Customs duty on imported motorcycle

[M1Tanker]

5 hours ago, properjob said:

Thanks for all the replies, and especially to M1Tanker for the depth and details of his experience. 

You are welcome. I hope the information is useful. You can contact Thai Customs as well as the Department of Foreign Trade.  I found Thai Customs Customer Service to be helpful. PM me if you have any additional questions.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

On 4/10/2018 at 10:01 PM, canthai55 said:

People just will not listen M1

give them a link to your successful importation, and they still spout off about things they know SFA about.

New Name - Moron Visa - at times

For every One success  story a One Hundred will be fleeced.

[moe666]

On 11/4/2561 at 3:55 PM, M1Tanker said:

The purchase cost of my 2008 R1200GS Adventure (U.S. specification) was $17,700. I purchased the motorcycle through the BMW Military Sales program in Germany and no tax was paid.  That price was considerably less than the same European specification motorcycle sold to Germans.  My motorcycle was registered in the U.S. system and not in the German system in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Germany.

 

As part of my decision making process I needed to determine if it would make sense to sell the motorcycle in Germany prior to my move and take that money and apply it to purchasing the equivalent motorcycle in Thailand. I could either sell the motorcycle to a German or to a U.S. service member or U.S. government worker in Germany.

 

The issue with selling the motorcycle to a German was that it didn't have a German TUV which is required in order to have it registered and plated. In order to make the motorcycle attractive to a German I would need to get it into the German system.  The other issue is that any German that bought it would have to pay the original sales tax, into the German system, and amazingly enough a small import fee.  These additional taxes priced my motorcycle out of the market for a German.  The BMW GS family is the best selling motorcycle in Germany. There is no shortage of good used models available that would be readily available with less bureaucracy and at a cheaper cost.

 

The issue with selling a used BMW GS to a U.S. service member or government worker in Germany is the market is very small.  The usual customer for the GS is a higher ranking service member or government worker.  Most of those potential customers would rather buy new for through the BMW military sales program.

 

The final option to sell my motorcycle was to sell it in the U.S. from Germany but I would have to discount it considerably in order to even get someone interested. Shipping would also be an issue. Therefore it really wasn't an option.

 

The year prior to my actual move I did check for used equivalents here in Thailand. I found one 2009 BMW R1200GS Adventure.  It was the same color, Red, and it cost about 880,000 baht if my memory serves me correctly. That was roughly equivalent to my original purchase price and I didn't know the history of the motorcycle as I did mine.  A new BMW R1200GS Adventure cost over 1 million baht and still does.

 

As part of this process I built a Excel spreadsheet based on the Thai Customs formulae.  I had a friend independently build one as well.  We were within about 1,000 baht of each other.  That speadsheet cost as well as the aforementioned led me to pursue importing my motorcycle.

 

My training has taught me to not depend on luck, chance, or hope. I don't deny that sometimes things happen that are better than what was planned or worse than what was planned but I decided to do considerable research and communicate with the respective Thai government organizations to improve my chances of success and reduce the probability of failure.

 

Every person's situation is different.  If my motorcycle was in the German system and taxes were already paid for I probably would have sold it.  The same applies if I was stationed in the U.S. I would have taken the money and applied it to a motorcycle purchase here in Thailand. However, both were not the case.

 

As previously stated alI personnel that I interacted with at all applicable Thai government agencies were professional and ethical.  There was no extortion. I will point out that many of the personnel in these offices are not completely familiar with permanently importing a motorcycle because they just don't see it happen that often. Patience, thoroughness, and professional determination are required.  I found that researching the process online, asking a lot of questions, and communicating with each office in person or online to be effective.  Again, I started the process over a year prior to shipping my motorcycle.

 

The point of my reposting my experiences is that importation is possible depending on the circumstances of the foreigner's visa status and the documentation of the vehicle. Having said that, importing although possible for an individual may not always make sense.

 

 

 

Your dealing with the commerce department sounds fimiliar to the man I met who imported the Mg/TD.