Government sends European Commission new letter on car tax

Wednesday evening, the Government decided to send the European Commission a new letter regarding the first car registration tax, which would present the final mode of calculating the tax, governmental sources declared.

The tax was introduced early last year, after the elimination of the excise tax paid on car import and purchase from the internal market, the decision of the Bucharest authorities being criticised by the European Commission representatives. The first registration tax is calculated according to the engine capacity, emission standards and car age.

The Government announced it would amend the tax, by Emergency Ordinance, to correlate its level with the market price of the car, while the term of "new car" is to be redefined, and to introduce a contestation procedure for the persons who consider themselves prejudiced.

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Finance discussed with European Commission experts in Brussels, last week, and agreed that the amendments to the related legislation would be presented in February.

For this year, the Government budgeted incomes of 600.8 million lei (equivalent to 188.9 million euros, from collecting the first registration tax, down 21.7% against the level planned for 2007 - 766.8 million lei.

In the first ten months of last year, the state collected 714.3 million lei, from the first registration tax.

The car market - passenger cars and commercial vehicles - grew by 23.7% in the period January- November, last year, compared to the similar period of 2006. 333 604 new vehicles were sold over the first 11 months of last year.

Curierul National