Circular 1084-12/06/2017 was issued by which the provisions of paragraph 4 of article 16 of Law 4467-13/04/2017 were notified and the instructions for the collection of pro rata road tax were set out.

Therefore, according to paragraph 4 of article 16 of Law 4467-13/04/2017 interested holders of private cars, cars or motorcycles who have placed them out of circulation and exceptionally for the year 2017, may lift the immobilisation for those vehicles, paying for this purpose road tax according to the duration of circulation, in accordance with the options given under the provisions of cases a) to c) of the aforementioned.

Specifically:

a) for lifting immobilisation for a period of 1 month, the 2/12 of the annual road tax corresponding to the vehicle are paid

b) for lifting immobilisation for a period of 3 months, the 4/12 of the amount of the annual road tax corresponding to the vehicle are paid

c) for lifting immobilisation for the remaining period of the year and until the end thereof (31.12.2017), the twelfths of the amount of the annual road tax corresponding to the vehicle remaining from the date of lifting until the end of the year are paid, plus 2/12 of the annual tax corresponding to the vehicle.

To avoid mistakes and ensure correct application, the following should be noted:

the lifting of immobilisation is made upon a written request by the vehicle holder, which is kept on the tax office file.

for the calculation of the amount of road tax, the month in which the immobilisation is lifted is counted as a whole month, irrespective of the date of lifting, that is, whether it is at the beginning or at the end of the month.

Example 1:

For a private car of 1000 cc, the annual road tax is 120€. Suppose that a taxpayer requests in writing the lifting of immobilisation on 20 June 2017:

– if he or she chooses the lifting for 1 month, the corresponding road tax is calculated as follows: 120€ x (2/12) = 20€. In this case the circulation documents are returned, within the time limit, to the tax office by the last working day of June, since this month is counted in full for tax calculation purposes.

– if he or she chooses the lifting for 3 months, the corresponding road tax will be 120€ x (4/12) = 40€. In this case the circulation documents are returned, within the time limit, to the tax office by the last working day of August.

– if he or she chooses the lifting for the remainder of the year, that is until 31-12-2017, road tax for 7 months plus 2/12 will be paid as follows: 120€ x (7/12) + 120€ x (2/12) = 70€ + 20€ = 90€.

Example 2:

For a private car with emissions of 100g CO2/km, the annual road tax is: 100 x 0,90 = 90€. Suppose that a taxpayer requests (in writing) the lifting of immobilisation on 20 June 2017:

– if he or she chooses the lifting for 1 month, the corresponding road tax is calculated as follows: 90€ x (2/12 ) = 15€. In this case the circulation documents are returned, within the time limit, to the tax office by the last working day of June, since this month is counted in full for tax calculation purposes.

– if he or she chooses the lifting for 3 months, the corresponding road tax will be 90€ x (4/12) = 30€. In this case the circulation documents are returned, within the time limit, to the tax office by the last working day of August.

– if he or she chooses the lifting for the remainder of the year until 31-12-2017, road tax for 7 months plus 2/12 will be paid, that is 90€ x [(7/12) + (2/12)] = 90€ x (9/12) = 67,5€.

Late return fine

According to the aforementioned provisions, in the event of late return of the documents or failure to return them to the tax office, a separate fine equal to twice the corresponding annual road tax is imposed, i.e. if the owner or holder of the vehicle in example 1 has paid road tax for a three-month period of lifting (40€) and does not return the vehicle documents (licence and plates) on time, a fine of 120€ x 2=240€ is imposed.

It goes without saying that it is not necessary to return the circulation documents to the tax office when the lifting is for the remainder of the year which includes the last month of year 2017 (December), provided that the road tax of 2018 is paid on time.

Entry into force

Under the provisions of article 17 of the same law, the entry into force of the arrangements begins from publication in the Government Gazette, namely from 13/4/2017.

Transfer or deregistration of a vehicle due to export during the period of partial lifting of immobilisation.

A. If, within the period of lifting of a vehicle's immobilisation as above, the vehicle is transferred, the provisions of subparagraph E7 of article one of Law 4093/2012 (the original link needs verification) apply

A. If, within the period of lifting of a vehicle's immobilisation as above, the vehicle is transferred, the provisions of subparagraph E7 of article one of Law 4093/2012 (222 Gazette A΄) apply, according to which ownership of a motor vehicle is not transferred if the road tax for the year in which the transfer takes place has not first been paid.

In this case, when calculating the tax due for year 2017, the amount of road tax already paid for the purposes of the partial (temporary) lifting must be deducted.

For the transfer, the road tax for previous years, if any is due, for the time during which the vehicle was in the possession of the transferor, together with the prescribed penalties, must also be paid.

B. The above also apply in the event that there has been a partial (temporary) lifting of immobilisation beforehand, according to the relevant provision of the third subparagraph of paragraph 3 of article 22 of Law 2367/1953, as added by article three subparagraph D.4 case 1 of Law 4254/2014 (the original link needs verification)

B. The above also apply in the event that there has been a partial (temporary) lifting of immobilisation beforehand, according to the relevant provision of the third subparagraph of paragraph 3 of article 22 of Law 2367/1953, as added by article three subparagraph D.4 case 1 of Law 4254/2014 (Government Gazette A΄185/7-4-2014), and deregistration of the vehicle due to its export is requested, that is, verification of payment of the annual road tax for the current and previous years is required. If a vehicle is transferred or deregistered due to export while use has been made of the favourable provision of paragraph 4 of article 16 of that legislative act, without the annual road tax having been paid, then the prescribed separate fine (twice the annual road tax) is imposed, which is always entered in full under KAE 1717.

One-off use of the right of partial lifting within the 2017

The above choice of a one- or three-month lifting period, if made, is binding and the possibility is not provided for of a further lifting of immobilisation and circulation of the vehicle within the year 2017.

Nevertheless, in the event that the right of lifting has already been used once, either for one month or for three months, and the holder nevertheless wishes to lift the immobilisation again, he or she must, according to the provisions of article 22 of Law 2367/1953, pay the annual road tax, less the amount of road tax paid for one or three months. If use of the right of lifting for the remainder of the year is selected and the corresponding road tax is paid, obviously there is no issue of applying the provisions of article 22 of Law 2367/1953

Finally, it is noted that where the remainder of the year coincides with the month or the three months, then road traffic fees are payable equal to 2/12 and 4/12 of the annual fees attributable to the vehicle, respectively.

Examples

Assume that the owner of the vehicle in the example 2 (annual road traffic fees amounting to 90€) applies for lifting the immobilisation for three months and pays the corresponding road traffic fees amounting to 30€. Subsequently, after the lapse of the three months, he again requests the lifting of the immobilisation for his vehicle; in that case the said owner must pay the annual road traffic fees for year 2017 less the amount of 30€ which he has already paid, that is to say he pays 60€.

If the above owner of the vehicle in the example 2 (annual road traffic fees amounting to 90€) applies for lifting the immobilisation for three months and pays the corresponding road traffic fees amounting to 30€ and in the meantime decides to transfer it/write it off due to export, then he must also pay the annual road traffic fees for year 2017 less the amount of 30€ which he has already paid, that is to say he pays 60€.