It’s a victory for EV drivers in Victoria treasurer says the state government will repay the 2c per kilometer it had imposed on drivers after court says the after the tax was unconstitutional
Victorian electric vehicle drivers will be repaid millions of dollars collected under an unconstitutional tax but it warned this week it could be months before the refund goes back into their bank accounts. It is estimated the state has taken AU$7 million (US$4.63m). The high court last month found the Victorian government’s electric vehicle impost to be constitutionally invalid, as states do not have the power to impose excise taxes on consumption.
State treasurer, Tim Pallas, confirmed he had received advice the government was obliged to repay the money collected. “We’re now going through a process of identifying who it is that we need to rebate,” he told ABCnet.news on Wednesday.
The controversial road user charge — where EV drivers paid the state around 2 cents per kilometre — was challenged in the High Court by two Victorian electric car owners. Treasurer Tim Pallas confirmed the government was advised to repay the money to vehicle owners.
“We’re now going through a process of identifying who it is that we need to rebate and we’ll go through the process of making those rebates,” he said. “I think we’ve even decided to be sufficiently generous, albeit there isn’t an obligation to pay interest, we’ll pay interest on the retention of those funds.”
Electric car owners Christopher Vanderstock and Kathleen Davies mounted the High Court challenge, arguing the tax was an illegal “tax grab” because it was an excise, which only the Commonwealth could impose. In October, the High Court agreed, finding the Victorian tax was unconstitutional.
Mr Pallas said the amount that would be repaid was about $7 million and the process would take “a few months”.
