EC wants CV tax hike
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• International hauliers' transport costs will rise if an EC Commission proposal is accepted for the introduction of a new method of calculating CV road tax. Under the "territoriality principle," which is backed by Euro MPs, CVs would pay tax to the countries in which they are operated instead of only to the country in which they are registered.
The report on which the vote was based argues the case for evening out competition in the EC transport sector. For example, Dutch lorry taxes are only a third of the rate charged in Germany and a quarter of the British tax, and Spanish hauliers pay only half as much as the Dutch.
The European Parliament's Transport Committee, which drafted the report, warns that without a fairer system hauliers will face "an irresistable temptation" to register vehicles in "cheap" countries.
A computer expert has appeared before the committee
to advise on a data processing system for monitoring journeys and sharing out the tax revenue. With the tax intended to cover all transport infrastructure costs, the bill to hauliers would certainly rise. Some receipts, says MEPs, should go directly to a special fund for improving infrastructure, primarily in less developed states.
On the plus side, the MEPs say the extra income from the higher road tax should make it possible to scrap motorway tolls. The plan is due for discussion by EC transport ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg next week.