According to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, from 1 March 2004 it will be possible for Irish residents to renew their motor tax 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through a new Web site, www.motortax.ie. To pay motor tax on-line, users will need a credit card or laser card and unique PIN number that will be sent to vehicle owners with the motor tax reminder notice. A new tax disc will be posted out to the user on the day after the tax is paid over the Internet.
"At present the only way to renew motor tax is to use the postal renewal service or to visit a motor tax office during its opening hours," said Martin Cullen T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, at the launch of the new service. "From now on, it will be possible to renew your tax from the comfort of your own home, office, public library or indeed, anywhere in the world with Internet access. And, importantly, you can do this at a time that suits you. "
The minister went on to note that the growing computer literacy in Ireland, along with the 1.9 million vehicles driven by some 2.2 million licensed drivers, means that it makes sense to launch such a service. He said that each year there are over 3 million individual applications for motor tax and the annual revenue raised from the tax is EUR720 million.
"Today's launch follows a very successful pilot in counties Clare, Galway and North Tipperary initiated last November, which attracted about 9 percent of motor tax renewal business," Minister Cullen said. "Paying tax is never the most enjoyable thing for people, so it's important to make the task as easy as possible."
International Business Machines (IBM) also chimed in on the launch of the service, mentioning that it was the company that developed and put in the place the technology to make the service a reality. IBM described the site and back-end functionality that it designed as "user-friendly" and "highly scalable" and said that its system allows transactions to be integrated and processed seamlessly in the Department's National Vehicle File. The system is also linked to the National Car Testing (NCT) database, ensuring that testing requirements are met for the vehicle.
On-line motor tax payments are seen as a kind of fundamental e-government application, and the service has been used consistently to demonstrate the benefits that e-government can bring -- making a government service more efficient and easier to carry out. It is anticipated that related services such as driver licensing and change of vehicle ownership will also move on-line in the coming months.
In the state's original "New Connections" e-government strategy statement, issued in mid-2002, both motor tax and change of ownership were due to go on-line by the end of 2002, while driver licensing was due to go up by the end of 2003. All three have been seriously delayed, along with a litany of other e-government services.
Quelle: Electric News Net, 09.02.2004
