A Romanian from Brasov county, in central Romania, paid his car tax in coins of 1, 5 and 10 bani, protesting against the high amount he had to pay for his car: RON 2,600 ( the equivalent of some EUR 600 ). He turned up at the tax administration office laden with several sacks of coins, weighing over 130 kilograms. Counting out the weighty sum taxed the administration office workers, who had to use a special counting machine, brought in from the treasury. It took them three hours to count the 46,000 coins.

The car pollution tax that was supposed to be enforced in January in Romania will be further delayed until 2013, according to the Environment Ministry in the country. Buyers of cars registered before 2007 will no longer have to pay the new tax. The delay was due to the high number of people with cars older than five years who wanted to sell them, and the Government decided to extend the window of opportunity. The tax, which has seen a number of changes over recent years, triggered concerns on the second – hand car market, as commentators said it would have increased the price of cars.

editor@romania-insider.com