrendered under subsection (11A), furnishes information to a licensing authority which contains information which is to his or her knowledge false or in a material respect misleading shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class B fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.]

(12)Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

2. Change of user.

2.—(1)Where—

(a)a licence under section 1 of this Act is in force,

F15[(b)(i) the vehicle is used in a condition or manner or for a purpose which would, if it was used solely in that condition or manner or for that purpose, render it chargeable with duty at a rate higher than that at which duty has been paid, or

F16[(iA) in the case of a vehicle to which paragraph 4A or subparagraph (cc) of paragraph 6 of Part I of the Schedule to this Act applies, it is used in a condition or manner or for a purpose which would, if it had been shown at the time of the taking out of the licence that it was used in that condition or manner or for that purpose, have rendered it chargeable with duty at a rate higher than that at which duty has been paid, or]

(ii) in the case of a vehicle to which, by virtue of the operation of paragraph 3 of Part II of the Schedule to this Act, subparagraph (c) of paragraph 4 of Part I of the Schedule applies—

(I) it is used in a condition or manner or for a purpose which, or

(II) it is used when the person who took out the licence has an occupation which would, if it had been shown at the time of the taking out of the licence that it was used in that condition or manner or for that purpose or that that person had that occupation, have rendered it chargeable with duty at a rate higher than that at which duty has been paid, and]

(c)the vehicle as so used is in all other respects a vehicle chargeable with duty at the higher rate,

duty shall become and be chargeable on the vehicle at the higher rate.

F17[(1A) Where, but for this subsection, duty would become and be chargeable on a vehicle at a higher rate by reason of its use by the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough or the council of an urban district (including use by any such body on being taken by them on hire) for spreading material on public roads to deal with frost, ice or snow, or for clearing snow from public roads by means of a snow plough or other contrivance, whether forming part of the vehicle or not, or by reason of its use for the purpose of going to or from the place where used for the foregoing purposes, duty shall not become or be chargeable at that higher rate.

(1B) Where a tractor to which subparagraph (b) or subparagraph (c) of paragraph (4) of Part I of the Schedule to this Act applies is used on public roads for the purpose of bringing it, with a snow plough or similar contrivance attached, to a place where it is to be used or from a place where it has been used for clearing snow from roads, a higher rate of duty shall not become or be chargeable in respect of the tractor by reason of such user.]

(2)Where a person so uses a vehicle that duty becomes chargeable in accordance with this section at a higher rate, the person shall, unless duty has been paid at the higher rate before the commencement of such user, be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to an excise penalty of (whichever is the greater) twenty pounds or three times the difference between the duty paid and duty at the higher rate.

(3)Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in any enactment relating to the recovery or application of excise penalties, any penalty under this section may be recovered and enforced at the suit of any member of the Garda Síochána, and in that case the Court shall have power to mitigate the penalty to such amount as the Court may in its discretion think fit, and the licensing authority shall not have power to mitigate the penalty.

(4)F18[…]

3. Application of Roads Act, 1920.

3.—(1)On and after the 1st day of January, 1953, the Roads Act, 1920, as amended and extended by subsequent enactments, and the orders and regulations thereunder in force immediately before that date shall apply in relation to the duties under section 1 of this Act in like manner as they applied in relation to the duties under section 13 of the Finance Act, 1920, and for that purpose references therein to any provision relating to the latter duties shall be construed as references to the corresponding provision of this Act.

(2)Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed as affecting the power to amend or revoke the orders and regulations applied by that subsection.

4. Excise duty in respect of driving licences under Road Traffic Act, 1933.

4.—(1)F19[…]

F20[(1A)F19[…]]

(2)The duty under this section shall be charged, levied and paid on the taking out of the licence and shall be collected by and paid to the licensing authority and shall F21[, subject to section 140 of the Finance Act, 1996,] be paid by that authority into the Exchequer in accordance with such directions as may from time to time be given by the Minister for Finance.

(3)For the purpose of levying the duty under this section, a licensing authority shall have within their county or county borough the same powers, duties and liabilities as the Revenue Commissioners and their officers have with respect to duties of excise, and the enactments relating to duties of excise and to punishments and to penalties in connection therewith shall apply accordingly.

(4)F22[…]

(5)The duty under this section is in lieu of the duty under section 21 of the Finance Act, 1926 (No. 35 of 1926), and the latter duty shall accordingly cease to be charged as from the 23rd day of October, 1952.

5. Increase of yearly rates of excise duties in respect of trade licences.

5.—Subsection (2) of section 15 of the Finance Act, 1922 (which specifies the yearly rates of duties of excise in respect of licences for manufacturers and repairers of, and dealers in, mechanically propelled vehicles) shall, as applied by section 3 of this Act and notwithstanding the terms of that section, have effect—

(i)with the substitution in paragraph (a) of “thirty-seven pounds ten shillings” for “twenty-five pounds”,

(ii)with the substitution in paragraph (a) and in paragraph (b) of “seven pounds ten shillings” for “five pounds”, and

(iii)with the substitution in paragraph (b) of “one pound ten shillings” for “one pound”.

6. Short title.

6.—This Act may be cited as the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952.