| Stockholm Congestion Tax |
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Information AboutStockholm Congestion Tax |
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The Stockholm congestion tax or '''The Stockholm Trials''' (in and Environmental Tax that will be imposed on most vehicles in Stockholm , Sweden during a trial period between January 3 2006 and July 31 2006 . There will be a referendum in September 2006 for the residents of Stockholm municipality to decide whether to implement it permanently or not. The primary purposes of the congestion tax is to reduce traffic congestion and improve the environmental situation in central Stockholm. AFFECTED AREA The parts of Stockholm that are located within the congestion tax area are Södermalm , Norrmalm , Östermalm , Vasastaden , Kungsholmen , Stora Essingen , Lilla Essingen and Djurgården . There are unmanned electronic payment stations at all entrances to this area. AMOUNT OF TAX TO PAY The amount of tax that one has to pay depends on what time of the day one enters or exits the congestion tax area. The tax is not in effect on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays or the day before public holidays, nor during nights (18:30 – 06:29). The maximum amount of tax per vehicle per day is 60 SEK. Method of payment Payment of the tax is to be present on the Swedish Road Administration 's account within five days of passage of a payment station. No bill is sent to the vehicle holder - one must keep track of this oneself. If one uses the Transponder , one can choose to pay through ''autogiro'', a service which allows the tax to be automatically deducted from one's bank account. Another alternative is to pay the tax on 7-Eleven and Pressbyrån convenience stores. Failure to pay the tax within the alloted five days, has the result that a reminder bill will be sent with an added 70 SEK fee. If one still hasn't paid the tax within four weeks, another additional fee of 500 SEK will be added. In the end, cases of unpaid taxes will be forwarded to the Swedish Enforcement Administration . Taxes have a special procedure in Sweden regaring this. They must be paid within the assigned time even if the person owing them consider them wrong. The Enforcement Administration will claim the money from e.g. the bank account without asking. This will immediately be noted in the public "bad payer" record. If the tax claim is later considered wrong the money will be paid back. For other types of depts the claim can be disputed in a court of law before the claim is enforced. EXEMPTIONS FROM THE CONGESTION TAX Some classes of vehicles are exempt from the congestion tax:
Also, due to the fact that Lidingö has its only access to the mainland through the congestion tax affected area, all traffic to and from Lidingö to and from the rest of the Stockholm County is exempt from the tax, provided that one passes the Ropsten payment station and some other payment station within 30 minutes of eachother. The Essingeleden freeway that goes through the congestion tax effected area is also exempt, due to its being the main road when travelling past central Stockholm. TECHNOLOGY The vehicles passing the payment stations are photographed and their Licence Plate s registered. An optional Transponder can be used also to identify the vehicles, with which one can utilise an automated payment method. HISTORY Fee or tax? Initially this was planned as a congestion Fee , not a Tax . But the Swedish Government ruled that this kind of endeavour was considered a tax and not a fee, and thus the Stockholm municipality couldn't implement it without some changes in Swedish legislation, as municipalities in Sweden are not allowed to create new taxes. FUTURE The congestion tax trial period will last from January 3 2006 to July 31 2006 , after which the congestion taxes will be lifted until a municipal Referendum regarding this matter is held. The referendum will be held in the Stockholm municipality in September 2006, and it will determine whether the congestion taxes will be implemented permanently or not. The municipalities surrounding Stockholm in Stockholm County , especially those which are part of the Stockholm Urban Area , have shown discontent with the fact that the people of those municipalities get no say whether the congestion taxes will be implemented permanently or not. A substantial number of the inhabitants of the nearby municipalities travel to and from work through the congestion tax area. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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