Fourteen vehicles on which €45,000 in registration tax is owed have been impounded after a two-day swoop on cars bearing foreign number plates.

Transport Malta confirmed the enforcement action was conducted on Thursday and Friday in various localities and is expected to continue in the coming days.

Residents who import cars for private use have to register their vehicle with the authority within 20 days and pay tax on it.

But many motorists had been flouting the rules and continued driving their cars without paying registration tax and obtaining a Maltese licence plate.

A spokesman for Transport Malta said spot checks on motorists driving cars with foreign plates led to 14 vehicles being towed to the authority’s compound in Marsa.

Transport officials and police officers stopped motorists and carried out the necessary checks to verify whether registration tax was due.

The vehicles will only be released when all tax is paid, including any fines and charges resulting from the action.

The watchdog’s spokesman could not quantify the number of cars with foreign plates that are estimated to be on the island’s roads illegally.

“However, we have seen a surge of cars with foreign plates and the unpaid tax could run into hundreds of thousands of euros if not millions.”

He said the authority would continue stepping up its enforcement efforts to curb this abuse.

It is understood that most of these cars are used, top-end vehicles, mostly imported from the UK by Maltese owners at competitive prices.

The law stipulates that every vehicle driven on the road must bear Maltese registration plates.

The exceptions are: tourists, who may drive their foreign-registered vehicle for six months from its date of arrival; foreigners with a fixed-term employment contract, who have a 12-month grace period before paying registration tax; students attending university; and licensed dealers with trial run plates.

When asked whether the authority will consider changing regulations to ensure registration tax is paid on importation, the spokesman said revisions to ensure “a more stringent regime” were not being ruled out.

However, the authority may also consider a partial amnesty on penalties to encourage those who abused the law to come forward and register their cars. The full registration tax will still have to be paid.

Release of impounded cars

Transport Malta said the cars will only be released upon the payment of the following taxes and penalties:

Registration tax due – depending on a valuation by the authority

Administration and licence plates fees – €120

Annual circulation licence fee – depending on the type of car

Towing fees – €105

Administration and release of vehicle fees – €170

Daily rent – €7

Tax avoidance penalty – €30 for each day after the 20-day payment window closed

ksansone@timesofmalta.com