Petition against car tax signed by over 50,000 people in Estonia

TALLINN – The number of people who have digitally signed a petition against the introduction of a car tax in Estonia crossed the 50,000 mark over the weekend.

Priit Tammeraid, chairman of the board of the Estonian Car Owners Association (EAOL), said the large number of signatures shows that opposition to the additional car tax is extremely strong in Estonian society.

"For example, the support of 50,000 voters would be enough to win eight seats in the Riigikogu in the elections," Tammeraid said on Sunday.

"To date, the marriage equality petition has been the most successful in collecting signatures, with 35,805 digital signatures given. This, in turn, means that while the coalition committed itself to the establishment of marriage equality, with the same logic, it would also have to commit itself to withdrawing the car tax bill."

Accordingly, EAOL does not intend to make any proposals to the Ministry of Finance's document of legislative intent for the introduction of the car tax.

"We would only be able to make proposals if we agreed to the additional car tax in any form," Tammeraid said. He said EAOL believes the only proper course of action for the government is to abandon the idea of the additional car tax and go on taxing car owners by means of the fuel excise duty already in place.

The petition against the car tax can be signed until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 31, after which the signatures will be handed to the board of the parliament and the government.

The petition can be signed at rahvaalgatus.ee/initiatives/16488f41-05f6-4040-894c-c29f42772e57 .

Until the beginning of August, the petition could also be signed on the petitsioon.ee website, where it gathered more than 11,100 signatures.