Long Queues To Pay Road Tax
see also our own article regarding the road tax here
People in Vientiane are facing a long queue when they go to pay road tax this year as they need to register the vehicle’s information.
The new service for paying road tax began in the middle of last month in each District Finance Office in the city plus a road tax centre in Naxay village of Xaysetha district.
“Many people are complaining about the long queues as last year there was much less delay,” an official from the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance, who asked not to be named, told Vientiane Times on Monday.
Adding that last year they only had to show their vehicle registration paper to pay the tax, but this year many more things are needed and that takes more time.
The payment system is no different to last year, but this year people who own motorcycles, cars and other vehicles must register the vehicle’s full information.
This year the payment of road tax is part of a pilot scheme to improve the collection of road fund tax from vehicle owners and tie up a loophole, she explained.
Vehicle owners who have registered will have no difficulty paying tax next year because the information on their vehicle is being stored in a computerized database.
Next year owners can pay the tax in each District Finance Office very quickly as all they have to show is the vehicle’s registration number.
However, anyone who buys a new vehicle next year will need to complete a form giving the vehicle’s full information.
After the progress of this pilot system on paying road tax in Vientiane, the Ministry of Finance plans to introduce it in some of the larger provinces.
The new system being used in Vientiane is an improvement over the old one because vehicle owners cannot now avoid paying tax, she pointed out.
Previously some vehicle owners did not pay the tax for a number of years. But with the new system that’s impossible because the computer will inform the officials of how many years the tax has not been paid.
According to an official from the Vientiane Vehicle Control Unit under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, in the past people could pay their road tax either at the unit itself and other technical checking service centres nationwide, but this year people have to go the finance office in each district or to the road tax centre in Naxay village.
“We have heard several people muttering th at they will not pay it and that’s that. They should not think that it’s a waste of time standing in a queue for only one or two hours as that surely must be better than the traffic police finding they haven’t paid,” she mentioned.
She advised that if people really have little time, they should write down all the vehicle’s information on a sheet of paper at home and bring it together with a copy of their identification card or census details, and not take up unnecessary time writing it at the counter.
Another way of doing it for those who don’t have enough time, is to leave all the documents with the authorities, who will then enter it into the database, and then they can come and pay the tax anytime afterwards when they are available, but the form must be completed.
Source: Vientiane Times