Used car valuations go online

The vehicle registration website detailing the values on which the registration tax for used cars is calculated has finally gone online but there are still some "teething problems" with the system.

The President of the Used Vehicles Importers Association (UVIA) Oliver Brownrigg welcomed the website, which should see them back in business after what he described as a bad two months since the budget.

The website is necessary because it gives users the amount of registration tax due on any particular car model. Without it, they had been unable to put a price on their cars since the new regime came into force on January 1.

"The system has some minor mistakes, which should be rectified by Monday. We are working hand in hand with the ministry and hopefully we're back in business by Monday. Without the valuation system we could not give customers correct prices," Mr Brownrigg said.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance confirmed that officials from the ministry were in contact with car importers to rectify the "small mistakes" in the system.

"The website details the value of some 70,000 vehicles. There are some small mistakes in the valuation of some models but hopefully these will be solved by Monday," the spokesman said.

A second problem with the new system is linked to Japanese used car imports. The ministry spokesman confirmed that the Transport Authority was still not accepting the registration of cars from Japan because the certificate of conformity now has to include the level of CO2 emissions.

"We are waiting for data from the used car importers on the matter and once this is in hand the Transport Authority would be able to register the vehicles," the ministry spokes-person said.

The website can be accessed on: www.vehicleregistration.gov.mt.