Greek Min of Finance to Put Forth Plans to Restructure Road Tax

The Greek Ministry of Finance is expected to put forth a plan in the beginning of March to restructure the country’s road tax in an effort to secure tax revenues but also further incentivize vehicle owners to replace their old cars with newer ones that pollute less.

The Ministry is concerned about the current road tax pricing policy in Greece because new electric vehicles are exempt from a range of taxes, which means that as more are added to the roads, the country’s 1.2 billion euros in road tax revenues will be at risk.

On the other hand, however, the Greek government does not want to “punish” people who made the switch to less polluting vehicles by raising the taxes they pay, according to a report at ToVima.

As a result, the Ministry needs to find a new structure that will continue to incentivize drivers to turn in their old cars and purchase new vehicles with lower emissions while maintaining a steady flow of tax revenue.

The Ministry explains that there are no plans to reduce the road tax for vehicles acquired in the 90’s and 2000’s, which the report characterizes as “outrageously high.”  The report also noted that the Greek government attempted to set up a program offering withdrawal incentives many times in the past, but the programs were not effective.