Registration tax crushes motorcycle owners

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[size=52]Registration tax crushes motorcycle owners[/size]

[size=45]Ali Al-Hamdani / Al-Mada[/size]
[size=45](Tiktok) is my only source of income to support my family, and the exorbitant registration fees and procedures that take a period of time cause great harm to my family. This is how Majid Abdel Zahra (35 years old) from Babil Governorate describes the decision to register motorcycles.[/size]
[size=45]Abdul Zahra, who works on “taktuk,” confirms to (Al-Mada) that he does not have any second economic income other than “taktuk” to support his family “which consists of five individuals, three of whom are in schools, and they need many additional expenses, such as clothes, stationery, and notebooks.” And others.[/size]
[size=45]Regarding the Ministry of Interior’s decision to confiscate motorcycles that do not carry traffic registration plates, starting from the first of next month, he said: “The numbering fees are unjustifiably expensive, and are not commensurate with my daily income.”[/size]
[size=45]He continued, “In addition to waiting and leaving work for a certain period until registration is completed, this negatively affects our lives,” calling for “these fees to be reconsidered and reduced to suit my income and economic interests.”[/size]
[size=45]Bicycle fees[/size]
[size=45]Bicycle fees vary according to the number of their tires, according to the director of Anbar Governorate Traffic Information, Brigadier General Amer Sharqi Sabah, explaining that “the instrument fee is 50 thousand dinars, and the total fees for two-wheeled bicycles are 104 thousand dinars, while the three-wheeled bicycles (tuktak and toyota) are 204 thousand dinars.”[/size]
[size=45]Sabah explained in an interview with Al Mada that “these fees do not include customs duties, but only for bike registration.”[/size]
[size=45]Motorcycles vary according to their type of engine, with the engine reaching 40CC, and according to General Traffic Law 101 of 2021, these bikes are registered through local administrations in the cities of the governorate.[/size]
[size=45]Iraqis prefer owning motorcycles over vehicles because of their small size, which allows them to escape street traffic.[/size]
[size=45]However, observers warned of the increase in the number of illegally imported bicycles, as most of these bicycles cause fatal traffic accidents, in addition to their owners not wearing safety equipment such as helmets and clothing.[/size]
[size=45]As for the number of motorcycles in the country, there are no statistics, but observers estimate their number at hundreds of thousands.[/size]
[size=45]This is what prompted the Council of Ministers to ban the import of motorcycles, if safety and security conditions are not met, in order to regulate traffic and reduce traffic and traffic accidents resulting from the indiscriminate use of motorcycles and similar vehicles.[/size]
[size=45]“Crushing the poor class”[/size]
[size=45]“The decline in living standards has become the prevailing feature in Iraqi society, causing an increase in the rate of poverty and the vulnerable class, due to the absence of economic development for twenty years,” according to the researcher in administrative and economic affairs, Omar Al-Halbousi.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Halbousi added to (Al-Mada), “When the poor class found a way to support themselves on a meager living, the government pursued them with the taxes it imposed on the registration of motorcycles (tukks), causing them great economic pressure.”[/size]
[size=45]He continued, "Although the government did not care about this class that lost all means of livelihood, and was left with nothing but these bicycles on which they work long hours to make ends meet, it also did not take into account the exorbitant registration taxes that were not compatible with their living situation."[/size]
[size=45]He saw that “traffic is pursuing even registered bicycles and restricting them,” noting that “most of the tuk-tuk owners bought them through borrowing to provide the simplest necessities of life for their families, in light of the government’s abandonment of lifting this group out of extreme poverty.”[/size]
[size=45]He explained, “The owners of the tuk-tuks are now working to provide a living, repay the amount they borrowed, and save the registration tax, which means crushing this class by burdening it more than it can bear.”[/size]
[size=45]Official government statistics show that poverty has reached about 21% of the population, while the number of poor people is estimated at about 11 million out of a population of 42 million in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Official data issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs indicate that approximately 7 million Iraqis receive monthly financial grants from the government, which it expects to increase to 9 million. It said they deserve assistance.[/size]
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