unpaid car tax

Information and questions about the Law in Spain and Andalucia.
littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

unpaid car tax

Postby littleeak » Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:08 am

can't believe that it is actually legal here for Town halls & the like to access your bank account & withdraw funds without your prior knowledge!!! Even worse if there are insufficient funds in the account they will block it until enough has been paid in to settle their bill!
Word of warning.................... make sure you pay your car tax on time, but you have to be psychic to know when it's due as they don't send out reminders!!

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9488
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby Enrique » Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:31 am

Hi littleeak,
This is only a problem on the first one, as subsequent years a form is issued (Jaén) and one has a two month window to pay in a bank, comes out April time. They did do an option some years ago to set up DD but that never took off for me.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

User avatar
malagaman2005
Resident
Posts: 773
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 9:54 am
Location: Villafranco, Malaga

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby malagaman2005 » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:19 pm

littleeak wrote:can't believe that it is actually legal here for Town halls & the like to access your bank account & withdraw funds without your prior knowledge!!! Even worse if there are insufficient funds in the account they will block it until enough has been paid in to settle their bill!
Word of warning.................... make sure you pay your car tax on time, but you have to be psychic to know when it's due as they don't send out reminders!!
If you Google CALENDARIO FISCAL DE TASAS E IMPUESTOS 2011 and add your local town hall you will get a list of all bills payable and the date slots when you can pay them.
" If at first you don't succeed then skydiving is not for you"

User avatar
spanish_lad
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 6218
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Alhaurin el Grande since 99, cartama campo since 2022

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby spanish_lad » Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:23 pm

you can also go and ask when car tax is due.

and i cant believe you dont have 55€ / 100€ in the bank.. lol! if you can afford to run a car, then please make sure the tax, itv and insurance is all up to date :thumbup:

in alhaurin its normally april. we get a letter about it around 2 months before they want it.
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby littleeak » Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:50 pm

spanish_lad wrote:and i cant believe you dont have 55€ / 100€ in the bank.. lol! if you can afford to run a car, then please make sure the tax, itv and insurance is all up to date
Spanishlad we are on a tight budget............... you, with that comment, obviously have plenty of disposable income. They tried to take more than our balance so blocked our accounts so we couldn't even transfer money from the savings account to cover it.
And yes we have tax & insurance.

littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby littleeak » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:55 pm

further to my last post:

Spanishlad maybe your criticisms would be better directed at those who drive around in UK registered right hand drive cars with no valid Spanish insurance , ITV or tax!

User avatar
gerryh
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 8046
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 pm
Location: Cajiz, Malaga

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby gerryh » Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:34 pm

Hi littleeak
I agree with you that Spanishlads comment was a bit unnecessary and insensitive.

To help you understand why you didn't get a reminder, a few questions.
When did you but the car/ have it registered in your name?
Assuming it was last year, did you pay the tax last year?
I ask this because I'd be surprised if they embargoed your bank account for this year's tax.
Have you recently changed address?

Cheers
Gerry
Gerry Harris

littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby littleeak » Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:17 pm

hola Gerry,

Unfortunately it wasn't just this year's tax! When we bought the car a few years ago, all legally registered in OHs name, we were led to believe that as long as you pay all tax due on a car before selling it, it doesn't matter when you pay it. Therefore we we not duly concerned when we didn't receive a bill for last year. Due to the crisis our local town hall is broke which is probably why they're chasing every euro they are owed!

The point of my original post was to complain that they can actually access people's bank accounts & withdraw money!

User avatar
gerryh
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 8046
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 pm
Location: Cajiz, Malaga

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby gerryh » Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:54 am

littleeak wrote:hola Gerry,

we were led to believe that as long as you pay all tax due on a car before selling it, it doesn't matter when you pay it.
Whoever told you that was wrong.
Tax must be paid every year by the due date.
If not paid they will, eventually, claim all the money owing plus a fine for late payment.
Yes they can, and do, take the money from your bank account. It is all legal.
Cheers
Gerry
Edited for SPAG
Last edited by gerryh on Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Gerry Harris

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:37 am

It seems fair enough to me, as long as they ensure that the sum, the person, and the account details are all correct.
If X owes money, then X should pay, and if he hasn't, after a reasonable time they should take it.
It is a great shame that all the cash-strapped councils in the UK who have unpaid Poll Tax bills from Margaret Thatcher's time in office did not, and will not have the authority to do the same!
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

gus-lopez
Resident
Posts: 1572
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 8:55 am
Location: Lorca, Murcia ,Spain

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby gus-lopez » Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:28 pm

I purchased a car new when we were 1st here & had to go to the town hall for the printed statement . I finally put it on DD but all the years I owned it I never once received a renewal form.
Todos somos Lorca.

User avatar
spanish_lad
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 6218
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Alhaurin el Grande since 99, cartama campo since 2022

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby spanish_lad » Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:50 pm

littleeak wrote:Spanishlad we are on a tight budget............... you, with that comment, obviously have plenty of disposable income.
No, i dont have disposable income, as you put it, i just dont like owing anyone money. therefore all bills are paid as soon as they are due.
littleeak wrote:Unfortunately it wasn't just this year's tax! When we bought the car a few years ago, all legally registered in OHs name, we were led to believe that as long as you pay all tax due on a car before selling it, it doesn't matter when you pay it. Therefore we we not duly concerned when we didn't receive a bill for last year. Due to the crisis our local town hall is broke which is probably why they're chasing every euro they are owed!

The point of my original post was to complain that they can actually access people's bank accounts & withdraw money!
this, in a way, is correct. you can not transfer ownership of a vehicle without all the taxes being paid, so in effect, when selling the vehicle you could go to the town hall and pay the last 5 or 10 years tax in one lump. (why you would want to do this and pay out 1000€ - 2000€ in one lump is beyond me, all the money made when selling the car would go on back tax, which you would have to find before you sell the car as it cant be sold with taxes owing.. :eh: )

But, in another way, is incorrect. "we" pay road tax in order for the council to improve the road system, to tarmac the tracks, to repaint the crossings, to install road signs. why should we be allowed to drive around on something that we have not paid for, whether our cars be "legal and spanish" or totally illegal wrecks with foreign plates and no tax or insurance.
littleeak wrote:They tried to take more than our balance so blocked our accounts so we couldn't even transfer money from the savings account to cover it.
And yes we have tax & insurance.
i apologise if you felt that my post above was uncalled for, but unfortunately this is the way of the system. if you don't have the money in the bank, they do an "embargo". which basically means any money paid into the account goes to your unpaid debts before anything else. the way to "clear" an embargo is either to pay the money into the bank, in cash, and then wait for about 2 weeks until the town hall tries to take the money again. OR, to go to the town hall, with the letter of embargo, and some cash, and pay it off.

As a side note, there's really no point complaining to anyone about not getting a reminder either - the answer you will get is that it is computerised and they just put the letters in the envelopes. Yes, its not a brilliant system, but for the most part, it works.

I hope that you have now gotten everything sorted out, and please do not hesitate to come here and ask for advice, or at least the right advice, before believing everything that you are told. We are a collective group, with alot of experience in different matters, and chances are that someone here will know the right answers.
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

User avatar
spanish_lad
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 6218
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Alhaurin el Grande since 99, cartama campo since 2022

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby spanish_lad » Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:20 pm

as a "side note" .. had you of said in your intial post that the embargo was not "only" for one years late tax, then im certain that my reply would of been totally different.

without all the facts we can not make an informed reply.
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

User avatar
DavidSearl
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 191
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:47 pm
Location: Mijas

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby DavidSearl » Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:09 am

FROM DAVID SEARL

FOR LITTLEEAK AND OTHERS,

1. I certainly agree that prior notification for all tax bills and other municipal charges would be a very good thing. But they don't do it and they save public money by not going to the expense.
2. Almost all Town Halls have a website where they list the taxes and charges and when they fall due.
3. In order to seize money from a bank account, "embargo", the administration must first notify the debtor and then publish the debt in the provincial bulletin. Perhaps you received two notifications at another address and you did not read the official bulletin.
4. Or perhaps you have established a Direct Debit, "domiciliacion" with the bank to pay your annual vehicle tax. In that case, the Town Hall simply proceeded to collect, collected all that was in the account, and the bank blocked it to await payment of the rest.
5. This procedure requires no notification.
6. If it was really an "embargo", perhaps the previous owner was notified, as he did not pay the tax.

Good luck with it, David Searl
You and the Law in Spain

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: unpaid car tax

Postby Wicksey » Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:08 pm

When we've bought a car here our residencia/padron certificate only shows our house 'address' which is just Pago xxxxx, sin numero, Torrox, as we live in the campo. We were told that the car had to be registered at this address (and not our postal address) which means that we would never get any mail relating to the car. When the first tax bill was due we went to the appropriate office in Torrox and gave them our PO Box address, and we then started to get the green reminder form sent through to us without any problems.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 25 guests