Really? Drivers are concerned about the new requirement to pay tax by January 31

According to the law, the vehicle operation tax for each past calendar year must be paid by January 31 of the following year. However, in practice, most drivers pay later — when they go to the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) for technical inspection. It is more familiar and convenient, and no penalties are applied for such delays, reports LSM.lv.

At the beginning of this year, drivers were alarmed by claims circulating on social media that the tax must now be paid by January 31. CSDD clarified that this is not true.

"Vehicle owners have no reason to worry. There has been absolutely no change in the procedure for paying the vehicle operation tax," explained the head of the CSDD communications department, Mārtiņš Malmeisters.

The rumors likely arose because at the beginning of the year, CSDD sent an informational reminder to owners of new cars, which undergo technical inspections every two or three years. Recipients of the reminder, written in legal language, perceived it as a mandatory requirement to pay the tax by the end of January.

"This is just a reminder, not an order or a tightening of regulations. A reminder that there is an obligation to pay this tax. So that it doesn't happen that in three years, when coming for a technical inspection again, the tax has to be paid for three years at once," noted a CSDD representative.

There are no penalties for not paying the operation tax for several years. This is the only tax for which such sanctions are not provided. But drivers should keep in mind that in such cases, they will have to pay the tax for all previous years for which it was not paid.

Tax benefits remain in place — for example, for large families or people with disabilities — if the payment is made late, but still within the period of validity of the technical inspection. If the tax is paid after the technical inspection has already expired, the benefits no longer apply.