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Motorcycle industry criticizes Spain's new motorcycle registration tax
December 24th, 2008
Many in the
motorcycle industry are criticizing Spain's recent move to
unfairly tax bikes and their lighter counterparts, scooters.
On December
18th, the Spanish Congress approved a registration tax
structure, allegedly based on CO2 emissions which has higher
thresholds for motorcycles compared to other vehicles. Car
drivers will be unaffected but the new law lowers the
emission thresholds for motorcycles by 33 to 40 %.
"It seems
incomprehensible that the government rather than adopting
the necessary measures to boost our growth, introduces
discriminatory elements for those who choose the motorcycle
as transportation means," said a Politicians who opposed the
bill, " This measure clashes with the advancement of
[motorcycles and scooters] as a mobility tool and economic
development, as well as with the current criteria on issues
of urban mobility."
A group
representing the motorcycle industry in Europe, ACEM
estimates Spain's registrations for motorcycles and scooters
have experienced a 25% drop so far this year, projecting the
new law would mean an additional drop of 15 points, leading
the market to fall in 2009 to figures close to 45%.
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