Car tax bill passes first Riigikogu reading

The car tax bill, which will introduce new taxes for vehicle owners, passed the first of three readings in the Riigikogu on Wednesday.
The coalition hopes the bill will be approved by mid-June.
Reform's Riigikogu faction chairman Erkki Keldo could not say on Wednesday whether the coalition could link the law to a vote of confidence.
"The end of February is when the deadline for amendments comes. After that, we will see. The opposition has threatened to table hundreds if not thousands of amendments. We will certainly try to find a reasonable compromise and if we cannot find one, we will have to take the following decisions," Keldo told "Aktuaalne kaamera".
EKRE also tried to delay the proceedings on Wednesday.
The new tax will consist of two parts.
The first part will be paid annually by motor vehicle owners on vehicles registered in the motor register. The motor vehicle tax rate on passenger cars will be made up of the base component, the specific CO2 emissions component and the gross vehicle weight component.
The second part will be the motor vehicle registration fee, which will be paid before the registration of passenger cars and vans in the motor register.
The new tax is expected to add €236 million per year to the state budget.
Its purpose is to encourage people to use vehicles less often and make environmentally friendly choices when purchasing a new vehicle.
The tax will make the purchase and ownership of passenger cars 5-15 percent more expensive than they are now.
The Tax and Customs Board will collect the vehicle tax, and the Transport Administration registration fee.
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Editor: Mirjam Mäekivi, Helen Wright