Nyt alkaa tapahtua, osa 2

Registration tax on cars

Greece calculates the depreciation on second hand cars imported into the country for the purpose of applying registration tax on the basis of a single rule which allows a depreciation of 7% for cars between six months and one year or 14% for a one-year old car. The Commission believes that this rule fails to guarantee that the amount of the registration tax due does not exceed the amount of the residual tax incorporated in the value of similar vehicles that were registered in the Greek territory when new. It believes that Greece therefore infringes Article 90 of the EC Treaty, which states that a Member State must not impose any internal tax, directly or indirectly, on the products of other Member States of a kind in excess of that imposed directly or indirectly on similar domestic products. The European Court of Justice indicated in its judgement in the Gomes Valente Case (C-393/98) that a fixed scale of prices should reflect the true depreciation of vehicles with sufficient precision. The Court also held in that Case that discrimination between national and imported products is always prohibited under Article 90 of the EC Treaty, even if the discrimination arises in only a few cases.

A further aspect of the Greek legislation that the Commission has contested concerns the lack of transparency of the administrative procedure in as much the tax authorities do not disclose how they determine the taxable values of the cars. In addition to this, the taxpayer is obliged to pay a €300 fee for having the car inspected by a special Committee if he disagrees with the values determined by the tax authorities.

Since Greece did not amend its legislation following the receipt of the Commission's Reasoned Opinion in this matter (see IP/05/863), the Commission decided to take Greece to the European Court of Justice.
The latest information on infringement procedures concerning all Member States can be found at the following site:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm

koska tuomioistuimen päätös kestää aikansa ja päätöksenkin jälkeen on aikaa muuttaa käytäntöjä. Kysymyshän ei ole veron oikeutuksesta, vaan uudehkojen autojen arvon määrityksestä.