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The amount of the annual car use fee will depend on the amount of pollutants emitted, the type of fuel and the age of the car. The older and more powerful the car, the more you will have to pay. The amounts can range from a few to more than a thousand euros.
Arvydas, who lives in the village of Varnupiai near Marijampolė, sits in his seat of almost 20. The man uses the car frequently, travels to Kaunas regularly and visits doctors.
Arvydas cannot imagine his life without a car. Upon learning of the Ministry of the Environment’s plan to tax pollutants, old cars make no secret of their anger. Other drivers also dissatisfied with the new proposed tax:
“I do not support that tax because it is very expensive.”
“Living in a rural area, communication with the city is very poor, there is no place, there are no shops.”
“Those taxes deprive me of the opportunity to go to another place, to see the bigger city, what there is, what is happening.”
And the Environment Minister, Simon Gentville, disagrees with the population: “The money should not come from the moon, the money should come from those who pollute.”
The Environment Ministry, which fights air pollution, plans to renew the car pollution tax. It will consist of two parts. Car owners will have to pay for the first time in Lithuania when registering a vehicle imported from abroad and once a year pay a special fee for the use of the car on a regular basis.
“The annual fee is focused on us having that tolerance limit, we understand that 2 cars are a necessity in Lithuania, but we encourage you to buy less polluting cars. <...> There is no such innate human right to pollute the environment of others. Our goal is to buy cars that are less polluting by at least a third in Lithuania, ”continues the minister.
If the plans of the Ministry of the Environment are approved by the Seimas in the fall, car owners will be taxed in the first year of the tax only when their vehicle emits more than 130 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
The specific annual amount of the car use tax will depend on the type of fuel. Diesel car drivers will pay more, less gas and gasoline. The European standard will also be important. The older and more powerful the car, the more you will have to pay.
How much should I pay for Volkswagen Golf and BMW?
Thus, for example, if a 77kW diesel Volkswagen Golf produced in 2007 emits 140 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, the driver will have to pay 89 euros per year. If such a car is registered for the first time in Lithuania, you will have to pay a registration fee of 354 euros.
And the 2006 120 kW diesel third-series BMW will emit 153 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, resulting in a € 97 usage fee and a nearly € 400 registration fee.
The new taxes foreseen for the state budgets could add 20 million euros a year.
“It just came to our knowledge then. If you choose a more polluting car, be nice, it helps the public have an alternative: bike lanes, public transport, sidewalks and possibly a wider rail network,” says S. Gentvilas.
“We want better public transport, we want better bicycle and pedestrian paths,” adds Transport Minister Marius Skuodis.
Whether this tax is good or bad, residents disagree:
“Every additional tax burden on money is difficult to measure.”
“The environment is polluted, we have to pay for it.”
“It just came to our notice then. If it doesn’t come out deliberately, switch to non-polluting measures. This is the way to go.”
The Environment Ministry wants residents to start paying the new tax from 2023. Discounts would also apply. Families with many children or a disabled child, retirees and drivers who bought a vehicle before the first pollution tax in 2020 would pay 50 percent less than others. Disabled people would be exempt from the fee.
Kęstutis Mažeika, a former peasant who previously oversaw the issue of pollution taxes, explains that the Seimas opposition will not support the ruling project. It is said that a new version of the pollution tax is created only for large cities, with no non-small settlements.
“It is a completely unthinkable option, it is terrible for the people who live there, because it is practically impossible for them to change vehicles in 2 years. The alternatives that are promised, the bike lanes in the zones are not relevant ”, he says.
Experts in the automobile market have comments. They positively evaluate the annual car use fee, but emphasize that the renewal of the car fleet in Lithuania will take many years.
“The results will definitely not be drastic, the results will not be drastic, because we have in Lithuania, the average age of a car is 15 years old.” It is also a high concentration of diesel, it would be extremely difficult to suddenly change the driver’s habits, ”says Matas Buzelis, Head of Communications at CarVertical.
The Ministry of the Environment tentatively estimates that the new annual car use tax will apply to about three-quarters of all Lithuanian car owners. The amount of the fee can range from a few to more than a thousand euros.
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