WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1799/97 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Inequality of taxation on private vehicles between Greece and the other Member States of the European Union
Date: 1997-05-28
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: EU Member State, Greece, VAT, application of EU law, double taxation, exchange of information, import, residence, tax on consumption, vehicle tax

25. 2. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 60/45

As to the other taxes connected with the registration of such means of transport in Greece, they may be charged if
their  users  have  transferred  their  (cid:145)normal  residence(cid:146)  within  the  meaning  of  the  above-mentioned  Directive
83/182/EEC to Greece and they are levied in accordance with Article 95 of the EC Treaty.

The  Commission  would  also  remind  the  Honourable  Member  that  Community  law  defines  the  conditions  of
(cid:145)normal residence(cid:146) without taking any account of the nationality of the individuals in question.

(1)  OJ L 145, 13.6.1977.
(2)  OJ L 105, 23.4.1983.

(98/C 60/72)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1799/97

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(28 May 1997)

Subject: Inequality of taxation on private vehicles between Greece and the other Member States of the European

Union

By  Law  No  2459/97,  the  Republic  of  Greece  has  abolished  exemptions  in  respect  of  the  import  of  private
vehicles, but not of other personal effects, for one single category of Greek returning to Greece, namely persons
returning to settle permanently in Greece, having been employed or self-employed abroad for more than two
consecutive years.

Furthermore,  it  imposes  special  consumer  taxes  and  VAT  at  a  level  which  depends  on  the  date  of  definitive
establishment of the owner in Greece, and makes the date of issue/procurement of the immigration document
required by the customs authorities the criterion for calculating the amount of taxes due. No attention at all is paid
to the fact that the vehicles in question are not used passenger vehicles purchased on the intra-Community market
in Greece and should not be taxed under this regime, since they have already been registered in other Member
States; furthermore, no account at all is taken of the decline in the value of the vehicles in assessing their tax
value.

Will the Commission say what scope it has for abolishing these taxes, since the owners of the vehicles would
never have purchased them, if they had known that they would have to pay taxes on them?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(10 July 1997)

The Honourable Member refers to a situation in which individuals who have purchased and paid VAT on a car in
the Member State in which they were normally resident have transferred that vehicle to another Member State in
which they plan to establish their new normal place of residence.

In such cases, Community law, as laid down in the Sixth VAT Directive (77/388/EEC) (1), does not require VAT
to be charged again.

If the Honourable Member has knowledge of particular cases of this kind, the Commission would like to examine
them. It would not fail to take the necessary measures if the principles of Community law were found not to have
been observed.

(1)  OJ L 145, 13 June 1977.

(98/C 60/73)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1804/97

by Robert Evans (PSE) to the Commission

(28 May 1997)

Subject: Restriction on the import of Gastropoda into the EU

Would the Commission confirm or deny that it intends to place restrictions on the import of Gastropoda (a large
ground snail from Ghana) into the European Union?