A pensioner was forced to pay the full tax on a scrapped car: “How to tax me for another 9 months if I don't have it anymore?”
An 81-year-old pensioner from Iași was forced to pay the full tax for his car, although he scrapped it at the beginning of March 2026, sparking controversy about how the local administration applies the tax law.
Fees and tax counter PHOTO: archive
“I had an old car. I'm 81 years old and I couldn't use it anymore. I can't drive it anymore and I handed it over to the wrecker, and they gave me a certificate that the car will be destroyed. With these papers, I went to Iași City Hall to remove the car from the records, to stop paying tax on it. At the counter, I was told not to remove it from the tax records until I pay the tax on the whole year. So this act of destruction is dated March 3, 2026. When I heard, I said to the lady at the counter: “If the car no longer exists from March 3, 2026, how can you tax me for another 9 months when it no longer exists?” said the pensioner, according to BZI.
The man explained that he had to pay 150 lei to be able to remove the car from the tax records, although he believes that the method is not correct.
“I paid so that I could take it out, but it doesn't seem normal like that, nor right. I was disturbed by the attitude, the situation. I think that this way of thinking of those who made the law is not good. But if I die in March, my family receives my pension for the whole year? Why should they tax me for the whole year? I don't want others to suffer what I suffered. There are certainly other situations and people had to pay even though they no longer had the car. I have a pension of 1,500 lei”, a added the pensioner.
The mayor of Iași, Mihai Chirica, explained, however, that the tax legislation requires the payment of the full tax.
“Art. 471 paragraph 1 of the Fiscal Code says that: “The tax on the means of transport is due for the entire fiscal year by the person who owns the right of ownership of a means of transport registered or registered in Romania on December 31 of the previous fiscal year”, and paragraph 4 provides that, in the case of deletion, “Starting from January 1 of the year following the deletion, the owner ceases to owe the tax on the means of transport””. declared the mayor,
