Audio: Hybrid car prices will go up due to tax revision

31 January 2015 03:17 am - 69 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Vehicle Importers Association Chairman Mahinda Sarathchandra said yesterday that prices of vehicles below 1000 cc would come down only by Rs. 25, 000 in the wake of the 15% tax reduction announced in Thursday’s mini budget while all hybrid cars would go up by as much as Rupees one million.

Mr. Sarathchandra said the 172.5% custom duty which had been imposed on cars below 1000 CC was reduced to 155.25% which would result in a decrease of Rs. 25, 000 for cars below 1000 cc.

He said however prices of hybrid cars would go up by a huge amount due to the new tax system.

Mr. Sarathchandra said the price of a Prius car would go up by Rs. 9 75, 000, Axio by Rs. 7 25, 000 and Honda Fit by Rs. 700, 000 because of the new taxation.

He said the tax revisal would have an impact on vehicle importers.(Ajith Siriwardana)

AUDIO

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Comments - 69

Raks Saturday, 31 January 2015 09:55 PM

they are fuel friendly , but not eco friendly , those batteries need replacement, and production of them is much dirtier because of the lithuim mines and as far as i know they do more damage in the long run than most high end gasoline cars

Sujith Sunday, 01 February 2015 12:34 AM

The previous government wanted to encourage to import hybrid cars due to three reasons. One is they are eco friendly second brand new cars are efficient and maintenance costs are low. third it will save petrol so that overall pertol consumption will come down. I am wondering why cant these be understand buy the new regime. Might be this is the way they want to do good governance. I became a fool by voting for this good governance

Ranabahu Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:23 PM

Who cares about the price of vehicles in a country where 80% live below poverty line. Most important things are Food, Clothes and Housing.

Middle Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:22 PM

MR.FM..Please give a chance to individuals who open a LC already for Hibrd .I plan maximum amount that i can pay as a lease rental frm my salary....now I cant reverse the decision. .Please consider previous tax rate for the ppl who already opened LC..Large scale vehicle importers alrady importrd largr number of Hibrd during last yaer with huge drop of JPY and they can earn proft on that unbelievably... but pple like us will face big ptoblrm .please help us..

Citizen Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:59 PM

In December 2014 I have opened the LC to import Aqua hybrid car and it will be arriving to the port next week. I didnt have a vehicle before and this is my first vehicle importing under my name for the personal use. The tax increase is unbearable for me to clear the vehicle. Hon. Finance minister please consider and give a tax relief for people who has opened the LC before the interim budget. via DM Android App

bima Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:39 PM

Habrid is very important car for sri lanka due to the fuel consumption, government has taken bad decision

Raks Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:06 PM

agree , safety councils have already given ZERO stars to cars like the new Maruti and the Tata nano , they are death-traps and i really hope the government allows some safety protocol for these vehicles , plus a Euro spec small car offers better fiel economy (esp the new 3cyl diesels )

Raks Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:04 PM

We need european 1000cc cars (and diesel versions) , people here buy Indian cars because there is no alternaive low end -affordable vehicles in the market ,so there will always be this class division between japanese and cheap indian and Chinese cars

Lanka Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:00 PM

It should be the other way around. Hybrid cars should be encouraged if you care for a eco friendly nation. Any brains in Sri Lanka?

Sujith Sunday, 01 February 2015 12:38 AM

How can you say that. Everyone is trying to buy a hybrid these days as they are fuel effiecnt and cost effective. This government wants us to buy inferior Mariti cars, might be on the dictates on India. The way things are happening after some time they might ask us to go in bullok carts

Charith Saturday, 31 January 2015 09:29 PM

If they are worried about traffic why did they reduce the tax on Indian cars and 3 wheelers? Why did they reduce the expenditure on public infrastructure development by 30%?

Mallika Saturday, 31 January 2015 09:28 PM

We are a group of individuals currently in the process of importing vehicles directly from Japan for our own personal use. The sudden and unexpected increase in taxes from the January 29 budget proposals have significantly increased our cost to a level that we simply cannot afford to bear.The process of selecting, buying, and importing a vehicle for individual use directly from Japan takes about two to three months, nevertheless we had opted to do that after a careful consideration of the previous tax scheme and our limited budgets as it was more cost effective than buying from a local car seller.Being professionals, we are in full agreement that the government sometimes need to increase taxes in certain places in order to support concessions elsewhere. But, please consider the fact that many of us have obtained leases and loans up to the maximum monthly installments possible with our salaries. The vehicles were already selected and ordered, the letters of credit already established, and in many cases the vehicle had already shipped out of Japan. With this tax increase, we are left in the helpless position of not being able to cancel our purchases nor pay the additional tax and clear the vehicles.Therefore, we implore that you consider our justified case and make an exemption on the announced tax increment for already ordered vehicles

Manoj Saturday, 31 January 2015 09:12 PM

Please sign below petition.https://www.change.org/p/hon-ravi-karunanayake-please-exempt-the-new-hybrid-car-tax-scheme-from-individuals-who-have-opened-the-lc-before-the-29th-budget?recruiter=30294506

sri Saturday, 31 January 2015 08:47 PM

Yes. The govt should promote public transport. We have more than enough cars on the streets and more to sell at the car dealers.

dushantha Saturday, 31 January 2015 07:52 PM

when unp came into power we thought it would create conductive environments to the small and medium scale businesses. but this budget proposal clearly shows again it creates monopoly by few selected large companies.

dushantha Saturday, 31 January 2015 07:49 PM

its false to assume rich people go to hybrid. people know quality of typical indian cars and they goes to the next affordable option. so far hybrid was good substitute due to tax concession. check 95% people buy hybrid with 80% of lease. everybody knows quality and emission level of cheap Indian rubbish. if non hybrid Japanese cars are cheap many would go into non hybrid japanese

fefe Saturday, 31 January 2015 07:42 PM

A 15% reduction from 172.5% is 146.625 % and NOT 155.25% as Mr. Sarathchandra says.

Chandra Saturday, 31 January 2015 07:32 PM

Government wanted to satisfy India too by increasing importing of Indian made cars via DM Android App

Pramod Sunday, 01 February 2015 09:58 AM

I ordered a hybrid vehicle not because I had big money, because it is economical and it is environmentally friendly. With all the difficulties I manage to gather some money by selling my old vehicle plus getting a combine loan with my wife and the rest I had to borrow from my father. But now I am faced with a huge problem, with the increase of import tax on hybrid vehicle, I am not in a position to pay the increased tax. I don’t know what to do. I never thought that this government will change the import tax on hybrid vehicles. Not because of anything, because it is environmentally friendly and we all know that we need to change it other mean of fuels since Petrol, Diesel will not be there for us and other fuels are economical too. Hope this tax increase will be removed or that we will get a some concession on this. Otherwise I am a dead man

Mahendra Thursday, 05 February 2015 09:11 PM

Dear FM, Please consider individuals who had open LC prior the budget. This will be a small amount of tax collection for the new government but will be a huge release for me and others. Pls consider. Thank you

Shantha Thursday, 05 February 2015 09:07 PM

Dear Finance Minister thank you for consideration on individual car importers who had open LC prior budget

sen hp Wednesday, 04 February 2015 12:02 PM

MR.FM..Please give a chance to individuals who open a LC before the budget for Hibrd .I plan maximum amount that i can pay as a lease rental frm my salary....now I cant reverse the decision. .Please consider previous tax rate for the ppl who already opened LC..Large scale vehicle importers alrady imported largr number of Hibrd during last year with huge drop of JPY and they can earn proft on that unbelievably... but pple like us will face big ptoblrm .please help us..

kasun Sunday, 01 February 2015 03:48 PM

please everyone come on Monday to submit the petition to the Finance Minister

Long term consequences Sunday, 01 February 2015 12:39 PM

This is a terrible idea. Middle class people want to buy hybrid cars because they save fuel and are eco-friendly. They buy these cars on leases and borrowed money! The cars are more durable, and reliable. Now everyone is going to buy a Maruthi, our traffic will increase exponentially, and our roadways will go to h*ll. We should work towards progressively shifting the consumption in our economy to environmentally friendly products, and adopt vehicles and energy systems in general that will help this process.

k.k.a.i.perera Sunday, 01 February 2015 11:04 AM

stupid idea about hybrid cars

bandara Sunday, 01 February 2015 10:51 AM

wat sujith said ia correct. i have an aqua and it does 30 in outstation and daily 20 in colombo traffic.. and im wondering how am i in the so called rich category.. then others above me is called hyper rich or what via DM Android App

Akmal651 Sunday, 01 February 2015 10:37 AM

Instead of increasing the tax for all hybrid vehicles could consider the increment for the vehicles which exceeds the engine capacity of 1500cc. via DM Android App

izzyman Saturday, 31 January 2015 07:22 PM

The increase is understood but should be more practical. What happens to the people who have preordered vehicles? They should find extra monies overnight. The cars with LCs opened and the ones on the way should be allowed the old duty structure.

Alf Sunday, 01 February 2015 08:37 AM

Exactly. Singapore was a 3rd world country which is now 1st world within 50 years. A car is very expensive to buy in Spore. Very few can afford a car. But public transport is at its best. Thats what SL needs, Not a class of a few car owners who own a car for prestige and boosting egos. Anyway the goct is on the right path. Whats more importnat is to help the 80 % poor and not the 1% car owners.

hsk Sunday, 01 February 2015 07:12 AM

it is unfair to charge new tax value those who have ordered vehicles before the budget via DM Android App

sumudu Sunday, 01 February 2015 04:44 AM

Surely this is the wrong thing to do. Children are having more and more respiratory problems and we should encourage people to use better cars.They should have removed tax from cars under 1000CC and hybrids. Increase tax on Diesel vehicles, vehicle parts (this will reduce accidents), tax on insurance claims, increase tax on Motocycles and three wheeler.Also ban any vehicle imports that fail Euro N-cap safety standard.This is silly to put right foot forward and the left foot back.The object should be less road accidents, better cars for environment.

Dayani Sunday, 01 February 2015 04:40 AM

We want the new government to consider and change the import tax on vehicles, as soon as possible, because the tax charts were provided by greedy, selfish politicians in the last regime.People suffered enough follies of the previous regime, while these goons got every wishful dreams come true for them while cleaning the pockets of common man.Import tax for vehicle in Sr lanka is one of the highest in the world!!! We want a fair and sqare deal for all Sri Lankans!!!!

Dayani Sunday, 01 February 2015 04:28 AM

Exactly right. While the politicians and the privileged people can travel inGas guzzlers, they want all other to use cheap inferior vehicles. First, they must show that they have given up luxury transport, before hitting hitting the ordinary people!!

Cwilliams Sunday, 01 February 2015 02:51 AM

I disagree with the individuals who are compelled to disrupt the taxation process, You are purchasing an Hybrid Vehicle which costs a marginal higher price compared to other vehicles, and it has caused notability, in the market, due to that reasoning, it will be unfair for future buyers if the LC is open or not, and is providing an lame excuse to avert from paying the duty applicable.

sujith Sunday, 01 February 2015 12:43 AM

This guy must be having a Maruti car. He does not know the fuel efficiency and cost effectiveness of Hybrid cars. My friend tols me that his Aqua is doing 30 Km/L. Please note that Hybrids are not rubbish like Shit indian Mariti

Fair N Square Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:48 AM

what maths is he talking about...? if the CIF value is 500,000 15 % is NOT 25000.00 but 75,000...these SHARKS always want their side covered... what a moron

dayan Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:39 AM

Good idea. For cars under 1000 CC may reduce the taxes up to 100%. Then only lower income grades can have a own vehicle.

Chan Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:36 AM

My proposal to FM is1. Bring down taxes of cars below 1000 cc drastically. This may reduce the number of three wheelers too.2. Reduce taxes on hybrid cars as they consume less fuel and are env friendly.3. Increase taxes on non hybrid cars above 1000 cc which have high fuel consumption.

Asanka Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:32 AM

It is not fair to charge new tax scheme with already ordered vehicles. Everybody wants a vehicle for better life, including a car. Most of us are looking to get something we can afford at the maximum level, not the lowest. In that aspect, LC opened vehicles should be given concessions, as they have gone through the previous scheme.

Kolannawa Kolla Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:20 AM

This arrangement is look better, Rich man/woman who wanted a hybrid car will pay what ever price it is, and reduction on 1000cc will give a chance to middle class people to attain their long running dream. well thought. On the other hand, indirectly rich people paying some more money and that money will be used for middle class people to purchase their low budget cars, that is the concept. well done Minister Ravi. Congratulations.

rajiv Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:16 AM

Government should have allowed Hybrid with 1500cc to at least remain in the same tax structure. They have tried to increase the petrol revenue since fuel prices are low.

raj Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:16 AM

Rich people prefer luxury vehicles. Hybrids are preferred by the Middle class. Its the 1000 cc car owners who are jealous of the people who drive the hybrid. You can see it in how they drive when they see a hybrid car in front of them. Typical Sri Lankan mentality.

bugs Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:54 AM

They should encourage small European small cars which are more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. Besides Euro is low now. We must discourage indian cars at all cost.

smiley ? Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:48 AM

I thought the government would encourage on purchasing hybrid vehicles. Unfortunately via DM Android App

mnsmart Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:46 AM

Toyota aqua does almost 28km per ltr, Vezel apr. 20km per ltr. if driven in proper conditions.

kamal Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:33 AM

Bad Idea about Hybrid.

mnsmart Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:26 AM

Hybrid cars are environmental friendly

Tony Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:14 AM

Worst decision ever. I guess the government doesnt want to be eco friendly. via DM Android App

Dr. J Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:13 AM

What da hell via DM Android App

importer Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:05 AM

A request to the Finance minster. let the people who have already opened a Letter of credit for Hybrid vehicles clear the vehicles at the previous tariff rate. its just too much to bear.Please consider via DM Android App

public Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:06 AM

long over due. These hybrids do nothing to reduce our crude oil bill in comparison to its costs.

Horri Jimonis Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:05 AM

Good move... rich people go for Hybrid and Middle Class people will always go for 1000 cc cars, hence we appreciate this. Thanks to our President, PM

Sarit Saturday, 31 January 2015 01:06 PM

What about Hybrid cars that has already been shipped and the vessel is due next week? Does the new tax apply? Pls advise...

sampath Saturday, 31 January 2015 06:10 PM

Really Not only for LC operners..other majority alrady got loans for getting a new hybrid. Most of the vehicles ordeard through personal importers and how they are going to find the additional money that the government asking for? most of them are for lease or bank loan, Really this is not what people expected from the budget…. Also need more than 3 months minimum to clear those pending for both LC openers and other people who already got loans for their dream hybrid...!!! :-(

Sanath Saturday, 31 January 2015 06:04 PM

Tax hike on hybrid vehicles is extremely unfair for those who have already opened LCs. Its too huge to be borne by a middle class family Please consider an exemption for those who have already opened Lcs

lakmal Saturday, 31 January 2015 05:48 PM

Very bad decision by the government about hybrid vehicles.

Sandun Saturday, 31 January 2015 05:33 PM

Join with us in FB page if you are a victim of this. You will find a link to the petition there. https://www.facebook.com/lk.hybrid.tax.increase.exemption

j a nihal peiris Saturday, 31 January 2015 05:24 PM

why hybrid priced upmust bring down all car prices let. all enjoy now Suppression is over now via DM Android App

Siribiris Saturday, 31 January 2015 05:16 PM

Those ships were given call to turn back.

Jayantha Saturday, 31 January 2015 01:22 PM

A reasonable request.

Achcharu Saturday, 31 January 2015 01:12 PM

15% reduction in Tax rate and not overall price. 50% increase in Hybrid tax. Is not a good Eco-friendly move; now only business men may afford Hybrids again.

Desmond Jeromme Saturday, 31 January 2015 10:03 AM

No problem for the Hybrid cars is it reasonable, but 1000 cc Cars could be given some more reduction than Rs. 25,000/-

aja Saturday, 31 January 2015 12:31 PM

Hybrid Cars are Eco freindly and eventually will bring the Fuel Consumption for the Country down by Reducing the Import Bills of FUEL .

JL Saturday, 31 January 2015 12:25 PM

To Finance Minister, for your kind consideration Please applied previous Hybrid duty those who opened B/L before interim budget... specially for individual importunes for personal use because they do not have a opportunity to reverse the decision now.. Increment is huge and unbearable....

kumara kodippily Saturday, 31 January 2015 12:22 PM

VW Polo is a good solution . Polo comes with 1000 cc motor, also come with 1000 CC diesel. Tjhey come with 5 door hatch back.

alf Saturday, 31 January 2015 12:19 PM

Its only a minority who can afford the hybrids and thye larger vehicles. The majoroty of us who can only afford a cheap 900 cc car thank the minoster. The rich and uipper middle class can afford the hybrids.

bandara malli Saturday, 31 January 2015 12:15 PM

All comments are useless.. whether taxes are increased or decreased , vehicle in the car will be high day by day. One day all of you have to park all ur cars including mg one at garage bc of traffic. So pls take action to impliment good transport services like electric train and busses with good facilities like in other countries

pirne Saturday, 31 January 2015 12:09 PM

Hybrids use half or less the fuel of petrol or diesel vehicles plus are environment friendly. Removing the duty concession on hybrids is undoing a rare good move by the previous administration!

Truth Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:53 AM

This is the tax when car arrives at port. Wont affect the LC. ONLY THE YEN RATE WILL AFFECT YOUR estimated LC. If you consider your situation, any goverment wont be able to change the tax at any point, because people order 100s of vehicles from japan and open LCs. All will complain the same and no gov can change the tax because of banking and customs systems and out systems are not sync properly and there are lot ofpractical problems.

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Audio: Hybrid car prices will go up due to tax revision

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