Diplomats snub congestion charge
Press Association
Tuesday October 18, 2005 9:03 PM
A diplomatic incident has broken out over US and German embassy staff refusing to pay the London congestion charge.
Diplomats at both embassies have been instructed not to pay the £8 daily charge as it is believed to be an illegal tax under international law.
But the office for London's Mayor Ken Livingstone said embassy staff were breaking the law by not paying up.
A US embassy spokeswoman said: "We consider it a tax and it is the view of the US Government that all direct taxes on diplomats, including this one, are prohibited by the Vienna Convention."
The decision to stop paying the charge was taken in spring but non-payment began July 1, she added.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, which assures diplomatic immunity, exempts diplomats from paying national, regional and local taxes.
A German Embassy spokesman said: "We received a memo from Berlin several months ago which explained that the congestion charge is considered to be a tax and therefore diplomats are exempt."
He added it was only diplomatic staff with embassy vehicles who were not paying the tax. British staff with private cars pay.
But a spokesman for the Mayor said: "The congestion charge is not a tax. It is a charge for a service. (AtW: what fking service - do you wash car wheels while they drive through?)
"All staff at the American embassy should pay the congestion charge, in the same way as British officials pay road tolls in the United States. To refuse to do so in either case is to break the law of the host country." (AtW: retard does not know the difference between tax and private toll.)
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Good job USA!
Press Association
Tuesday October 18, 2005 9:03 PM
A diplomatic incident has broken out over US and German embassy staff refusing to pay the London congestion charge.
Diplomats at both embassies have been instructed not to pay the £8 daily charge as it is believed to be an illegal tax under international law.
But the office for London's Mayor Ken Livingstone said embassy staff were breaking the law by not paying up.
A US embassy spokeswoman said: "We consider it a tax and it is the view of the US Government that all direct taxes on diplomats, including this one, are prohibited by the Vienna Convention."
The decision to stop paying the charge was taken in spring but non-payment began July 1, she added.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, which assures diplomatic immunity, exempts diplomats from paying national, regional and local taxes.
A German Embassy spokesman said: "We received a memo from Berlin several months ago which explained that the congestion charge is considered to be a tax and therefore diplomats are exempt."
He added it was only diplomatic staff with embassy vehicles who were not paying the tax. British staff with private cars pay.
But a spokesman for the Mayor said: "The congestion charge is not a tax. It is a charge for a service. (AtW: what fking service - do you wash car wheels while they drive through?)
"All staff at the American embassy should pay the congestion charge, in the same way as British officials pay road tolls in the United States. To refuse to do so in either case is to break the law of the host country." (AtW: retard does not know the difference between tax and private toll.)
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Good job USA!
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