Finance (No. 2) Act, 1992
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Trade licences. |
21.—(1) A licensing authority may— | |
(a) on application to it in that behalf by a person carrying on the business of manufacturing, dealing in, distributing or repairing vehicles or any other prescribed business (but excluding a person carrying on the business of manufacturing, dealing in or distributing components or parts for vehicles or of the carriage of vehicles and not carrying on any of the other businesses aforesaid), | ||
(b) on payment to the authority of the duty of excise of the appropriate amount specified in subsection (3), | ||
(c) on furnishing to the authority such information as it may reasonably require for the purposes of this section, and | ||
(d) on proof to the satisfaction of the authority that he complies with such other (if any) conditions as may be prescribed and that he is not a person to whom the exclusion specified in paragraph (a) applies, | ||
issue to the person a licence (in this section referred to as a trade licence). | ||
(2) A trade licence shall consist of— | ||
(a) in the case of a motor-cycle, a plate which shall be exhibited on the back of the vehicle in the prescribed manner, and | ||
(b) in the case of any other vehicle, two plates one of which shall be exhibited on the front thereof, and the other of which shall be exhibited on the back thereof, in the prescribed manner, | ||
and shall be in such form and contain such identification marks and information as may be prescribed. | ||
(3) (a) There shall be charged, levied and paid on a trade licence a duty of excise of— | ||
(i) in the case of a licence for exhibition only on a motor-cycle, £25, | ||
(ii) in the case of a licence for exhibition only on any other vehicle, £150. | ||
(b) There shall be charged, levied and paid on a trade licence issued in place of a trade licence that has been lost, stolen or destroyed, a duty of excise of— | ||
(i) in the case of a licence for exhibition only on a motor-cycle, £15, | ||
(ii) in the case of a licence for exhibition only on any other vehicle, £35. | ||
(4) A trade licence shall expire on the 31st day of December immediately following the date of its issue. | ||
(5) Sections 5 (5) and 13 (1) of the Act of 1920, section 1 (1) of the Act of 1952 and sections 71 and 73 of the Finance Act, 1976 , shall not apply to a vehicle at any time during which a trade licence is exhibited on the vehicle in accordance with this section. | ||
(6) (a) The holder of a trade licence shall not exhibit it or cause or permit it to be exhibited on a vehicle other than— | ||
(i) a vehicle temporarily in the possession of such holder, or | ||
(ii) if such holder is a fleet owner, a vehicle permanently in his possession which is undergoing a test in a public place and is not carrying passengers (other than the driver) or goods. | ||
(b) In this subsection “fleet owner” means a person (other than a dealer (within the meaning of section 130 of the Act of 1992) or a person who holds an exclusive franchise to bring into the State for sale particular makes and models of vehicles) who is entered in the register or a register established under section 6 (1) of the Act of 1920 as the owner of not less than 10 vehicles and on whose premises maintenance of and repairs to the vehicles is or are carried out by employees of the person. | ||
(7) The holder of a trade licence shall not exhibit it or cause or permit it to be exhibited on a vehicle if the licence has expired or been revoked or replaced or while the vehicle is being used for domestic, pleasure or social purposes. | ||
(8) A person shall not fraudulently make or alter a plate purporting to be, or to be part of, a trade licence or supply or use with intent to deceive any such plate so made or altered. | ||
(9) (a) A person may appeal to the District Court against a refusal by a licensing authority of an application by him for a trade licence and such an appeal shall be made to the judge of the District Court exercising jurisdiction in the District Court district in which the person's principal place of business is situated. | ||
(b) A decision of the District Court under this subsection shall be final. | ||
(10) (a) A person who contravenes a provision of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. | ||
(b) Upon conviction of a person of an offence under this section— | ||
(i) the District Court shall order that the trade licence to which the offence relates and any other trade licences held by the person be surrendered by the person to the licensing authority by which they were issued and that authority shall revoke the licences, | ||
(ii) in case the conviction is the first conviction of the person under this section, the person shall be disqualified for holding a trade licence for the period of one year from the date of the conviction or, if the conviction is affirmed on appeal, the date of the affirmation, | ||
(iii) in case the conviction is a second conviction of the person under this section and the offence concerned was committed not more than 5 years after the date of the commission of the offence to which the latest previous conviction under this section related, the person shall be disqualified for holding a trade licence for the period of 3 years from the date of the first-mentioned conviction or, if that conviction is affirmed on appeal, the date of the affirmation, and | ||
(iv) in case the conviction is a third conviction of the person under this section and the offence concerned was committed not more than 5 years after the date of the commission of the offence to which the latest previous conviction under this section related, the person shall be disqualified for holding a trade licence from the date of the first-mentioned conviction or, if that conviction is affirmed on appeal, the date of the affirmation. | ||
(11) In any proceedings in a court for an offence it shall not be necessary for the prosecution— | ||
(a) to negative by evidence the existence of a trade licence and the onus of proving the existence of such a licence shall be on the person seeking to avail of such proof, or | ||
(b) to prove that a person is not a fleet owner (within the meaning of subsection (6)) or that a vehicle is not one to which subparagraph (i) of subsection (6) (a) applies and the onus of proving that a person is a fleet owner (within the meaning aforesaid) or that a vehicle is one to which the said subparagraph (i) applies shall be on the person seeking to avail of such proof. | ||
(12) In this section “motor-cycle” has the meaning assigned to it by section 130 of the Act of 1992. |