Car owners surrender license plates
Car owners are seen handing in their license plates at a tax office in Thessaloniki yesterday. A number of drivers have decided to pull their vehicles off the road rather than pay the higher tax, due by the end of the month. An environmental tax introduced by the Socialist government for 2010 has resulted in an increase in the annual road tax of between 25 percent and 75 percent, depending on the age of the vehicle and the size of its engine. For example, the road tax on a 13-year-old vehicle with a 1600 cc engine rose 75 percent from last year to 352 euros. Owners of new cars have seen their road tax drop by between 4 and 39 percent from last year’s levels.
