In the "declaration" entitled Moral And Political Victory (March 25), the Minister of Finance wrote an eulogy of self-praise while listing a plethora of social benefits merely to justify his imposition of VAT on the importation of second-hand cars. However, his high morality of self-justification is intermixed with illogical reasoning.
Deliberately or not, he gave no details of the registration tax as required by the EU Sixth VAT Directive. He ignores the fact that the buyer had already paid VAT and registration tax, both included in the purchase price, fulfilling the EU obligations.
The "consequences" that he burdens his "responsibility" with are of his own making. The fact that the "European Commission expressed an opinion" and the minister has disagreed with it reinforces a doubtful outcome not a certainty. Besides, nobody can define the result unless the Maltese (and/or) European law courts pronounce sentence. He asserts that "there is no decision ruling that the government has broken European law" and nor is there a decision saying that he had not!
After all, his legal advisers reduced his legal victory to merely "a strong case". Therefore, the minister is too hasty in justifying his decision burdening a section of the tax-paying public with €50 million.
The minister resorts to illogical reasoning: he insists that if he issues refunds, "somebody has to pay for them". Nobody pays for them: they belong to those who paid them out first. If he has put them in his right hand pocket (metaphorically, of course!) let him take them out again. No harm is done!
Then he follows his argument with a string of platitudes, involving the state of the economy, the international crisis, employment, social consequences as if "this capricious spending" of €50 million will "put the country at risk". This is laughable: it sounds as if this money will solve all the problems, both national and international.
Everybody knows what the minister has done during his term of office. However, his enhancing efforts do not atone for any mistake, if any. The point is that such self-praise is completely irrelevant to the argument. To state that the derogation, that is the removal of the five per cent VAT on foodstuffs and medicines, will deprive "the government of €33 million in new revenue in 20 months' time" is a piece of hyperbolic political jargon that merely convinces those who feel mesmerised by mathematical figures. Then he comes up with a banal supposition in reducing car taxation rather than income taxation, forgetting that two wrongs never make a right.
Lastly, to sustain his generosity, he reminds us all of our free health care, free education, the stipend system, the welfare system that particularly benefits pensioners, the unemployed, single parents and so on. If my old age serves me right, these particular benefits started in 1947 with Malta's self-government and belong to a succession of Maltese administrators irrespective of political colour.
Lest he forgets, the cumulative effect of all administrative decisions owes much to the people themselves. One example will suffice. Pensioners my age have given Malta 48 years of service, paid income tax since 1948, paid one-12fth of their own salaries as well as those of their wives, besides being good citizens providing Malta's wise leaders in all spheres.
Has our young minister done as much? We have nothing to brag about. We did our duty. However, Malta's democracy has instilled in us the wisdom of free speech, especially when we feel hurt if administrators try to draw out blood from a stone. We raise our voice in anger if they impose on us unnecessary taxes. Was it not enough to collect registration fees, driving licences and road fees from about 30,000 motorists, without imposing a second VAT tax?
I rest my case!