Romanian Authorities To Have New Car Tax By July 1 ’08 – Sources
The letter sent to Brussels does not include the concrete amendments brought to the car tax, only an implementation agenda, mentioning, at the same time, that Romanian authorities intend to study the various methods of taxation in countries such as Hungary, Finland or Spain, official sources told MEDIAFAX.
At the same time, the document restates the determination of the Romanian state to bring a favorable solution to the car tax policy and the fact that Romania does not want to end up before the European Court of Justice.
The Commission decided to analyze in this week, sooner than initially planned, the case in which Romania is accused of violating community legislation through the implementation of the first registration tax for cars. The analysis commenced sooner because of some changes in administrative procedures.
The Commission might decide to move to the second stage of the infringement procedure (violation of community legislation – t.n.), in which case Romania will have two months to formulate a reply. If Bucharest authorities do not respond before the deadline, the Commission might submit a complaint with the European Court of Justice.
There have been many talks and exchanges of letters, on the topic of the Romanian car tax, between representatives of Romanian authorities and community experts, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance sent to the Commission, late May, a new formula for the calculation of the car tax, which mentions levels up to three times lower for older cars, but higher for new ones.
Romanian economy and finance minister Varujan Vosganian said in a press conference that the Government did not consider the option of cancelling the car tax, but it would analyze the option of changing it.
The car tax was introduced early 2007, when excises paid for the import and acquisition of cars on the internal market were removed. The tax is calculated depending on the capacity of the engine, gas emission standards and the age of the car.