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Infringement action to be taken over used car tax

Brussels is expected to initiate infringement procedures against Malta over its discriminatory registration tax on used cars, MaltaToday can reveal.
Malta’s higher registration tax on second-hand cars is currently being investigated by the European Commission’s directorate for taxation and customs, and is likely to culminate in the first stage of infringement procedures to be launched against Malta this month.
In response to a complaint from a Maltese citizen, an official from the Commission’s directorate said an infringement of EU law could arise if the tax on second-hand imports was higher than that imposed on new car imports.
Head of unit Micole Wiebke said an investigation is under way into the reduction of registration tax in order to comply with EU law, which prohibits member states from imposing any tax on EU products in excess of that imposed on similar domestic products, or so as to afford indirect protection to other products.