TALLINN, Jul 24, BNS - Leader of the Estonian opposition Isamaa party Urmas Reinsalu believes that if introduced, the planned car tax will become an ever-escalating spiral as, according to him, it is inherently programmed into its ideology.

Reinsalu stated that in a meeting with Finance Minister Mart Vorklaev on Monday, he questioned the government's vision if the aim of the proposed car tax is to reduce the number of cars in Estonia.

"What is the reasonable number of cars people should end up having by giving up their vehicles as a result of the car tax?" he asked.

"The finance minister responded that stating that number is not within his competence, and officials are currently crunching the numbers, which will be announced in the corresponding draft legislation. This is a fundamental question, because regardless of the tax numbers currently proposed, they will inevitably be raised in the future if the tax objective is not achieved and people do not give up their cars to a sufficient degree," Reinsalu wrote on social media.

"Therefore, ideologically, the government wants the car tax level to be high enough that a part of the population is unable to pay it, puts their hands up and gives up their car. The government parties denied any car tax before the elections," Reinsalu said, adding that the government has exhausted its credit of trust.

"The car tax will become a constantly escalating spiral upon implementation, it is coded into its ideology," Reinsalu noted. According to the leader of Isamaa, the only guarantee to prevent this is to refrain from introducing such a tax in the first place.

Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8814, sise@bns.ee

Baltic News Service