The government will not refund the VAT it charged on car registration tax unless the courts find that it acted illegally.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said that it was irresponsible for Labour leader Joseph Muscat to promise people a refund of the tax irrespective of what the courts decide.
Dr Gonzi was reacting to a statement made recently by the Opposition Leader, who said that once he is elected Prime Minister, he would refund those who have been wrongfully charged, even if the courts do not force him to do so. In the past weeks Labour also managed to rally 17,600 people to join its court case against the government.
But Dr Gonzi, who has said that a refund would cost some €50 million, yesterday accused the Labour leader of attempting to play around with the money of taxpayers.
The Prime Minister said Dr Muscat's promise was reminiscent of how the Labour party used to act outside the law in the past. He reiterated his position, however, that should the courts rule in favour of Labour, the government would pay the money back.
He added that Dr Muscat's promise was also proof that not even the Labour party itself was convinced of its legal position on the matter.
Dr Gonzi was sitting only two seats away from PN MEP candidate Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, who released a statement recently asking the government to "give the money back", on the same day that thousands queued outside Labour's headquarters to sign up for the court case. In an article on her website she wrote that although the government was legally in the right, it should not "hide behind a technicality" and in the spirit of "fairness" should refund anyway.
Nonetheless, when asked to react to the Prime Minister's speech shortly after the event yesterday, Ms Metsola Tedesco Triccas said she too thought Dr Muscat's declaration was irresponsible.
Her position differed from his, she said, because she felt the government should pay out before a court judgement and not afterwards.
In a press statement reacting to Dr Gonzi's accusation, the Labour party criticised him for continuing to deny consumers what is rightfully theirs, by hiding behind the technical and legal advice his government said it had been given. The PL reiterated that once in government it would refund the tax.
Dr Gonzi also criticised Dr Muscat for continuing to claim that Malta was making a net loss from EU funds, in spite of the European Commission's statements to the contrary.
He said Malta not only managed to attract €855 million in funds, which the Nationalist Party had promised, but, thanks to the projects it applied for, it would be bringing in a total of €1.15 billion.
Just last week, for example, the EU gave Malta €25 million to set up an electricity cable to Sicily in order to connect with the European electric grid, the Prime Minister noted.
cperegin@timesofmalta.com