Romanian Government adopts act to refund car tax without resort to the courts

The government will have to adopt a new act through which the car tax illegally collected can be returned, thus relieving the courts of a deluge of lawsuits for refunds, said Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Thursday, August 9. According to the PM, the decision will make claiming back the tax much simpler and clear the tens of thousands of pending court cases. PM Ponta also referred to the previous administrations stance on the issue. "The Ungureanu Government was telling pensioners: go and sue us, we know you will win but we will win some time.” Ponta said that with the backlog of cases at the courts, the money the Government has to give back is increasing with inflation. The PM said the previous government's position was “immoral and wrong”. He concluded that the only solution to the situation is to adopt a normative act that recognizes the Government’s debts. The tax law for the pollutant emissions from vehicles, enacted earlier this year, provides a tax reduction for pollution of 25 percent. If the pollution tax paid from July 1, 2008 is greater than that resulting from application of this law, car owners can demand a refund of the difference. Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com photo source: sxc.hu