Kurt Sansone
Labour files VAT court case... at a cost of €800
The Labour Party yesterday upped a notch in its crusade against VAT paid on car registration tax when it initiated a court case on behalf of almost 18,000 people.
The government did not react to a judicial protest filed by the Labour Party (PL) on May 3, a move which prompted the party to go ahead with the court case.
One of the party's lawyers said the case cost less than €800 to file, a minor sum when one considers the €8,000 Labour received in donations on the back of its campaign.
The PL lawyer explained that the law allowed for the individual cases to be heard as one case because they all dealt with the same matter.
Labour leader Joseph Muscat said the Prime Minister had "ignored" the 18,000 people who were unjustly charged VAT when he chose not to reply to the protest.
Addressing the media outside the law courts, Dr Muscat said the party believed the consumers had a right to be refunded this "illegal tax".
Dr Muscat said that if it lost its case in Malta, the PL was prepared to go to the European Court. A Labour government, he said, would be willing to give a refund to all those who were charged VAT on their vehicle registration tax between 2004 and 2008 and not just the people who were party to this case.
Consumers had a right for the refund, in the same way as they deserved to be compensated for the bad state of the roads, he added.
It was EU Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs who said that VAT levied on car registration tax was contrary to European community law in a reply to a parliamentary question by Labour MEP Louis Grech this February.
The original complaint with the Commission had been filed in 2007 by Mr Grech and Dr Muscat, then still an MEP.
The court case was signed by lawyers Chris Cilia, Alex Sciberras and deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia.
Between 2004 and last year the amount of VAT charged on car registration tax totalled about €50 million.
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Joseph Mizzi
May 22nd 2009, 23:53
If the case drags on for four years and over, and Labour manages to win the General Election, then the Labour government should admit in court that the tax had been actually illegal, and the court would have no other option but to rule in favour of the injured parties. This would fulfill Joseph Muscat's promise that the tax would be refunded.
Joseph Camilleri
May 22nd 2009, 18:42
Interesting how most PL fans here have assumed that the PL will win this case. I've spoken to a few lawyers and all have said that it's not as clear as the Labour Party is saying. Apparently there have been two cases in other EU states - one has been lost and one won. And it seems that the one which has been won is not exactly like the situation in Malta. It's good that it is being challenged.. everyone has a right to resort to the courts of law. However shouldn't the PL be more open about it and properly explain what the situation is rather than giving everyone the impression that it's just a matter of time before the people get their refund back?
Reginald Caruana
May 22nd 2009, 18:37
@Galea L: You need to update yourself. If you followed other media sources other than One News you would have noticed that the full recording has been put online and that Perici Calascione has actually said exactly the opposite. Or perhaps you're not interested in acknowledging that?
Galea. L
May 22nd 2009, 17:23
Philip B Cortis
It's not even five full years because we became members in May and not January 2004.
Josephine Cassar
Perici Calsacione in the presence of Gonzi himself told the hunters and trappers that Eddie Fenech Adami had taken them for a ride. Perhaps you are trying to do the same?
F Spiteri
May 22nd 2009, 16:59
Josephine Cassar:
A very original and optimistic evaluation of such an article from a typical PN frantic!
Well ... if you wish to look at it that way ..
A.Bezzina
May 22nd 2009, 16:19
800 euros might be the cost of initiating a case. It will have cost far more by the end of it. So all these insinuations that the PL made a killing out of this business does not hold water.
C Mifsud
May 22nd 2009, 15:37
@J Cassar
Please note that this was only open to those who actually paid VAT on import and could not reclaim it so this excludes, as they woul have reclaimed VAT under their business process, all hire cars, taxis, commercials and anyone who for some reason or another could claim the VAT back.
Philip B Cortis
May 22nd 2009, 13:32
Just Mathematical
@ Josephine Cassar
Year 2005 to Year 2008 – we have 5 years @ 4050 per year according to your post, that would be 20,250 of which 18,000 (actually a bit less but don’t know the exact figure) is 89%.
Either my maths is wrong, or the figures are wrong, but if everything is correct, I don’t see you point.
Please enlighten.
A. Bonello
May 22nd 2009, 13:12
@ Josephine Cassar: Maybe you are 1) Unaware that the car sales dropped every year 2) If you keep the calculation fro 4000 per year you still get for 20,000, and if 18,000 had applied, just shows that PL DOES have the trust of the people. Don't try to be misleading please!
Steve Rogers
May 22nd 2009, 12:36
@Josephine Cassar
Are you trying to diminish the gravity of the situation by putting a shadow over the PL? It would have been better had the government taken notice of the 18,0000. After all, it does pander to 13,000 hunters when election time comes around, only to forget them as well afterwards.
Galea. L
May 22nd 2009, 11:57
Oisin Jones-Dillon
AD tried to jump on the bandwagon because it knew about the PL campaign and what PL was going to do. However, I think that with 14 for AD as compared with nearly 18,000 for PL the people made their choice as to whom they trust most.
Josephine Cassar
May 22nd 2009, 11:45
It seems more a case of people not trusting the Pl with their private info. 18000, though it may seem a big number to some people is surely not indicative of all those who bought a car since 2004- about 4050 per year/ Surely many more were bought. Who s taking the people for a ride?
Oisin Jones-Dillon
May 22nd 2009, 10:21
In this regard, see:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090314/local/ad-starts-legal-action-over-car-vat
Oisin Jones-Dillon