Car park attendants not licensed by the transport authority are still subject to inspections by the Tax Compliance Unit, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry has confirmed.
Contacted by this newspaper following reports that land owners were using their privately-owned fields as car parks, the ministry spokesman said such sites were monitored regularly.
“It is normal procedure for VAT inspectors to carry out inspections at car parks to check whether VAT receipts are issued.
“It is very easy to estimate the income of car park operators: simply multiply the rate charged by the average number of cars,” the spokesman said.
Last month, the Times of Malta reported that while the transport authority had been stepping up efforts to better regulate public car parks and attendants, it has no control over makeshift car parks.
Drivers had for some time complained that attendants who operate such car parks were imposing high fees and questioned whether they were subject to any form of checks.
A transport authority spokesman insisted that Transport Malta only regulates those attendants who are using public car parks and so was not responsible for the monitoring.
On whether using car parks required any form of permits, the Planning Authority said that this was not the case as long there was no “material change in the use of land”.
On the possibility of a loophole in the system, since the attendants did not seem to be regulated in any way, the ministry spokesman insisted this was not the case.
“No loophole exists. Car park operators are required to register for VAT purposes, charge VAT, submit VAT returns and declare their income for tax purposes,” he said.
According to Transport Malta, no parker could operate a public car park without a licence issued by the transport watchdog – but it was a different matter altogether when dealing with individuals making use of their own land.
Asked whether there were any plans to regulate such car park attendants, the ministry spokesman explained that the role of the Tax Compliance Unit was limited to tax evasion and did not give any information on the matter.
Drivers who visit such car parks on a regular basis said they were irked since parking places in some area were limited, leaving them with no other option.