3.7.2. Registration taxes and charges having an equivalent effect to customs duties
With respect to registration taxes on vehicles there is often the misconception that they are levies equivalent or similar to customs duties (prohibited between Member States by Article 30 TFEU). The misunderstanding originates from the fact that often citizens are required to pay registration taxes on their second-hand vehicle when they move to another Member State. Given the fact that a registration tax might already have been paid on the same vehicle when it was purchased as new, the conclusion that is often drawn is that the tax is levied in the Member State of "destination" because the vehicle has been moved from one Member State to another.
A tax such as a registration tax is not levied by reason of a vehicle crossing the frontier of the Member State, but normally upon the first registration of the vehicle in the territory of that State for the purpose of being placed in circulation there[57]. As the Court explained in several cases[58], such a tax forms part of the general system of internal taxation on goods and must therefore be examined in the light of Article 110 TFEU. In addition, a motor vehicle tax applied without distinction to vehicles assembled or manufactured in the Member State where it is levied and to both new and used imported vehicles, is not a customs duty or a charge having an effect equivalent thereto.
