WILLEMSTAD - The collection of motor vehicle tax (MRB) can be put in a different guise. A working group consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Traffic, Transport and Spatial Planning (VVRP) has considered alternatives to the MRB.
The advice of the working group is that the MRB could be incorporated into the fuel prices. As a result, all road users contribute to the maintenance of the roads. This would mean that people who use a lot of kilometers pay a lot of MRB.
According to the working group, the advantages of this are that no one will be able to escape the payment and that tourists who use a lot of kilometers with their rental car also contribute to the maintenance of the roads.
In addition, the system whereby vehicle owners have to pay the MRB at Cpost or ACU every six months or annually will come to an end. MRB stickers and tax cards will also become a thing of the past. For the police, this would also mean that, with its staff shortage, it would no longer have to check whether MRB has been paid.
As a second alternative, the working group came up with the idea that the MRB is determined on the basis of the weight of a vehicle. The new MRB could already take effect on 1 January 2024, provided that a decision is made quickly. The ball is currently in the hands of Minister Charles Cooper of Traffic, Transport and Spatial Planning and Minister Javier Silvania of Finance. It is not yet known whether one of the alternatives will be converted into a bill proposal.