Import Tax Slashed By 50%

[crdesilva]

Just got this news

Sri Lanka has slashed an import excise duty on vehicles by 50 percent amid a pick up in economy and demand for vehicles, lifted a general 15 percent surcharge on all imports and slashed duties on electronic items, an official said.

With effect from today a car such as an Indian made Maruti which had attracted excise duties of up to 183 percent of its value will now be charged a duty of 90 percent, Sri Lanka's director general of fiscal policy S R Attygala said.

Cars attracted over 300 in excise duties, import duties, value added taxes, port and airport development levies and national security levies.

The government expects more revenue from car imports which plummeted last year amid high taxes. Attygala said with a pick up in the economy there was a demand for vehicles including the tourist industry.

The government has also lifted 15 percent surcharge on all imported items. Several import duty bands had also been adjusted. Current bands of 0, 6, 16, and 28, have been revised to 0, 05, 15 and 30.

But Attygala said with the removal of the 15 percent surcharge there was a reduction even in the 30 percent band as earlier a 33 percent was paid with the surcharge.

Meanwhile taxes on items such as watches and camera's have been brought down to 10 percent to encourage retail trade especially targeting foreigners, he said.

Sri Lanka is expecting a surge in tourist arrivals and in many East Asian nations including Thailand and Singapore attract visitors simply for shopping. (LBO)

Source : http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4...es-slashed.html

[fuzzo]

woo hoo

[crdesilva]

The government has also lifted 15 percent surcharge on all imported items...

Does this mean Patrol prices will go down as well ?

[sharky]

Excellent!! Let's see how the auto market responds...

[VWvortex]

[Pericles]

Ohh... Camera's going down. I'll believe that when I see it

[hashanfernando]

Just got this news

Source : http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4...es-slashed.html

GOVERNMENT SUCKS

[racerx]

GOVERNMENT SUCKS

U SUCK!

OMFG I waited to buy a car. HEHE

Edited June 1, 2010 by racerx

[Sha7]

GOVERNMENT SUCKS

I'm not a supporter of this government.

But it's nice to see a government cutting out taxes rather than increasing. Of course price of my car will go down

[Chris0628]

Let's see how much the price will come down

[Killer-B]

Will this have a big effect on the second hand market? I am just about to buy a car....... Should I wait for sometime and see what turns up? I am sure I wont have a second chance to buy that car again..... buy it or leave it? price is 1.85mil

[L board]

Well I think this is really great news. At least now the second hand car prices should come down to realistic figures. Right now the prices are rediculous. A 26 year old Pajero goes for 2.8M! and a trad sunny goes for 8 lakhs. Absurd! In just 2-3 months time, we will see the prices nose diving. The ones who want to sell now will have to wait for few months because no one will want to buy now. Everyone will want to wait till the prices come down. So sorry for those who want to sell now. But overall this is really good for the entire auto market and for the country as a whole.

[da_kool_guy]

U SUCK!

OMFG I waited to buy a car. HEHE

Cheers.............but wait and see how our Vehicle People respond to this.

[Pericles]

U SUCK!

OMFG I waited to buy a car. HEHE

I have a feeling he's just upset by the timing coz he has just bought a new car dude.

[VVTi]

I have a feeling he's just upset by the timing coz he has just bought a new car dude.

Well, we bought ours only 10 days ago... but these things happen. Its not as if prices would have come down tonight. This will be a slow painful process till the old stock moves as no one will want to sell at a big loss. Of course they will have to sell with a marginal loss in order to at least cover part of the cost.

All in all I am not affected by it at all.

Sheitze Happens.

[Elvis_Pil]

So this means the tax slash will be for both new and recon vehicles? lol this sinks the opposition even deeper and makes the eminent constitutional change brighter

[Muditha420]

Just a quick thought here....before elections a 4door double cab was 80-85laks (with tax) in Toyota...after elections it went shooting sky high to 120laks...m guessing this happened to all car prices (maybe)

now they are reducing duty (they say) so won't it just go back to the previous prices??? then hell..again can't buy a decent vehicle right?

[Gummybr]

Man you guys are like ants rushing in onto food when it comes to duty. The whole of today was spent trying to explain the duty to customers.

Ok, although the they say that they have reduced duty by 50% it doesn't mean that the duty will go down that much. They have only reduced the excise duty by 50%; meaning the excise duty on a petrol which is 90% or so will get halved. And the surcharge has been taken out of the calculation. So generally who'll benefit more will be people who import Diesel cars (as per my finance Manager) since the excise on diesel cars is about 120%. So all in all expect a duty reduction of about 30% on diesel and a lesser % on petrol. In case of double cabs expect a better reduction in price.

Other details such as what engine capacities get effected is still not clear, but tomorrow for sure we should know more about it.

Dont worry about the second hand market right now as it will not affect that market in a very big way. But if you have bought something brand new recently then you will loose some of your investment.

All in all its a good decision by the government as it will undoubtedly increase their revenue in the long run, I do hope that they do not impose another levy on vehicles again this year. This will be bad for the automobile importers who have stock right now as they will have to balance their prices to match each other.

[sanjeew]

MMMMM ..... good news for me,

[Nitro]

vehicle market will not go down as many people think it will,government has cut down 50% from excise duties only,all other taxes are still there..however prices will go down lest by 10% ~ 20% in general..

Edited June 1, 2010 by Nitro

[YALA]

has anyone quantified the savings from the reduction???...like assuming 200% tax would be cut by 50% which would mean 100% tax savings which would flow through to a 1/3rd of a savings from the total cost. i know its not that simple. but would be great to actually know. this would probably apply more to brand new or unregistered vehicles not the 2nd hand market though, maybe a flow through but probably would be hard to quantify that....either way its good news...nw only if the vehicle tint BS is completely taken out and the motor bike engine capacity restriction.

Edited June 1, 2010 by YALA

[MkX]

What would be the impact on recon imports? depending on recon import price only there will be change in 2nd hand local market in most of the time. As stated above need to quantify the amounts and see. However if this impacts on 2nd hand used market I would love to see what is the impact on FB-15 mainly as i know some of my friends sold FB-15s at least 2lks above the normal price and some has over paid during last few weeks

[isam]

If anyone got the actual price reduction figures please do let us know... was planning to sell my car...

But I'm happy about this move. At least the country will get a bunch of new vehicles which will go easy on the environment and sparepart costs...

[rangerover]

I heard prices for petrols would come down max 30% off total cost.

[NFS]

Well looks like all this hype about tax reduction will not benefit people immediately atleast those looking for 2nd hand cars. Since its going to take couple of months (atleast 6 months) if at all for these price reduction to reflect in the second hand market. And no one knows what other takes or charges might be introduced additionally to compensate this marginal reduction in the next few months.

So looks like someone who was waiting for price reduction will have to wait even longer and see if there actually is a price reduction. Hope his dreams would come true. I was looking for a car and I would rather go for it rather than waiting for months wishing for the prices to come down. After all we are getting a wheel for our own use, whats the point waiting for months in uncertainity for prices to come down.