Vol. 511 No. 6
241 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if the present vehicle registration tax regime is fully compliant with the tax harmonisation rules of the Single Market; if he has sought or obtained a temporary or permanent derogation. [25313/99]
For the Deputy's information, Ireland is not the only EU member state which has a tax on vehicle registration. Eight other countries have a registration tax, including Denmark, Finland, Greece and Portugal, some at higher levels than apply in Ireland. These taxes are operated in a variety of ways and, as such, are not directly comparable with vehicle registration tax – VRT – as applied here. Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK do not charge registration tax and France and Italy charge the tax at a nominal rate. Many other countries also tax fuel at a higher rate, including the UK. There are no harmonisation proposals in discussion at EU level in relation to vehicle registration taxes. The question of derogation does not arise as there is no Community instrument preventing the imposition of VRT.
