VAT on car registration not illegal

I refer to the article Car Owners Can Claim Illegal VAT Refunds (February 25). This article gives the impression that according to the European Commission, car owners who bought cars since accession and paid VAT on registration may claim a refund as...

I refer to the article Car Owners Can Claim Illegal VAT Refunds (February 25). This article gives the impression that according to the European Commission, car owners who bought cars since accession and paid VAT on registration may claim a refund as the tax was charged against EU laws.

This statement is incorrect for two principal reasons.

Firstly, Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs's statement indicated that the European Commission is at present undergoing an evaluation of the new legislation adopted in terms of car registration. Nowhere had it defined any tax as illegal. Secondly, there was no decision by the European Court of Justice that states that the car registration tax system in Malta was illegal. Even more, the European Commission, despite producing a reasoned opinion on the matter, has never opened a case against Malta in the aforementioned court to obtain a decision describing the Maltese law on car registration as illegal.

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