Justice chancellor still waiting on requested car tax amendment
In a letter to the Finance Committee of the Riigikogu, Minister of Justice Ülle Madise noted that the committee still hasn't yet initiated a bill that would bring Estonia's car tax law into compliance with the Constitution, exempting vehicles from the motor vehicle tax that were destroyed or confiscated during the past year.
Writing to Finance Committee chair and MP Annely Akkermann (Reform), Madise pointed out that she had contacted the Riigikogu with a proposal to bring the car tax law and the Traffic Act into compliance with the Constitution as early as late February already.
In April, she continued, the president of the Riigikogu tasked the Finance Committee with initiating the bill.
Unfortunately, she said, it still has yet to be initiated.
The justice chancellor has recently received several appeals from people whose vehicles were either destroyed or confiscated sometime this year.
"Although the Riigikogu found that collecting taxes in such cases is unconstitutional, people are still being required to pay this tax by the deadline," she noted.
According to Madise, she has also been contacted by people on minimum incomes for whom the amount due by the first tax deadline is unmanageably high, yet they are still being required to pay the tax even though the taxable property itself no longer exists.
"Despite the delay, the chancellor of justice has not yet taken the matter to the Supreme Court," she stated. "The thing is, new regulations are needed in any case, and the Supreme Court cannot enact them in place of the Riigikogu."
Therefore, the justice chancellor is asking the Finance Committee to initiate a bill that would include provisions to help those who have already suffered losses.
"One option is to provide that amendments regarding destroyed, confiscated or otherwise affected vehicles take effect retroactively from January 1, 2025," she proposed.
According to Madise, taxpayers could also be granted the right to apply for a refund of overpaid taxes — such as for the period during which the destroyed motor vehicle was deleted from the traffic register or reported stolen.
If technically feasible, this could also be done automatically, with the state correcting tax notices based on the traffic register and automatically refunding overpayments to prepaid tax accounts.
The first deadline for Estonia's new motor vehicle tax is approaching quickly — with at least half of the amount of the annual car tax due by June 16.
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Editor: Barbara Oja, Aili Vahtla
