Victoria deregistering vehicles for not paying EV tax
State government has cancelled the registrations of more than 240 EVs and PHEVs due to unpaid road user chargesMore than 240 electrified vehicles have been deregistered in Victoria because their owners did not pay the state’s controversial Zero and Low-Emission Vehicle (ZLEV) road user charge, according to AAP.
The report quoted VicRoads Registration and Licensing Services chief operations officer Michael Hooper as saying the state government had cancelled 243 vehicle registrations since the charge was implemented in July 2021.
“Less than one per cent of ZLEV-registered operators have had their registration cancelled from non-declaration of odometer readings,” he said.
“Registered operators have 14 days from the date of request to provide their odometer reading.”
Calculated at 2.6 cents per kilometre for EVs and 2.1c/km for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), the ZLEV tax is designed to replace the revenue the government would otherwise have received from fuel excise, since EV owners don’t buy petrol or diesel and, in theory, PHEV owners use less fuel.
EV and PHEV owners are required to submit a photo of their vehicle’s odometer annually to have their personalised ZLEV charge calculated, and the flurry of rego cancellations is due to images not being filed within 14 days of them being requested.
Vehicle regos are suspended if owners fail to provide odo images within 56 days and cancelled after 78 days.
But the AAP report quotes disgruntled motorists who claim they weren’t informed of their vehicle’s pending rego cancellation or given any follow-up correspondence.
“It turned out I was driving my car unregistered for about six months. I was really, really shocked,” one owner said.
“It seems like an extreme remedy for not paying a small fee.
“There was no email or any follow-up saying ‘we’re going to cancel your registration in 30 days’ or anything like that.”
News of Victorian registration cancellations follows the axing of plans for a similar EV tax in South Australia last month and amid a High Court challenge against the Victorian tax brought by two EV owners in 2021.
Described by The Sydney Morning Herald as the biggest constitutional fight in 25 years, the court case now involves all states and territories against the Victorian EV owners and the federal government as a battle over who collects EV tax revenue looms.
Related: South Australia axes its EV tax
Related: EV owners take Victorian government to court
Related: Victoria locks in controversial EV tax
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