MOF to Punish Car Importers for Tax Evasion

The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance (MoF) has asked customs authorities to collect tax arrears on imported Kia Morning and Matiz cars which were declared by importers as vans to enjoy lower tariffs.

 

The tariff on the imported Kia Morning and Daewoo Matiz is 83%, the same rate as five-seat cars. Moreover, these cars also bear two other kinds of tax, the luxury tax of 45% and VAT of 10%.

 

In a document sent to the Haiphong Customs Agency last week, the ministry said that certain car importers had committed fraud when declaring imports of vans with two seats and loading capacity of 300 kilograms.

 

The General Department of Customs made a post-customs clearance examination over the Kia Morning and Matiz vehicles imported into Vietnam by one enterprise through Haiphong port under the mode of complete built units (CBU).

 

These cars have four seats; however, two seats had been removed from the back so they could be declared as vans. Under the current tax laws, vans, which are defined as cargo-carrying vehicles, are imposed the import tariff of 60% and are exempted from luxury tax and value added tax (VAT).

 

The ministry has also asked the Haiphong Customs Agency to clarify the fraud committed by the importers and impose punishments. It has also instructed the agency to punish any customs officers who harbored importers.

 

The customs general department sent documents to two South Korean automobile manufacturers, Kia Motors and Daewoo, to clarify the functions of the imported cars.

 

Daewoo said that it is manufacturing a Matiz van, but just for domestic consumption and not for export. (Pioneer)