The Romanian government okays bill on car tax, EC will be called to give its consent

The government today approved the memorandum on the much debated first time car registration tax; the new tax will be sent to the European Commission (EC) and will undergo public debates in Romania.

The new car tax includes the proposals of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Parliament, an official said.

The tax will be set in accordance with the age of the car, as lower taxes will be paid for old vehicles and a limit of 20 years will be set regarding the age of the cars for which the tax is levied.

The NGOs recommendations refer to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The new car tax will set the CO2 emissions criteria for the vehicles complying with the Euro 4 environment standards, the head of Romania's environment ministry, Atilla Korodi said.

The official emphasized the tax will consist of new calculation methods which will follow the principle saying "the polluter pays."

Korodi said the new car tax will be submitted to the European Commission (EC) for analysis. After EC will give its consent on the tax, this will be submitted to the Parliament for approval.

Romania's Chamber of Deputies yesterday passed the proposal belonging to the center-right wing Democrat Liberal Party (PD-L) which asks for the much debated first-time car registration tax to be canceled; some 158 votes were cast in favor from a total of 265.

 EC called Romania's present first-time registration tax a breach of the country's European Union accession treaty. The body has asked the government to modify the tax and eliminate discrepancies in the way it is applied, as it exempts used cars originating from Romania and taxes those brought from abroad.

The first-time registration tax, applied since January 1, 2007 is calculated on three variables and ranges from 68 euros for new cars to 8,586 euros for certain cars more than six years old.

The tax for a two-year old car with a 1,400 cc engine was cut from 284 euros to 139 euros and taxes for cars with 1,600 cc engine were trimmed from 324 euros to 159 euros. Romania presented the EC a fine-tuned, first-time car registration tax at the end of April in accordance with the commission's demands that the country calculate the tax based on the age of the car. Taxes on cars older than 15 years will also be cut from 4,579 euros to 2,861 euros.

NewsIn