Equal Duty for All- Bangladesh Car Importers Demand

Dealers of reconditioned vehicles demanded the government equalise the import duty structure of old and new cars to ensure fair prices on the local market.

The equalisation of import duty of reconditioned and new cars will remove the discriminatory prices in the local market while the government will be able to realise a significant amount of additional revenue, they said.

“We also demand revision of the CC slabs (cubic centimetre), engine power, of both reconditioned and new vehicles for fixing the prices of imported cars,” Abdul Mannan Chowdhury (Khosru), president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA), said in a press briefing in Dhaka.

“We want a level-playing field in tax structure on imports of both used and new cars,” he said.

Abdul Mannan claimed some dealers import low-quality new vehicles from different countries and sell those at low prices.

The  of Japanese reconditioned vehicles durability and quality are higher than many other countries new cars, he added.

“But the government fixed higher duty on imports of reconditioned vehicles from Japan,” he said. “As a result, import of such reconditioned vehicles also declined for thin sales in the local market.”

For new vehicles, the customs value is lower compared to their actual price and the practice of under-invoicing of actual price is common and, as a result, the government receives lower taxes, he said.

On the other hand, in case of reconditioned vehicles, the customs value is significantly higher than the actual price because of the unjust depreciation method, which is diminishing the market, he said.

“A consolidated 60 percent depreciation slapping is appropriate,” he said. He also proposed a revised duty structure and a revised CC of the imported vehicles for fixing the prices.

He proposed 30 percent import duty for up to 1,000cc, 45 percent duty for 1,001-1,800cc, 100 percent duty on 1,801-2,500cc, 250 percent duty on 2,501-3,000cc, 350 percent duty on 3,001-3,500cc and 500 percent for vehicles of 3,500cc and above.