State still unsure who should insure

The confusion seen on Tuesday over whether owners of uninsured vehicles should pay the 250-euro stamp duty or not came on top of the hundreds of thousands of erroneous notices sent last week to taxpayers asking them to pay for the insurance of their vehicles.

The estimated 400,000 erroneous notices, out of a total of 1.15 million sent, led on Monday to leaks from the Finance Ministry saying that the stamp duty would be waived, only for ministry sources to pour cold water on such expectations on Tuesday: They said that the law stands and a final decision would be made "centrally" on Wednesday.

It followed a meeting at the ministry that avoided the violation of the law by the government and the loss of around 250 million euros for state coffers. If the stamp duty is waived or the fine imposed is reduced, the government will have to amend the relevant legislation.