Since 1 January 2014, the exemption from motor vehicle tax (mrb) for oldtimers has only applied to vehicles 40 years or older. A transitional arrangement applies to vehicles that were exempt under the old regime but do not yet meet the conditions for the new exemption. This transitional scheme does not apply to vehicles running on diesel or LPG. The new old-timer regime has been the subject of several proceedings, none of which resulted in success for the interested parties. The Northern Netherlands District Court recently issued a similar ruling.
Hearing
One part of the proceedings was that the Tax Administration did not hear the interested party in the objection procedure, despite its explicit request to do so. The Tax Administration waived the hearing because the objection was manifestly unfounded and a hearing would not have led to a different outcome anyway. Because of the breach of the hearing requirement, the Tax Administration had to reimburse the court fee to the interested party.
No unauthorised infringement
On the new regulation, the court ruled that there was no impermissible infringement of the state's undisturbed enjoyment of property. The legislator remained within the wide discretion granted to it. Under the old regime, a small minority of motor vehicle owners had an advantage over other motor vehicle owners. The legislator chose to exclude a certain group of motor vehicles from this advantage. This is not unreasonable. According to the court, the argument that the last legislative change was not foreseeable does not stand up. It was announced in the coalition agreement that the mrb exemption for old-timers would be abolished. Subsequently, in a letter to the House of Representatives dated 24 April 2013, the State Secretary of Finance announced that an alternative scheme had been created. This letter dates from well before the amendment of the law. The court is therefore of the opinion that the legislative amendment was announced in time. According to the court, the legislator weighed up all the interests involved and the new old-timer scheme came about on the basis of that consideration.
Transitional arrangement
The transitional regime does not distinguish between people who use their motor vehicles on a daily basis and those who use their vehicles on a hobby basis. By also not providing a transitional regime for old-timers running on diesel or LPG, the principle of equality and the prohibition of discrimination are violated, the interested party said. The court considered that not every unequal treatment of equal cases is prohibited, but only those cases where there is no objective and reasonable justification for the unequal treatment. The choice not to distinguish between daily use and hobby use falls within the legislator's wide discretion. The same applies to the distinction made according to fuel type. There is no question of arbitrariness.