Car tax hike could generate an extra 150 million euros

Radu Berceanu, Transport Minister, said yesterday that the Government considered charging higher taxes on homes and cars, without specifying the variants examined. ZF has calculated what the car tax hike would amount to if it accounted for 0.24% of GDP, as it does in Spain for instance: an additional 150 million euros compared with taxes collected from this source.
Annual taxes levied on the 4.2 million cars in the Romanian vehicle fleet amount to around 150 million euros, i.e. 0.12% of GDP, half as much as in Spain, for instance, where 2.6 billion euros in annual auto taxes are collected per year. If the proportion were similar to Spain, it would mean 300 million euros in annual revenues, i.e. 150 million euros more.
Greece, with a car fleet similar in size to the Romanian one, collects over 1 billion euros, i.e. seven times more.
According to statistics of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, the Danish state collects the highest auto taxes, almost 10 billion euros for 2 million automobiles.
Romania currently has one of the lowest levels of taxation for automobile ownership in the European Union, with the yearly tax on a 1.6-litre engine car at 56 RON (around 13 euros). In Germany, for a similar car, the tax is 132 euros, ten times higher.