The normative act sets the pollution tax on cars will be reduced 30% and the Government is to refund car owners who paid the tax in one of its previous forms. The bill was supposed to take effect as of July 1 but that meant the Parliament would have had to adopt it on very short notice.
The Government has redrafted the bill, eliminating mentions of July 1, 2011 as the date for the new tax’s implementation and making no mention of any other date, so it is uncertain when the reduced tax will be introduced and when the refund procedures will begin. With the upcoming parliamentary summer recess, the bill cannot be adopted earlier than this fall.
The Environment Minister said Wednesday the bill still needs the approval of the ministries of Justice and Finance before it can be approved by the Government and then sent to Parliament.
“I think we should adopt these changes through an emergency decree,” said Borbely, adding the Justice Ministry has the authority to change the normative act.
The current car tax system will be changed following a judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which found the tax in violation of community legislation, as it discourages the sale of used cars from other states to Romania.
The judgment was issued in response to a question by a Romanian court hearing the case of a Romanian national who bought a used car from Germany in July 2008. He paid the pollution tax when registering the car in Romania and complained that it is charged only on imported used cars and not other used cars already registered in the country and then resold.
Legal experts have warned the Government that Romania risks sanctions from the European Union, from a potential infringement procedure, and a great number of suits brought on by car owners, unless it urgently changes the car tax and repays the funds it collected.