Romania to lower car tax under EC pressure

Romania gave ground to EU pressure on Tuesday as its Finance minister Sebastian Vladescu and European Commissioner Lazlo Kovacs agreed during talks in Brussels that the country reduce is a controversial tax for the first registration of cars.

The tax, introduced with the new Fiscal Code when Romania joined the European Union on January 1 this year, is applied differentatedly to imported or locally produced, new and used cars. It sparked a series of controversies as this differentiation was seen as a breach of EU regulations.

Vladescu and Kovacs agreed that Romanian and Brussels experts should continue talks to reach the best formula for the new tax in the coming weeks. Until a way to set the amount of the tax is established, the current legislation remains in place, Finance Ministry representatives told HotNews.ro.

Still, a large number of Romanians have already paid the tax and questions remain whether they’d get their money back once the law is changed.