Customs correct about 300 erroneous car tax decisions

Customs district offices had by the beginning of April corrected about 300 car tax decisions that were based on miscalculations and repaid the excess tax collected to the parties concerned, according to a report given by the National Board of Customs to Deputy-Ombudsman Maija Sakslin.

She had concluded in a decision issued in August 2011 that the National Board of Customs had acted incorrectly when it no longer from 2008 onwards corrected errors in the car tax percentage tables that it had published. Nor had it corrected the tax decisions in which too much tax had been levied because of the erroneous tax percentage.

The Deputy-Ombudsman took the view that the Customs should correct those of its erroneous decisions that could still be corrected in accordance with the regulations concerning rectification of factual errors.

The decision on a complaint concerned only one vehicle make and model. In connection with applications for adjustments of vehicle tax, however, also other errors in tax percentages had come to the knowledge of the National Board of Customs.

Since the Deputy-Ombudsman issued her decision, the National Board of Customs has compiled a list of excessively high confirmed vehicle tax percentages for use by the district organisations. Erroneous tax decisions had been corrected and excess amounts of tax collected had been refunded for five years after the date on which the Customs noticed the mistake in the tax percentage table.

About 300 decisions that needed correcting had been found. The smallest amount of tax refunded had been €21.90 and the largest €2,157.93. The average amount refunded was €221.39. All in all, €65,310.36 was refunded.