sou · H5B311 · 2017-02-28 00:00:00 — A Swedish road tax system should be based on satellite positioning with flexible measurement methods for measuring the distance driven, in which tolerance levels are prescribed that determine the maxi- mum allowed deviation in accuracy of measurement. Only functional requirements should be imposed on measurement. Thus the system should be technology neutral as far as possible. User declaration or toll declaration as a basis for the road tax system To enable the State to levy a distance-based tax it must obtain infor- mation on how vehicles are used on the roads. In a user declaration- based system it is the taxpayers who supply the State with this infor- mation and who are responsible for the correctness of the data. In a toll declaration-based system it is instead the State that collects data with or without the participation of the taxpayer. has made the assessment that the road tax system should be user declaration-based. The individual should however provide information electronically, since this reduces the risk of error and saves time and costs. The road tax should cover national roads as well as municipal roads and streets, but not private roads and streets. Heavy goods vehicles weighing less than 12 account for such a small amount of road wear that from the point of view of marginal costs it is not warranted to include them in the system. The tax should therefore apply to heavy goods vehicles and goods vehicle combinations with a total weight of at least 12 . Military, , emergency, road maintenance and veteran vehicles should be exempt. Size and differentiation of the tax Under EU rules a Swedish road tax may be levied to cover costs of construction, operation and maintenance of roads. It may also cover costs for air pollution and noise, but not for accidents. More- over, it may cover costs of setting up and operating the tax system itself. In the opinion of the Committee the Swedish road tax should cover the costs of maintenance and repair (costs of surfacing work), air pollution (except carbon dioxide), noise, as well as ope- ration and administration of the system. Moreover, in the opinion of the Committee the tax should not be differentiated with reference to time and space, since there is a risk that the costs will outweigh the benefit with such differentiation. Further, the tax should be calculated on the basis of whether a motor vehicle is able to use trailers or not, so that a vehicle with a towing device always pays tax at the same rate, regardless of whether a trailer is used or not. should be the taxation authority. However, the , which already administers other vehicle-related taxes and charges, should administer the road tax on behalf of the . The Authority should be respon- sible for roadside checks. should own and manage roadside equipment. The Swedish Enforce- ment Authority should be responsible for collection and enforce- ment of unpaid road tax. To be able to levy the distance-based tax the must obtain data on how the vehicles are used on the roads. In addition, the Agency needs methods and tools to be able to verify this data. Consequently, detailed information on vehicle use needs to be saved. The control arrangements assume that the data is not stored in the vehicle itself. It is neither appropriate to leave it to the taxpayers themselves to decide on the form of storage nor to allow a public agency to act as a storage place. Instead, the model that should be chosen is for the taxpayers to engage private actors, i.e. service providers, to store the data. A very large percentage (approximately 85 per cent) of the vehicles deemed to be taxable already have technical equipment that can be used to transfer the information to a service provider. Infrequent users and temporary visitors Route tickets should be offered to make the system more user- friendly for infrequent users and temporary visitors. Compliance control and sanctions Lack of compliance with the tax system’s rules means that tax revenue is withheld. Moreover, companies that do not comply with the rules acquire competitive advantages over companies that comply. An effective system of controls and sanctions is therefore of great importance for achieving in practice the aims of the rules. Questions concerning controls and sanctions are also of great importance for a system to be perceived as credible and fair, which in turn is important for the system to be accepted by road users. , the correct dimensioning of the control system is important for achieving the desired level of compliance. The question of whether it would be appropriate to transfer another country’s system to Swedish conditions has considered whether it would be appropriate to transfer in general any of the existing foreign distance-based tax and charging schemes to Swedish conditions, but made the assess- ment that this would not be appropriate. However, parts of other countries’ system concepts can be used. Selected parts of the sys- tems in , and in particular appear to be suitable to transfer to Swedish conditions. Choice of model for the system The general requirements that can reasonably be applied to a road tax system and the current technological premises determine which systems can be used. The costs of investments and administration must also be included in the overall assessment. has outlined and analysed five conceivable models for a road tax system. These models have their strengths and weak- nesses as well as opportunities and limitations. There is no model that is unassailable. has therefore endeavoured to introduce a system that implies significant advantages for controls without unreasonably high costs or overly complicated regulation. has chosen the model that meets most of the require- ments that should be made of a road tax system, at the same time as the system achieves a reasonable level regarding the accuracy, accep- tance, control and costs of the tax. The chosen model does not pre- clude future development, but is estimated to be a good to new requirements in future. A distance-based road tax for Swedish and foreign heavy goods vehicles proposes a distance-based road tax for Swedish and foreign heavy goods vehicles and vehicle combinations of at least 12 . The tax will vary based on the characteristics of the heavy goods vehicle. The owner of such a heavy goods vehicle is to be associated with a licensed service provider, which stores the information on how the heavy goods vehicle is used on the roads. The service provider will report compiled data to the . Once a month the heavy goods vehicle owner must confirm or amend the data reported by the service provider to the . Special solutions in the form of route tickets are proposed for infrequent users and temporary visitors. Checks that the correct tax is levied will be made by means of camera surveillance, roadside checks, supervision and ordinary tax controls. The introduction of this new tax will entail new obligations for hauliers, but it must also be emphasised that the Committee’s proposal means that all practical processing of the tax can be trans- ferred to a third party. The size of the tax and scope of tax liability Taxable vehicles are, with some exceptions, motor vehicles or arti- culated motor vehicle combinations with a total weight of at least 12 if the motor vehicle is intended exclusively for road transport of goods. Both Swedish-registered and foreign-registered vehicles will be subject to the tax. The tax will be levied at –0.181 (–1.69) per kilometre, depending on the weight class (road tax weight), number of wheel axles, EURO emission class and whether it has a towing device or not. For motor vehicles without a towing device this inter- val is –0.12 (–1.17) per kilometre and for vehicles with a towing device the interval is –0.18 (–1.69) per kilometre. With the chosen differentiation, the tax amount is always the same for a vehicle regardless of when or where it is used on the roads covered by the tax. The tax of an average vehicle with- out a towing device is about () per kilometre and the tax of an average vehicle with a towing device is about () per kilometre. Tax liability arises when a taxable vehicle is used on a road that is subject to the tax. The tax will be levied on national roads and municipal roads and streets. On the other hand, private roads and streets will not be included in the tax liability. It is proposed that the taxable person be the vehicle owner, unless the vehicle is equipped with an on-board unit linked to a contract with an EETS provider. In the latter case the EETS road user that has entered into a contract with the EETS provider is the taxable person instead of the vehicle owner. will be the taxation authority, but the will make most decisions on behalf of the . The taxable persons must pre-register their vehicles with the before tax liability arises (pre-registra- Pre-registration is only done once, but where necessary it must be updated (amendment registration). Taxable persons must also provide information to the Swedish Transport Agency concerning how the vehicle is used on the roads that are subject to the tax. They can then opt for one of two different electronic procedures. They can either declare road use every month in arrears or declare each individual trip in advance (route ticket). Those choosing the monthly procedure must use a service pro- vider to keep an electronic log of how the vehicle is used in . A service provider must have an operating license. is the licensing and supervisory authority. The Authority will make roadside checks aimed at detecting certain infringements and report them to the . The roadside checks can be coordinated with the roadside checks already carried out today. Moreover, the will use camera surveillance to detect infringements. must report some infringements to the , which is to review decisions if grounds exist. can also in other cases initiate an investi- gation or an audit. Special charges for infringements will levy a sanction charge if the taxable person has not fulfilled their obligation to submit a pre- registration or amendment registration, if the taxable person has not fulfilled the obligation of an electronic log or if the taxable person does not have a valid route ticket. The sanction charge is 600 (000) on each occasion and a new charge may be levied for each seven-day period. The charge is levied in advance through the agency of the if the infringement is detected at a roadside check and the taxable person is not habitually resident in . If the advance is not paid the vehicle may be prevented from continuing its journey. levies a late filing charge if the taxable person submits the monthly declaration late. The late filing charge is normally (). levies a surcharge in the event of discretionary taxation or incorrect information. The surcharge for discretionary taxation is (000) and 40 per cent of the tax determined as a result of the discretionary taxation, in addi- tion to what would otherwise have been determined. In the same way the surcharge for incorrect information is (000) and 40 per cent of the tax that would not have been determined if the incorrect information had been accepted. Under certain circumstances the surcharges will not be imposed. can also decide on full or partial exemp- tion from the surcharge if it would be unreasonable to charge the full amount. Payment and effects of non-payment The tax must as a rule be paid at the latest by the last day in the second calendar month after the month to which the tax decision refers. A route ticket must be paid before starting the journey. Taxes or charges decided in the case of correction or review must be paid at the latest 30 days after the decision date. A late payment penalty will be levied in the event of non-timely payment. A prohibition on use will apply to a vehicle in the event of non-payment, with certain exceptions. It will also be possible to lay claim to a vehicle to pay the amounts owed to the State for taxes or charges under the Road Tax Act. Payment of overdue taxes and charges may be demanded from a foreign vehicle owner when the vehicle is stopped at a roadside check. If payment is not made the vehicle may be prevented from con- tinuing its journey. It is proposed that the Road Tax Act also include provisions con- cerning deferment of payment, exemption from and repayment of taxes or charges paid, correction and review of decisions and appeal and enforcement. The road tax in relation to other taxes and charges Value added tax will not be levied on the proposed road tax. The road tax will be deductible against income tax. However, the special charges payable on infringement under the Act will not be deductible. The current time-based road charge for certain heavy goods vehicles will be abolished when the road tax is introduced. More- over, vehicle tax needs to be adjusted when the road charge is abolished and the road tax is introduced. The current congestion tax, which is levied on heavy goods and other vehicles in and , will remain unchanged when the road tax is introduced. Road infrastructure charges, which are levied on heavy goods and other vehicles using the in and , will remain unchanged when the road tax is introduced. The number of Swedish taxable persons will be the same as the number of Swedish persons currently subject to the current time- based road charge; that is 22 500, with a total of about 78 000 vehicles. assesses that the number of foreign taxable persons will be about 28 000 with a total of about 100 000 vehicles. assesses that the number of service providers a couple of years after introduction could be 15–20. A road tax will entail increased costs for about 90 per cent of those subject to the tax, while about 10 per cent will have lower costs compared with the current road charge. One aim of introducing the tax, according to the Committee’s terms of reference, is that heavy goods traffic should to a greater extent bear the economic costs to society that it causes. The Com- mittee’s proposal for a distance-based road tax will mean that heavy goods traffic will pay its costs for road wear, emissions of air pollutants (apart from carbon dioxide) and noise (rural noise). Another aim of the Committee’s proposed road tax is to reduce the negative effects of heavy goods transport and promote reduced road wear. Road wear depends on the weight per axle and the size of the tax is therefore dependent on the vehicle’s weight class and number of To promote reduced emissions of air pollutants, the tax is lower for vehicles in a cleaner EURO emission class. The road tax is also aimed at achieving a transfer of goods transport from road to other modes of transport such as rail and sea, which reduces the negative effects of transportation in heavy goods vehicles. More- over, the road tax increases the possibilities of controlling com- pliance as a whole among heavy road transport providers. Traffic and environmental effects Vehicle mileage will only decrease marginally in the short term. In the longer term, however, there will be a decrease in vehicle mileage of 4–5 per cent and a transfer to rail and sea of about 3–4 and 2–3 per cent respectively. There will also be a transfer from smaller goods vehicles to larger goods vehicles. The environmental effects are estimated by and large to follow the traffic effects. In the short term there will only be marginal changes. A transfer of goods to railways and may reduce emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases per transported tonne, which means improved environmental vehicle mileage efficiency. A transfer from small goods vehicles to larger but fewer goods vehicles means an improved energy efficiency for this mode of transport and fewer heavy goods vehicles on the roads. This should probably reduce the risk of accidents involving goods vehicles. The road tax provides greater incentives to use trailers, which leads to fewer emissions per tonne transported and thus better environ- mental efficiency. The table below shows the net effects on public finances. Today’s road charge will be discontinued and corporate taxation will decrease. The road tax is expected in the short term to increase central government tax revenues by –335 million net. In the long term a transfer from road transport to other modes of transport is expected, which will reduce the revenues from fuel tax. At the same time, revenues from track charges and fairway charges are expected to increase somewhat. Expenditure is expected to increase by –59 million. The total net revenue is expected in the long term to be –286 million annually. Economic benefit to society A simplified cost-benefit analysis shows that road tax in the long term is positive. The tax factor2 is of significance for whether the cost-benefit analysis is positive. The analysis is made on the basis of a transfer of about five per cent of goods transport to other modes of transport. The tax revenues are seen in the cost-benefit analysis only as a transfer from companies to the State and do not affect the economic benefit of the tax to society. Effects for the business sector and industries and regions The road tax will affect some product groups and sectors more than others. Hauliers in the forestry, food and civil sectors will have transport cost increases of 3–11 per cent. 2 The marginal cost of public funds (MCPF). opportunities for hauliers to pass on this cost increase to their (transport purchasers) varies depending on the compe- tition situation and market structure. Transport is assessed in general, however, to have a low degree of price sensitivity, which may benefit the hauliers. assumes that the hauliers can pass on 90–100 per cent of their costs to the transport purchasers. The increased transport cost for transport purchasers impacts in turn various sectors in different ways, depending on the transport needs in the sector. The sectors outside the haulage industry that are expected to be impacted most are the industry, the food industry and the civil industry. Within the indu- stry, the sawmill and wood products industries will be more affected than the pulp and paper industry. Since transport costs are one of several types of expense, the final effect will be far less than the transport cost increase in terms of production cost increases. Other sectors and product groups are expected to have lower increases in transport costs and production costs. Transport distances are longer in central and northern than in , which gives a higher percentage of transport costs. In the most affected sectors the number of employees in each workplace is on average smaller in central than in other parts of the country. therefore estimates that central is the region that may be most affected by the tax. It is proposed that the Road Tax Act come into force on 1 2021. It is proposed that the Act on Service Providers for Road Tax come into force on 1 2020. vägskattelag (0000:000) Härigenom föreskrivs följande. 1 § Vägskatt ska betalas till staten enligt denna lag. 2 § är beskattningsmyndighet. 3 § Beskattningsbeslut och beslut om dröjsmålsavgift, försenings- avgift och sanktionsavgift fattas av Transportstyrelsen för Skatte- verkets räkning. Övriga beslut enligt denna lag, med undantag av beslut med stöd av bestämmelserna i 10 kap. 7, 8, 10, 13 och 14 §§, fattas av . För räkning verkställer Transportstyrelsen debi- tering och återbetalning av skatt och avgifter enligt denna lag. 4 § Fordons- och viktbegreppen i denna lag har samma betydelse som i lagen (2001:559) om vägtrafikdefinitioner och förordningen (2001:651) om vägtrafikdefinitioner, om inte annat följer av denna lag. Fordonsår i 2 kap. 2 § har samma betydelse som i 1 kap. 5 § väg- trafikskattelagen (2006:227). Med vägskattevikt i 3 kap. 1 § avses den vikt efter vilken väg- skatten beräknas. Vägskattevikten för motorfordon utan draganord- ning är totalvikten, dock högst den bruttovikt som fordonet får föras med på vägar som tillhör bärighetsklass 1. Vägskattevikten för motorfordon med draganordning är den högsta sammanlagda brutto- vikten för fordonskombinationen. Om ett motorfordon kan förses med två eller flera karosserier, beräknas vägskattevikten efter det karosseri som ger den högsta totalvikten för fordonet. I fråga om motorfordon som kan förses med en anordning för påhängsvagn beräknas dock vägskattevikten efter fordonets totalvikt med en sådan anordning. EURO-utsläppsklass i 3 kap. 1 § har samma betydelse som i och rådets direktiv /62/EG av om avgifter på tunga godsfordon för användningen av vissa infrastrukturer, senast ändrat genom och rådets direktiv /76/EU, och 31 § avgasreningslagen (2011:318). Allmän väg i 2 kap. 5 § har samma betydelse som i 1 § väglagen (1971:948). Med tjänsteleverantör avses samma som i lagen (0000:000) om tjänsteleverantörer för vägskatt. Med fordonsutrustning, betalningsförmedlare och väganvändare i 2 kap. 4 § avses samma som i 4 § första stycket lagen (2013:1164) om elektroniska vägtullssystem. 5 § I ärenden och mål om vägskatt och särskild avgift enligt denna lag gäller bestämmelserna i skatteförfarandelagen (2011:1244) om 1.uppgifter som har lämnats för någon annans räkning i 4 kap., 2.föreläggande i 37 kap., skyldighet att utreda och kommunicera i 1–3 §§, 4.revision i 41 kap., 5.vitesföreläggande i 44 kap. och sådant besluts verkställbarhet i 6.bevissäkring och betalningssäkring i 45 kap., 46 kap., 68 kap. 1och 3 §§ samt 69 och 71 kap., 7.uppgifter och handlingar som ska undantas från kontroll i och 68 kap. 1 och 3 §§, och 8.ersättning för kostnader för ombud, biträde eller utredning i 43kap., 68 kap. 2 § och 71 kap. 4 §. Vilka fordon är skattepliktiga? 1 § Skatt ska betalas för motorfordon eller ledad motorfordons- kombination med en totalvikt på om fordo- net är avsett uteslutande för godstransport på väg. För fordon med draganordning grundas skatteplikten på den högsta tillåtna totalvikt som fordonskombinationen kan ha. Vilka fordon är undantagna från skatteplikt? 2 § Skatteplikt gäller inte för fordon som tillhör 2.Polismyndigheten eller Säkerhetspolisen, 3.staten, en kommun eller någon annan och fordonet är avsett att användas för räddningstjänst, och En förutsättning för undantag enligt första stycket är att fordo- net bär yttre kännetecken som visar att fordonet tillhör någon av de angivna kategorierna. Skatteplikt gäller inte heller för fordon vars ålder, beräknad som skillnaden mellan fordonsåret och innevarande kalenderår, är eller äldre och som inte används i yrkesmässig trafik som avses i och rådets förordning (EG) nr 1071/2009 av om gemensamma regler beträffande de villkor som ska uppfyllas av personer som bedriver yrkesmässig trafik och om upphävande av rådets direktiv /26/EG eller yrkestrafiklagen (2012:210). För fordonskombinationer är det motorfordonet som är avgö- rande för om kombinationen är undantagen från skatteplikt. Vilka är skattskyldiga? 3 § Skattskyldig är, om inte annat anges i 4 §, ägaren av det skatte- pliktiga fordonet. 1.den som när skattskyldigheten inträder är eller bör vara upp- tagen som ägare i vägtrafikregistret, 2.i fråga om ett fordon som används med stöd av saluvagnslicens, den som när skattskyldigheten inträder innehar licensen, eller 3.den som när skattskyldigheten inträder är upptagen som ägare iett utländskt register motsvarande vägtrafikregistret eller, om innehavare finns registrerad i det utländska registret, innehavaren. 4 § Om ett fordon har försetts med fordonsutrustning som är kopplad till ett avtal med en betalningsförmedlare, är väganvändaren som ingått avtal med betalningsförmedlaren skattskyldig. När inträder skattskyldigheten? 5 § Skattskyldighet inträder när ett skattepliktigt fordon används på allmän väg eller sådan väg som enligt (2010:900) upplåts eller ska vara upplåten till allmänt begagnande som gata och som har en kommun som väghållare.