Importing Car

[Watchman]

Hey guys,

Since we're on a new forum, thought of starting one of the FAQ threads we decided on last time around

So anyone up for importing a car from japan?

[BLu3HaZe]

From where are you going to import the car luckyd? Can you post some info if you don't mind? The model, and who is giving the FOB price?

Thanks!

[luckyd]

From where are you going to import the car luckyd? Can you post some info if you don't mind? The model, and who is giving the FOB price?

Thanks!

Well it's already here...at least the documents are, and I collected them from the bank just yesterday.

What I have got down is a Subaru Impreza. I personally selected it from the auction site and bought it through a person well known to me, who is in the business and who has an agent there.

If you are looking for such a person let me know and I'll give you the contact details.

Cheers.

[BLu3HaZe]

Well it's already here...at least the documents are, and I collected them from the bank just yesterday.

What I have got down is a Subaru Impreza. I personally selected it from the auction site and bought it through a person well known to me, who is in the business and who has an agent there.

If you are looking for such a person let me know and I'll give you the contact details.

Cheers.

That's very good news So is the car on the way now? Around when can you expect it to be in the harbour? An Impreza is a good car, I'm also looking for one, as an Integra is too hard to find. Which model is this?

Please do PM me the other details.

[wug]

Well it's already here...at least the documents are, and I collected them from the bank just yesterday.

What I have got down is a Subaru Impreza. I personally selected it from the auction site and bought it through a person well known to me, who is in the business and who has an agent there.

If you are looking for such a person let me know and I'll give you the contact details.

Cheers.

I also looking for subaru impreza. can u pm me the details.

[BLu3HaZe]

Someone familiar with importing, please tell me how to get the FOB for this? What does 'Value of a brand new motor vehicles furnished by the agent of such vehicle in Sri Lanka' mean? And "All the customs duties and other levies are payable at the time of importation shall be calculated on the basis of Agent's value or the invoice value which ever is higher." in http://www.customs.g...k/mv/mvpg01.pdf ?

Edit - I'm unsure because http://www.customs.g...k/mv/mvpg28.pdf states "The particulars declared by you should be those applicable to a vehicle of identical make, model and year upto the point of arrival in the port of importation on.......... "

Edited October 1, 2010 by BLu3HaZe

[nissan_fan]

Hello again,

I managed to get a T-10 from my employer. Now, do I have to produce this along with the pink coloured application form in order to get the TIN no.?

Or else, is the T-10 itself sufficient proof that I have a TIN no.?

No T10 is not sufficient to prove that you have TIN. I also had T10, but only got TIN once I visited IRD. Just bring along T10 with you to the IRD and you'll save lot of time in the process. T10 is to prove that you are indeed a PAYE taxpayer.

[luckyd]

No T10 is not sufficient to prove that you have TIN. I also had T10, but only got TIN once I visited IRD. Just bring along T10 with you to the IRD and you'll save lot of time in the process. T10 is to prove that you are indeed a PAYE taxpayer.

Hi mate,

I got it done this morning at the IRD. As you said, I took along the T-10 and I didn't have to spend more that 1/2 hr for the whole process.

Thanks again for the advise given.

Cheers.

[luckyd]

I also looking for subaru impreza. can u pm me the details.

Well he is not a Subaru expert, if that's what you're expecting, but is more into Axios, ISTs.....obviously due to current demand.

Like I had said, I located this car by myself in one of the auctions (they have auctions every weekday and anyone can find out what is available each day, with basic details, from the internet well in advance). After I found this unit I got his agent in Japan to check it out (agent would refuse to bid if not good enough) and gave him a maximum bid to go with. After winning they handled all the paper work and shipping for me.

His name is Farhan (0777 900936). Speak to him and see.

Cheers.

[jaga]

Well he is not a Subaru expert, if that's what you're expecting, but is more into Axios, ISTs.....obviously due to current demand.

Like I had said, I located this car by myself in one of the auctions (they have auctions every weekday and anyone can find out what is available each day, with basic details, from the internet well in advance). After I found this unit I got his agent in Japan to check it out (agent would refuse to bid if not good enough) and gave him a maximum bid to go with. After winning they handled all the paper work and shipping for me.

His name is Farhan (0777 900936). Speak to him and see.

Cheers.

Dear Lucky,

If you don't mind could you tell me the total cost incurred for the impreza and the engine capacity and the YOM of the car please.

[luckyd]

Dear Lucky,

If you don't mind could you tell me the total cost incurred for the impreza and the engine capacity and the YOM of the car please.

This is the 1500CC, GD2 (chassis model). YOM - 2007

Can't tell the total cost yet as it is still on the way.

Cheers

[rangerover]

Has any one tried importing a car personally from England?

[Sifaan]

Has any one tried importing a car personally from England?

not tried, but did check out the options... if you buy from a VAT registered business, you don't need to pay UK VAT (17.5%) if you say it's for export - have to export within 6 months (I think).

Have met couple of people who imported used 406s and they had gone to UK and bought personally. the paperwork doesn't seem to be that difficult (and at least the info is available in english). overcall can be well worth the cost and hassle for a luxury car due to the high depreciation in market value in UK.

and used Prius seems quite cheap as well

[DevakaC]

Someone familiar with importing, please tell me how to get the FOB for this? What does 'Value of a brand new motor vehicles furnished by the agent of such vehicle in Sri Lanka' mean? And "All the customs duties and other levies are payable at the time of importation shall be calculated on the basis of Agent's value or the invoice value which ever is higher." in http://www.customs.g...k/mv/mvpg01.pdf ?

Edit - I'm unsure because http://www.customs.g...k/mv/mvpg28.pdf states "The particulars declared by you should be those applicable to a vehicle of identical make, model and year upto the point of arrival in the port of importation on.......... "

I can answer the first part of your question.

What they mean by Agent furnished value is the CIF value agents have listed for that particular vehicle. For example, lets say T#yota L@nka say a 2009 Prado costs CIF US$40,000 and your invoice says US$30,000. And of course people undervalue their invoices with hopes of lesser taxes. They almost always take the agent value and on top of that calculate the taxes. Thats what they mean by higher of agent value or invoiced value.

Now if your Prado was manufactured in 2007, customs will have the value of a Prado in CIF for a 2007 obtained from Toyota Lanka and use the depreciation table on that value. And after taking the depreciation in to account they will calculate the import taxes top of it. Hope it helps somewhat.

[rangerover]

What is the alternative available for private importers to get the CIF values given to the customs? I highly doubt if the agents would divulge such information

[BLu3HaZe]

@DevakaC - Thanks a lot, that was quite clear information Two more small questions, the agent supplied CIF value is not a problem for models they import, such as the Prado in your example which they import directly from Japan, but do they supply even for other models, such as models in other regions which are not available in Japan or SL?

And what about vehicles that do not have agents, do the customs take the CIF of the invoice or have they appointed an agent for every single make or do they CIF of a dealer of another country?

@rangerover - Well that depends on the agent too, cuz I called up St*ff*rd and asked for some CIF prices and they gave away info without any problem, though they seem to know only of JDM models and chassis codes. On the other hand, when I called A*W for Nissan, they directed me to 4 different people and finally told that they can't disclose CIF information unless we import it here first and bring the documents to the head office

[DevakaC]

@DevakaC - Thanks a lot, that was quite clear information Two more small questions, the agent supplied CIF value is not a problem for models they import, such as the Prado in your example which they import directly from Japan, but do they supply even for other models, such as models in other regions which are not available in Japan or SL?

And what about vehicles that do not have agents, do the customs take the CIF of the invoice or have they appointed an agent for every single make or do they CIF of a dealer of another country?

Well, what are the chances someone is going to bring down a vehicle that has never seen the shores of Sri Lanka? Yeh unless your going to bring down a Gallardo or a Vette. The chances the customs going to know the CIF value for a vehicle is 9.9 out of 10. The premise behind this requirement is if they didn't, what exactly could happen is our dear importers significantly undervaluing their invoices and resulting in a loss of revenue to the Government.

In the case there are no distributors/agents/dealers in Sri-lanka for a particular model they will most likely require documentation extending verification of the Cost of the vehicle Brand new. Calculating Insurance and Freight is a cake walk after wards. Doubt they will ever consider the invoice presented by the importer, unless its higher than the CIF value they have listed. They have their own valuation procedures, the chances they going to rely on your invoice is low.

Im sure out of the tens of thousands of "Personal Importers" that have popped up like wild flowers in the market would be better capable of describing this procedure of valuation.

On a side note I put this sudden boom of vehicle imports as a sign of a bubble. A bubble that is prone to burst like the tech bubble and the mortgage bubble. People extending purchases beyond their capabilities with credit lines always have the risk of default. When this happens in the thousands, CABOOM! So chose your purchases wisely, drive what you can afford. Peace out!

[BLu3HaZe]

Hmm, ok then, obviously not supercars for any common people but I was thinking more in the terms of those little smart roadster cars. Anyway, thanks a lot for all the clarifications provided cuz I'm sure there would be more people who'd need all this info. Can't get why people make new threads for the same without reading this though.

Yup, it may result in loss of revenues but people wouldn't try that if taxes were in the near single digit range, which I believe would never happen here.

Well the problem with these "personal importers" are that they don't know most of the procedures and just end up providing false information and then the person who listens to them end up paying much more than they plan when they get the car to their hands. Better to know what's going behind the operation cuz most of these tax procedures are obscure and then we end up getting huge bills.

True, the country will run into another big debt with so much of foreign currency flowing out of the country.

Once again thanks for the info, and any idea where or how it might be possible to get CIF values the customs have?

[hiranthak]

Hi Friends,

Can we import a car with 2000 YOM.I mean still japan car sales keeping these cars.If ok,is it worth to import car rather than searching a second hand car from sri lanka.Is there any huge price difference?

thanks.........

[rangerover]

Hi Friends,

Can we import a car with 2000 YOM.I mean still japan car sales keeping these cars.If ok,is it worth to import car rather than searching a second hand car from sri lanka.Is there any huge price difference?

thanks.........

Unless u have a blue permit or a gift permit, there is no way u can import a car older than 3.5 yrs old and vans older than 5 years.

[xXx]

Well the problem with these "personal importers" are that they don't know most of the procedures and just end up providing false information and then the person who listens to them end up paying much more than they plan when they get the car to their hands. Better to know what's going behind the operation cuz most of these tax procedures are obscure and then we end up getting huge bills.

Machang there are no 'problems' in getting a car under personal import. Theory been a person who has done his homework will be in a much better position to make a sound judgment compared to someone who has not done his research. It is not the importers fault now is it? What i hate is people who don't go that extra mile in arming themselves with information are the first to pass the blame on others and spread stories to cover up their mistakes.

If anyone is thinking of going down the route of personnel import, process is fairly simple. If you are to import via a 3rd party,

First get a quote from the 3rd party, both the CIF value and a rough import duty estimate

Then with the help of Google check how much a similar specimen cost in Japan

Call up a clearing agent and get a quote on import duty

Compare the values and see if you have been take for a ride

An important point to note here is no one will be able to give you an exact quote on the import duty. One of the biggest variables that can throw the figure off target is the foreign exchange rate, which neither the 3rd party importer, clearing agent or you have any control over. In simple a quote you got couple of months back will not be a correct prediction.

[BLu3HaZe]

'Years old' refers to the date of first registration to the current date right? And not the YOM?

Even a blue/gift permit won't allow a vehicle registered in 2000 as this is end of 2010 and it'd be 11 years old while max limit for those are 10 years?

[BLu3HaZe]

I meant the contradicting info given by the personal importers these days after messing up something, so it's always better as I feel to ask more knowledgeable people present here

It seems easier to give a large scale importer we know to bring it down here. As I've seen said here even, there is quite a saving importing personally, but the headache of getting all the requirements and running all over Colombo isn't sometimes very practical.

But thanks a great lot for that info, makes it quite clear and I'm sure it'd be a big help for many people reading through, as we tend to have a lot of threads on importing various vehicles here these days.

[xXx]

On a side note I put this sudden boom of vehicle imports as a sign of a bubble. A bubble that is prone to burst like the tech bubble and the mortgage bubble. People extending purchases beyond their capabilities with credit lines always have the risk of default. When this happens in the thousands, CABOOM! So chose your purchases wisely, drive what you can afford. Peace out!

I highly doubt lankans will ever get in to trouble with debt compared to 'sudha bugers' (my focus here in on the people not the government authorities). Main reason been obtaining debt has been such a time consuming and stressful process it has never been the very first option during a purchase compared to our western friends. Plus us lankans have always been very careful with our money.

A bubble i can see forming is when it comes to making money. Event from recent past will attest my comment. We've been suckers for get rich quick scams. Examples been doggy schemes like Gold quest, Sakvithi, Pramuka etc. (I refuse to list Golden Key under this category as it never started off as a ponzi scheme, collapse was mainly due to poor financial management and the regulatory bodies lack of foresight and their inability to handle such situations). A more current example would be the Stock market. Majority seems to follow rumors and speculations when playing the market instead of exercising financial fundamentals and theories.

True, the country will run into another big debt with so much of foreign currency flowing out of the country.

This comment reminds me of Mr. Red's 'pampity thrasthavadays' (wheat flour terrorism) comment. All of a sudden biggest burden on foreign reserves is car imports? Do you boys have any ideas the amount of money been spend to import basic food items that can be home grown? (wonder what happened to 'api wawamu rata nagamu' program). And when Micro do cut-bud jobs its ok because its locally made (and its very patriotic) even though the local value addition is at a bare minimum???

[xXx]

I meant the contradicting info given by the personal importers these days after messing up something, so it's always better as I feel to ask more knowledgeable people present here

It seems easier to give a large scale importer we know to bring it down here. As I've seen said here even, there is quite a saving importing personally, but the headache of getting all the requirements and running all over Colombo isn't sometimes very practical.

But thanks a great lot for that info, makes it quite clear and I'm sure it'd be a big help for many people reading through, as we tend to have a lot of threads on importing various vehicles here these days.

No disagreement there buddy. If you want to save some extra pennies you need to put some effort in to it. You can't expect money saving methods to simply fall in to your lap. I can't stress enough the importance of educating yourself first no matter what you do.

[BLu3HaZe]

This comment reminds me of Mr. Red's 'pampity thrasthavadays' (wheat flour terrorism) comment. All of a sudden biggest burden on foreign reserves is car imports? Do you boys have any ideas the amount of money been spend to import basic food items that can be home grown? (wonder what happened to 'api wawamu rata nagamu' program). And when Micro do cut-bud jobs its ok because its locally made (and its very patriotic) even though the local value addition is at a bare minimum???

What I meant was more of an extra burden, in addition to the wastage you pointed out. As for Micro, that can't be called locally made as they claim IMO cuz again as you say, that's just assembling parts from some other company. Self sufficient SL doesn't seem to be in any foreseeable future, and as for cars, no one seems to take interest/risk in investing in a manufacturing plant.

No disagreement there buddy. If you want to save some extra pennies you need to put some effort in to it. You can't expect money saving methods to simply fall in to your lap. I can't stress enough the importance of educating yourself first no matter what you do.

Agreed, information is valuable for us to know even when giving to a 3rd party, but feel it's less trouble free when a friend would do it for free while they're importing 10 cars or so. But a small question there, do they have to pay more tax than an individual as it'd be a vat reg business?