The Malta Automobile Club has appealed to the Government to repeal the increase in car registration tax proposed in the Budget 2013.

The Budget states that registration tax on cars of Euro Standard 4 type will increase by an average of 10 per cent – which the association says goes directly against the European Commission proposal on the abolition of vehicle registration tax.

“Given that the annual circulation tax is also very high in Malta, this increase in registration tax is not justified, and it constitutes a de facto double taxation, which is also against the spirit of the European Commission’s proposal,” the Malta Automobile Club said in a statement.

The reduction of the registration tax on cars of the Euro Standard 5 type up to a maximum of 30 per cent was a step in the right direction, but it was also not enough, the club added.

There was therefore no justification for the increase in vehicle registration tax when this was supposed to be abolished, it said.