An unpleasant surprise can be expected when buying a car from July: those who buy the cheapest will have the most difficult tax.

From July 1. The adopted law will come into force in Lithuania, which stipulates that a registration tax will be applied to passenger cars based on their CO2 emissions. The tax will be applied according to the type of fuel and its combinations and whose CO2 emissions exceed 130 g / km. This fee must be paid to Regitrai.

Saulius Šuminas, Deputy General Manager of Regitra, Matas Buzelis, Deputy General Manager of Autoplius.lt, and Valentinas Naujanis, Director of Kaunas Car Market, said that it will not always be easy to determine the amount of tax that a person will have to pay, so that the car should be bought more carefully. .

Determining the exact contamination can be difficult

Regitra has placed a spreadsheet on its website that allows you to make a preliminary calculation of the amount of this fee. As Shumin explains, until 2011, data related to car emissions was not stored in the registry. As previously announced, from 2014 this information will also be entered on line V7 of the registration certificate.

You can find the spreadsheet here.

“We design the process in such a way that it is no different from what is happening now, because we don’t want that person to be more childish.” From the documents of origin or identity provided, we will determine by class if he is subject to taxes, we will review the parameters accordingly or according to them, he must pay a tax, because as you know, it is not required up to 130 g / km.

If we do not find CO2, we search if there is an equivalent registered in the registry according to the type approved by the EU. If there are no equivalents, only the formula is used. People may not be too intimidated by this, as calculating there can sometimes lead to more numbers. Even my car, which is not taxable, but if I only enter mass, you receive 150 euros.

In one case, it is sufficient to have the maximum mass of the complete machine ready to operate, in other cases it is also the power, the type of unit is required. And the calculator calculates that tax, “said S. Šumin.

Buzel said that it had long been possible to advertise the CO2 emissions of a car for sale, but not all did. According to him, others do not know where this data can be found.

“But there are actually more and more cases where CO2 emissions from a particular car are reported. A car’s CO2 emissions may depend not only on its weight, year of manufacture, fuel type or gearbox , but also of the chosen tires, the diameter of the rims.A car with very large wheels is likely to be more polluting by a few g / km than A car with smaller wheels.

There are some additional places to consider when buying a new or used car, “said M. Buzelis.

The hardest part will be buying the cheapest cars.

Buzel told the show that the cheapest cars, which cost one or several thousand euros, were more likely to sell.

“Such cars are rapidly disappearing because they are in demand not only in cities but also in regions.” People with lower incomes tend to do so. From July 1. That record or, as we like to call it, the sales tax will go into effect as it will further affect the auto trade. That tax, by that weight, is likely to fall primarily on Regitra’s shoulders as they’ll have the burden of administering it, but otherwise it will certainly fall on the shoulders of people with lower incomes and older cars. These cars, which are worth a thousand euros and must be paid with an additional registration, say 200-250 euros, will be much more difficult to sell. It will not be worth getting rid of them, because a person will receive practically the same amount as for sale and it turns out that only those people will not become hostages to their cars and will have to carve them until they completely collapse, “said M. Buzelis.

Buzel added that looking at the ads for cars sold in May, CO2 emissions were around 164 g / km on average. If it is a diesel car, the registration fee would be 120 euros.

According to Regitra, in 2019. In March, 4 thousand new vehicles were registered, this year – 2,200, in April – more than 4 thousand. and 1,300 (2019 and 2020), 4,200 and 2,000 in May. In March, almost 14,000 used cars from abroad were registered, this year 7,500.

“Basically the cheap ones dominate, they may not know much (about the tax – Delphi) and they will only find out that they are subject to the tax when they come to register the vehicle, because the seller doesn’t have to pay.” (…) I don’t know if he (the seller – Delfi) will happily mention the tax when he sells the car. If the price of the car is 20 thousand. plus € 200, that € 200 doesn’t mean much, probably when a car costs € 700, then that € 200 a lot. The buyers of those cheap cars will be the most affected. Because if they will keep those cars for the rest of their lives, or they will switch to an alternative vehicle, a scooter, but I doubt. And for those who buy new cars, there will be no critical taxes here, “said S. Šuminas.

He added that the majority of the Lithuanian car fleet runs on diesel and falls within tax limits.

M. Buzelis added that the Lithuanian used car market is like a high-speed freight train, the direction of which cannot be easily changed. So, according to him, this tax may not encourage the purchase of less polluting cars.

“We have seen how the market share of imported diesel cars has decreased in the last 4 to 5 years and from 77 to 78%. It decreased to 70 percent. In such a long period. In fact, only some very important changes internally, in the country’s politics, in the tax system, they could help change that choice more quickly. Will this rate help to change? I have many doubts, “he said.

Offers to settle everything during negotiations.

According to V. Naujanis, the dealers themselves will react to this tax, they will try to bring cleaner cars from the west. Also, he said, shoppers are well informed these days, so merchants won’t be able to hide the additional charge.

“We must not forget that those cheap cars are still being brought to us, so who will succeed will get rid of that car.” Not much where there is a decline (cheaper car prices – Delphi). We are also visited by foreigners who can take out those cars. So Ukrainians are still buying.

And if in terms of that there will be any influence, it is unlikely. I agree with my colleagues that this is a matter of negotiation and that taxes will be covered, and that the general fleet of cars will improve is highly questionable.

The overall value of the car is very important. For 3-4 thousand. euros is the best-selling car, apparently people can spend so much money. Because for many years this quantity is the easiest to sell. It will probably remain, and the buyer should share the fee with the seller on the subject of negotiations.

In fact, the buyer comes quite prepared in theory. There is a risk of buying a poor quality car, now it has been noticed that in theory the buyer is getting ready, searching online, he will certainly take it into account and ask questions about that pollution tax and will probably be able to calculate even after looking for it. The buyer will have calculated, “said the director of Kaunas Car Market on the program.

Buzel considered that perhaps someone would make better deals on the most polluting cars just to sell them, but no major price changes should occur. According to him, everything will depend on the negotiations.

“For now, at least we can assume that at the time of purchase, during negotiations, the buyer may have some bargaining advantage in choosing that expensive taxed car, which will cost a lot to register.” On average, Lithuanians change cars every 4-6 years. If we take a higher rate of € 400 and see it hovering around € 100 a year for four years or € 10 a month, that’s not the amount that would radically change the choice.

The most difficult part is that that fee must be paid here and now immediately, in full. For some people who buy really cheaper cars, this may be a critical indicator that will force them to choose between less polluting fuels or others, “said M. Buzelis.