Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said today that it was corrupt of the Labour Party to promise to refund VAT paid on vehicle registration tax, since the people were being promised something they were not entitled to, simply to win votes.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Fenech said a European Court decision involving Poland had shown, once again, that Labour had no case when it claimed that VAT was wrongly charged in Malta on vehicles registered under the old system.

The government, Fenech insisted, had no real or moral obligation to refund that VAT, with amounted to some €50 million.

The court ruling, Mr Fenech said, had burst Labour's 'bubble'.

He asked if Labour would insist on its promise to refund the money, saying this would be doing so solely to win votes.

"Will Labour tax everyone in order to give this refund to a few when they are not entitled to it?" Mr Fenech asked.

LABOUR REAFFIRMS REFUNDS PROMISE

In a reaction, the Labour Party said the government was coming up with every excuse not to refund the money it had 'stolen'.

It said that the finance minister had confirmed that the Gonzi government was against refunding the VAT stolen from thousands of people who were charged VAT on their car registration. The people were being accused of participating in a corrupt act when they were seeking what was theirs.

The party said the minister was trying to shelter behind technicalities when the government should have refunded the money immediately.This was, after all, the same government which boasted that it had rectified anomalies which had existed in the registration system.

This was also the same government which found millions of euros before the elections, but did not find money for the families.

"The PL reaffirms its promise to return the stolen money if it is given the people's confidence at the next general elections," the party said.