Another guy in Finland gets charged almost 9000 EUR for trying to install an extra seat in his old van

Another guy in Finland gets charged almost 9000 EUR for trying to install an extra seat in his van.

Trafi does it again. This was shared in Facebook, and I translated what he shared into English:

Trafi's way of wishing Merry Christmas. You probably remember a while ago a caravan in the headlines? This is about an equally nice way that Trafi tries to ruin someone else's life.

I tried 3 years ago to re-register a 2-seater Chevy Van G20 to be a 3 seater delivery vehicle by adding a temporary seat. At the inspection station, they told me that this won't work, and told me to remove the bench. I did as told with two witnesses and there was no more mention about it when I had the vehicle inspected in October-November 2011, after which I sold it after it was inspected.

The inspection station notified Trafi, and Trafi sent me a clarification request by mail. I replied via e-mail, but nothing was heard back, so I sent another e-mail asking if my clarification had been received. The answer was "Sorry about our late answer, your reply was received.", and so on. Now 3 years after selling the car, I get a 9K bill in the mail, saying that I have to pay it by 17 January, 2015 or the case will go to the repossession company. Nice how it mentioned that the car was tax free. Trafi will can now tell why I paid car taxes 2010-2011, if it was tax free. It's a great price for a car that is worth 1500 EUR, especially when considering how the re-registration attempt was not even successful.

The bill also threatens that the car will go into ban from use if payment is not made. The car has not even been under my name for 3 years. It is now listed in the internet for sale, and the pictures show that there is not the extra seat installed in it.

This is great once and for all. I sent a request to the Legal Aid Office via e-mail. I hope I survive and Trafi does not ruin my life by ruining my credit and I end up in a repossession hell.

Greetings to Niko Heinonen - fight till the end. That's what I am going to do.
Merry Christmas.

----end of translated post

There seems to be some hope, however. The government fixed this little "glitch" in the law, and it comes into effect now 1.1.15, but it is still unclear if the people now affected by this will get their taxes forgiven or not, or what they will have to pay. A bill in the hundreds for an old van like this or like Niko Heinonen's caravan conversion seems more likely.

However, the new legislation, according to an Iltasanomat article in Finnish, also puts a stop to any tax free imports of cars to Finland, which means if you move there from another country, you may get a very expensive bill when you go to register your car there. But they are generous enough to let you drive your car 14 days without paying any tax, if you apply for permission from customs and tell them the days you want to drive. Nice gesture, huh? A tax bill to register your car can easily be a 5 figure value, if your car is new enough, that is if the current taxation levels don't change. So, on top of all your other expenses of moving there, you will have a bill for your car tax on top. Enquire carefully before taking job offers there, if it will really be worth it.