More V–plate ire from angry expats
PHONE CALLS poured in yesterday from bewildered Europeans facing massive duty bills with the loss of tax-free status for those driving cars with visitor plates.
Lance Foord said people would suffer if nothing was done to justify the change in law. Foord, who has bought a holiday home in Paphos, said people were leaving customs in tears after being told about the prices they would have to pay if they wanted to drive their cars again.
He added: “Some are even talking about leaving Cyprus. Imagine being told you have to pay £20,000 to have your car released from bondage? It could drive some people to suicide.”
Foord said it was not so much about the money, but about the dishonesty.
“This is dishonest trading and people have been misled. When you buy something that is duty-free, such as a watch, you cannot then tell them to pay the duty on it after May 1,” he said. Foord said he would be taking the matter up with his MEP back in England and the media.
“People need to be warned they could be landed with enormous bills,” he said.
The 63-year-old said people had been conned into thinking they were buying duty-free cars. “If people knew about what they would have to pay, then maybe they would not have bought the car in the first place.”
Foord is the owner of a 1800cc Mitsubishi Pajero and has been told to pay £3,651 before the end of the year. He said the car dealer where he bought his car last year, said he had not been aware of the change in law. However customs officials told the Cyprus Mail it had arranged seminars with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for customs officials and informed car dealers about the May 1 changes.
“People have a right to be angry the way things were done,” said another man who wished to remain unnamed. “These are punitive taxes and grossly unfair.”
“My car is in a bonded warehouse, where it will remain for the time being. I’m waiting to see if the law will be changed,” he said.
The 68-year-old Briton also suggested expats living on the island for several years should be exempt from paying car registration fees.
“Things are not clear. The information should have been written up and handed out to those affected by the changes. Instead we are told to go to Nicosia to be told what’s going on,” he said.
Robert Schreuder, 50, from the Netherlands said he was being asked to pay £28,000 in tax.
Schreuder is the owner of a five-year-old Mitsubishi Pajero, which was originally bought for around £16,000. The car is now worth no more than £3,000 to £4,000, he said.
“The issue not about paying tax, but about tax on current value of the car and not on its original value.”
Schreuder said: “There was no warning despite me repeatedly asking what was going to happen when the island joins the EU. We are not stupid and know things are changing, so we asked. But, no one knew anything until two weeks ago when I came back and was told I had to pay £28,000 to have my car released from bondage.”
The 50-year-old said the government’s demands for tax impositions were reasonable, but pointed out cars should be taxed on their present value and not on what their original value had been.
However, according to the Nicosia customs office Schreuder was probably also paying excise duties on his Mitsubishi Pajero and not just import duty and VAT.
“Excise duty is now charged at £8 per cc. If his car is 3.2 cc, he’ll be paying £25,600. The import duty and VAT is then taxed at the car’s depreciated value.”
The customs officer added: “It depends on each individual case. Not everyone is eligible for a duty-free car or exempt from paying excise duty. Each case is different and will be handled individually.”
