Letter

Sir,

I have just read your very interesting headline feature on the scandal of V-plated cars and the incompetent way the Cyprus government has handled some elements of Cyprus’ entry in to the European Union (Expats forced to fork out thousands in V-plate trap, Sunday Mail, May 16).

I hope we are not going to be bracketed as whinging Brits, because there is another element which hundreds of other V-plated car owners are now facing. My wife and I bought our duty free car in February 2004 after leaving Dubai, where both of our businesses collapsed due to the ‘war on terror’ and we calculated that we could live in Cyprus on the interest on our savings. We do not receive any pensions and certainly cannot afford any unforeseen expenses like the shock of a multi-thousand pound tax bill on the car.

So, in advance of May 1 we applied for relief on payment of duty, a process which involves several long meetings at Nicosia Customs headquarters, in order to prove that we intend to retire here and not seek employment.

However the Customs department is so inefficient (or overwhelmed with applications) that we, and hundreds of other V-plated car owners who qualify for duty-free status, have not yet received notification that we can convert to Cyprus plates, and must put our cars back in bond too, for as long as it takes!!
The Paphos customs department ‘kindly’ gave everyone two weeks grace until May 14th, but thereafter, if the car is not placed in bond – RANSOMED is a more appropriate term – then an £80 fine will be levied per month on us.

This not a problem of our making so why have we been placed in this illegal position by default?

It is about time this was sorted out. Instead of using the EU accession as an excuse and blaming expats for not being prepared for this, the government needs a good shaking. There are too many inconsistencies. I still have to pay high import-taxed-prices on Ilchester cheese, and Mars bars are still expensive.

Presumably this is existing stock, so where is the fairness? There has to be a longer grace period. Let us tax our V-plated cars and when the Customs have cleared all the applications we will either be exempted from duty or we will pay the duty – but let the duty be in line with other European countries, not three or four times the purchase price of the car!

I think the feeling is very strong amongst V-plated owners who desperately want Cyprus plates, because I noticed that normal law-abiding citizens are still driving around today (May 16th) with V-plated cars. I am sure many are willing to take this further, to the European Court in the Hague if necessary or even go to prison.

Colin Richardson,
Paphos

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.