FTA Ireland welcomes Court of Appeal decision

Freight Transport Association Ireland (FTAI) has welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold an appeal against prosecutions for motor tax offences by one of Ireland’s biggest freight firms is good news for operators.
 
Perennial Freight challenged prosecutions for breaching motor tax provisions relating to vehicle weight.  FTAI’s national council voted to financially back the court action because of its implications for the freight industry in Ireland as a whole. The company, which has over 50 trucks and more than 350 trailers on its fleet, was originally charged with technical offences relating to the unladen weight of the vehicle at the time it was taxed.
 
In a 29-page ruling, the Court found that the Director of Public Prosecution’s interpretation of the law in relation to the taxation of articulated vehicles was incorrect, and that there was, therefore, no basis for the charges proffered by the DPP.  In summary, the Court found that a tractor and trailer did not constitute a single vehicle. Since the trailer lacks an engine, it is not taxable under the current legislation.
 
Chris Smyth, Commercial Director of Perennial Freight, said the laws were written in a different era and weren’t relevant to modern working practices, where tractors often pulled trailers of different weights to the ones they were originally taxed with.
 
He said: “The system for taxation of commercial vehicles on unladen weight is completely outdated. We took this case because the manner of enforcement was totally unfair. Today’s ruling brings us a step closer to having a modern system of taxation, based on gross vehicle weight.”
 
Neil McDonnell, General Manager of FTAI said: “The effect of the judgement is that only the tractor unit in an articulated combination is a taxable vehicle. In light of the reductions in motor tax announced by the Finance Minister in this month’s budget, the motor tax for most commercial tractor units will now fall from €900 per annum to €500. In view of the fact that hundreds of tractor units will fall due for taxation next month, we call on the Department of Finance to immediately clarify the basis on which these tractors are to be assessed for motor tax. The Court of Appeal has found the current basis of taxing a tractor and trailer to be unlawful.
 
“On behalf of the National Council of FTA Ireland, we want to congratulate Perennial Freight and Chris Smyth for taking this case on. We also want to thank those many FTAI members who supported Perennial Freight’s legal costs along the way.”