The Portuguese embassy in the United Kingdom owes around 379,000 euros for non-payment of vehicle circulation tax in central London, the British Government revealed this Thursday.
In a written statement to Parliament, the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, David Rutley, listed a list of foreign diplomatic representations with debts exceeding one hundred thousand pounds (116.5 thousand euros).
Portugal ranks 65th out of 85 embassies, with a debt of £325,240 (€378,800) since February 2003, when the tax was introduced, until the end of 2022.
Agência Lusa contacted the Portuguese embassy for a reaction, but the diplomatic representation refused to comment on the situation.
At the top of the list is the United States embassy, which has accumulated a debt of 14.6 million pounds (about 17 million euros).
According to the document, Mozambique owes 864,180 pounds (around one million euros), and Equatorial Guinea 557,690 (650 thousand euros).
In total, foreign diplomatic missions owe more than 145 million pounds (170 million euros) to Transport for London (TfL), the entity responsible for the British capital’s transport network.
“We consider that there is no legal basis to exempt diplomatic missions and international organizations from the London congestion charge, which is comparable to a parking charge or toll that they must pay,” Rutley wrote.
Embassies have invoked the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which exempts diplomats from paying some taxes, to claim exemption from this burden.
However, the British executive has a different interpretation of the Convention and states that “diplomats have an obligation to respect the laws and regulations of the host State.”
“Consequently, the British Government expects all diplomatic missions to respect the laws and regulations of the United Kingdom, including the payment of the congestion charge,” concluded the Under Secretary of State.
The congestion charge [Congestion Charge] There is a daily charge of £15 (€17.5) for cars traveling within the specified area in central London between 07:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday and from 12:00 to 18:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
The measure was implemented in February 2003 to try to reduce car traffic in the city center.
Source: TSF
