Gov’t called to return flooded cars’ auction money and refund taxes

A group of approximately 200 residents is calling on the government to refund taxes pertaining to their vehicles which were damaged during last year’s Typhoon Hato, in addition to returning the money it collected from the cars’ auctions.

Accompanied by lawmaker Sulu Sou, representatives of the group held a press conference at the New Macau Association headquarters, calling on the government to refund the taxes even if car owners did not purchase a new car.

“Regardless if owners bought a new car or not, they should get a refund of the taxes they already paid for their flooded cars,” said Chan, one of the representatives.

Chan then condemned the government’s tax reduction proposal because it does not “completely accept the general opinion of the owners of flooded cars.”

“We feel really pitiful and disappointed” said Chan.

“We have been only fighting for taking back the taxes we already paid. We never had the intention of getting one more penny from the government,” Chan noted.

Another representative, surnamed Chow, noted that they don’t want all paid tax to be refunded, but only the part corresponding to the rest of car’s lifespan if the cars were not flooded.

In addition to asking for a tax refund, the group also wants the government to improve the city’s public parking lots.

A female representative, surnamed Ho, said that many of the 6,000 car owners who already canceled their car licenses, feel they have been “kidnapped” by the government because they are now facing the dilemma of having to accept the government’s “current unreasonable plan”. 

“The government took our cars to a public auction, and also took the [auction] money into its pocket, but it  did not publicize how much money the cars were auctioned for. We think it’s not fair,” complained Ho. “We request the government to return all the money, excluding [the auction] administration fees, to the car owners, because the cars were ours,” he added.

Today, the Legislative Assembly is expected to vote on the policy of the tax reduction on flooded or heavily damaged vehicles that were traded in for new ones.

The tax reduction includes a refund and, in addition to the previously established maximum ceilings of MOP140,000 for cars and MOP5,500 for motorcycles, there will be MOP8,000 for cars and MOP2,000 for motorcycles. 

The calculation of the final amount will also take into account the number of years the damaged vehicle was in operation. Each year of life will correspond to a depreciation rate of 10 percent per year after the first year of age to an age limit of 10 years old.