Is rise in fuel price by only 0.02 AZN (about $0,025), which will be transferred to the budget in form of excise, justified in the current situation? Is replacement of road tax collected from auto owners by this scanty rise in fuel price justified?
Experts believe that road tax was collected from the auto owners once a year when the car passed technical inspection in the road police. The new cars undergo this procedure once in five years and the next five years – every two years. Therefore, it was almost impossible to make them pay road tax. The country has 1.2 million registered cars and almost every sixth one evaded payment of road tax.
By applying this scheme the government will solve the issue of payment of road tax and it will also bring up the slogan famous in the big western cities: “The less you drive, the less you pay.” This should psychologically affect people to use personal autos less, but then the government should first of all provide comfortable public transport and required infrastructure for these types of transport.
According to the statistics, in 2013 the state budget of the country received 43.1 million AZN from the road tax. According to the forecasts, in 2015 the budget could receive additional about 60-65 million AZN from rise in fuel prices.
Did the government really have to make this step, considering that the state budget’s expenses total 21.1 billion AZN? Judging by all, the government believes that this year will be really hard. The budget deficit totals 1.7 billion AZN with the average annual oil price of $90.00 per barrel. The year 2015 has started with the price below $50.00 per barrel and it keeps on going down every day. Therefore, the government has decided to fight for every extra manat.—0—
Economics
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