High vehicle registration tax is against EU law

I have been following with interest the correspondence over the past months on the subject of cars imported into Malta, the latest of which was an article by Simon Busuttil (June 19). This article was in response to a letter from Jorgen Sixt who stated that he had been told by the Maltese licensing department that he would have to pay at least Lm2,200 to register a car, valued at Lm400, in Malta.

Mr Sixt should consider himself fortunate that he has been quoted a minimum of only Lm2,200 for the registration of his vehicle in Malta. Another reader had said earlier that he was being obliged to pay a minimum of Lm2,900 registration tax on his car which was valued at about Lm4,000.

I have been told that I will have to pay at least Lm7,000 on my Landrover Defender which I purchased second hand in the UK some two years ago for £5,800 (Lm3,602).

An acquaintance of mine in Malta recently purchased, in Malta, a large second-hand 4x4 for Lm8,000, registered. This prompted me to enquire about prices of such vehicles in Malta and I was given a quotation of Lm5,500 for one of five recently imported Japanese 4x4 cars and about the same for a second-hand Landrover similar to my own, all registered of course.

I have also been informed that, if I should take up permanent residence in Malta as an EU citizen, I will be allowed to import one car free of registration tax.

There does not seem to be any logic in the various demands for registration tax and most disturbing is the use of the words "at least".

On questioning the use of the words "at least", I was informed that the level of tax would depend upon valuation of the vehicle upon arrival in Malta. The implication of this is that the tax level would depend upon some arbitrary estimate of the value of the vehicle upon arrival in Malta but would be at least the figure quoted.

Furthermore, I have been unable to get a clear, unequivocal answer to the question of whether, since I own a holiday flat in Gozo, I will be classed as a tourist for the purposes of car registration or as a permanent resident and therefore have to register my car within one week of arrival. I clearly understand that personally, without a residence permit, I am classed as a tourist and therefore I can only reside in Malta for some 180 days per annum but I cannot get a clear answer from the Maltese authorities about how long my car can officially remain in Malta before it becomes liable to being towed away.

In any case, how can the police know whether my UK-registered car belongs to a tourist or whether it must be towed away after a week?

In the online publication Malta Media on April 22, Ruth Davies refers to temporary vehicle permits for non-resident foreigners with work permits. There is no mention of European citizens with holiday homes in Malta. Furthermore, I would not want the vehicle permit to be restricted to one named driver as is apparently the case for those persons holding work permits.

I contend that, besides being in breach of Article 90 of the Consolidated Version of the Treaty Establishing the European Community (discrimination between Maltese goods and goods from other EU member states), Malta is also in breach of Article 25: "Customs duties on imports and exports and charges having equivalent effect shall be prohibited between member states. This prohibition shall also apply to Customs duties of a fiscal nature", since the application of such a high level of registration tax for imported vehicles from other EU member states is effectively a "charge having an equivalent effect" or even a "duty of a fiscal nature".

Yes, EU member states have the right to set their own tax levels and, yes, everyone can accept that a registration fee must be paid. The problem is the imposition of such iniquitously high levels of registration tax by the Maltese government. This is against the spirit and Articles of the EU and, as I have already stated, in my opinion it constitutes a "charge having an equivalent effect" as a Customs duty or even a "duty of a fiscal nature".

In the UK, for example, a neighbour of mine paid only £46 (Lm28.57) to change the registration of his Spanish car to UK registration.