Have Vmax And A Broken Heart

[soihok]

Can anyone tell me how the Thai customs get their value of vehicles to base their import duty tax upon?

I am having to leave my Vmax behind in Singapore soon when we make a move back to Thailand.

I should have put it in the wifes name a year ago....but thats too late now.

Pricing the bike in Thailand will maybe cost about 200-300 K baht....

In Singapore where it almost worthless I can hope to get about 100 K baht.

It is 1998 and full power US model.145 hp.

Almost cried whilst cleaning it this morning.

Any idea?

[CroBiker]

I know bunch of Singapore bikers who brought their machines over here. They drive them accross the border every 3-6 months to renew temporary importation permit. Perhaps you could consider same option.

[submaniac]

Can anyone tell me how the Thai customs get their value of vehicles to base their import duty tax upon?

I am having to leave my Vmax behind in Singapore soon when we make a move back to Thailand.

I should have put it in the wifes name a year ago....but thats too late now.

Pricing the bike in Thailand will maybe cost about 200-300 K baht....

In Singapore where it almost worthless I can hope to get about 100 K baht.

It is 1998 and full power US model.145 hp.

Almost cried whilst cleaning it this morning.

Any idea?

You should not be crying. Since your bike is already registered in Singapore, you should have no problems. (As contrasted with bringing in a bike from USA or Europe.) The bike is legally registered to your name. Maintain some address in Singapore (like a post office box) that the yearly registration papers should be sent to. Take the bike and ride it across the border into Thailand as a temporary import. They will allow you about 3-6 months temporary import. When the temporary import on the bike expires, ride the bike back across the border. Then bring it back in again. You (unless you have a special visa) have to do a Thai visa run anyways, so might as well do it with your bike too.

If you try to do a permanent import to Thailand, you will have to pay taxes in the neighborhood of 300%, based on the NEW MSRP of the bike. If you do the temporary import you do not have to pay taxes but it must leave the country when the bike's visa expires. But then you can just bring it back again.

[LivinLOS]

Yeah temp import is one way but its a lot of work.. Easy if you live near a border, less so if not or if you work offshore and are not always here for the customs extensions and visa runs.

V-Maxes are here.. I know of one that is going for a bargain.. Need the v boost sensor system sorting tho..

[Richard-BKK]

If your motorcycle not exceeding 2000cc and or 220 horsepower the import duty is 80%, and depending on the age of your motorcycle you get discounts Discount Rates Import Duty

Other then the Import Duty you also need to pay Excise tax, Interior tax, and VAT. To calculate the other payments

[Kerryd]

Here is part of the graph from that link. Unless something changed in the last couple of years, I seem to recall there used to be a calculation based on the age of the vehicle as well (the older the vehicle, the larger reduction in percentage). Nothing mentioned on the link though.

The total import duties and taxes imposed on this import are calculated as follows (based on say a Declared Value of 100,000 baht and the lowest Excise Tax category of 30%):

1. Import duty

= (CIF value * Rate of import duty)

= (100,000 * 0.8)

= 80,000 Thai Baht

2. Excise tax

= (CIF value + import duty) * {Rate of excise tax/1-(1.1 * Rate of excise tax)}

= 180,000 * 0.4477612

= 80,597 Thai Baht

3. Interior tax

= Excise tax * Rate of interior tax

= 80,597 * 0.1

= 8,059.7 Thai Baht

4. Base VAT

= (CIF value+ Import duty+ Excise tax + Interior tax)

= (100,000 + 80,000 + 80,597 + 8,059.7)

= 268,656.7 Thai Baht

5. VAT

= Base VAT * VAT Rate

= 268,656.7 *0.07

= 18,806 Thai Baht

Total taxes and duties = 1 + 2 + 3 + 5 = 187,462 Thai Baht !

Note: According to that other table, if I'm reading it correctly, a 10 y.o. bike would qualify for a 70+% discount (depending on condition). That would of course drop the total taxes to a more bearable 56,239 baht total. Still, that's over 50% of the declared value of the bike.

(now imagine if you are trying to bring in a new Harley or other bike valued at $20,000 US (700,000+ baht), using this table would equal 1.3 million (+) baht in taxes, on top of the cost of the bike !)

[dotcom]

That sounds pretty good KerryD.

[dotcom]

On a related topic I mounted the LED tailight on the beast today. Now just have to renew the reg.

[Richard-BKK]

The problem with the motorcycle of Soihok is that it is older then 10 years, then the human factor comes back and somebody will actual look at the motorcycle and grand the discount on the import tax. It would not be the first time that somebody is getting a low discount then when if they imported the bike when it was 9 years old. (9 years old is on the standard discount range)

[dotcom]

Add about 80,000 to register it.

[Richard-BKK]

Hi Dotcom,

Are you still sure that this is true in 2009? Kawasaki charges less then 1000 Baht to register the new Kawasaki ER6N, and a friend who went to register a 675cc Triumph paid the same amount...925 Baht , some extra Baht's for some government post stamps etc... and a coffee... making the whole thing about 1,000 Baht

[Zzinged]

Dot that tail light don't look half bad! Certainly better than the standard ones that stick out like a damned tongue!

[Richard-BKK]

Hello KerryD,

The motorcycle of Soihok is a 1998 build bike, that makes it 10-years old, so lets say that the human factor works possitive and he needs to pay equal import tax to a 9-year old motorcycle. The the 80% import tax with a discount of 70% is equal to 10% import tax.

[dotcom]

Yes Richard I am 100% sure.

I am discussing gray market import bikes (mostly from Japan) commonly know as "Invoice"

Thank you ZZ - wait till you see it (& you be doing plenty of that)

[Richard-BKK]

The Triumph 675cc was also a "private" imported motorcycle, imported from England, still when it came to paying the cost for registering the motorcycle it was a lot less then he expected.....

Personal I have no actual first hand experience at this moment....

[LivinLOS]

Hi Dotcom,

Are you still sure that this is true in 2009? Kawasaki charges less then 1000 Baht to register the new Kawasaki ER6N, and a friend who went to register a 675cc Triumph paid the same amount...925 Baht , some extra Baht's for some government post stamps etc... and a coffee... making the whole thing about 1,000 Baht

But surely they have had the type approval, and taxes all paid at import ???

[LivinLOS]

Dot that tail light don't look half bad! Certainly better than the standard ones that stick out like a damned tongue!

And on Phuket they wont allow transfers with that now !! Phuket has become the most unfriendly big bike province in the country IMO.

I have had to get a local hiso merc driving lawyer to push through my sale for tiny insignificant things !! Once they made the call someone from the DMV drove to my house, did the pencil / number rubbings and drove away again !! True Thailand !!

[LivinLOS]

The Triumph 675cc was also a "private" imported motorcycle, imported from England, still when it came to paying the cost for registering the motorcycle it was a lot less then he expected.....

Personal I have no actual first hand experience at this moment....

Are you saying someone imported a UK triumph and registered it for a grand total of 1000 baht ??

If so can you please look into it and explain what other taxes he paid, what people he used ??

[Richard-BKK]

For taxes you can follow the links I posted before or the table of Kerryd. Import duty and sales tax have little to do with the fee for registering the bike at the Department of Road... (Of course you need to show the paper that you paid the import duty and sales tax at the Department of Road...)

And currently I have this information from two sources, first Kawasaki is charging less then 1000 Baht for register a 650cc motorcycle, second a friend who registered a imported motorcycle and expected to pay around 55,000 to 60,000 Baht came home with 59,000 Baht in change.

On the other hand I still see that Yamaha did not changed its big motorcycles, so maybe they like the extra profit or the rules did not changed... But then why is Kawasaki charging less then 1000 Baht for registering a 650cc. And I cannot see the point why my friend, it is not a close friend, but still why would he lie?

Anyway today is Monday so we can call the Department to ask ...

Edited February 2, 2009 by Richard-BKK

[Kerryd]

Hello KerryD,

The motorcycle of Soihok is a 1998 build bike, that makes it 10-years old, so lets say that the human factor works possitive and he needs to pay equal import tax to a 9-year old motorcycle. The the 80% import tax with a discount of 70% is equal to 10% import tax.

Hi Richard.

I re-calculated the totals (in my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet) and came up with a total of 75,672 baht, based on just a 10% Import Duty. The remainder of the taxes would stay the same (as far as their percentages are concerned), so the totals should look like this:

(100,000 baht Value on 10 year old bike)

Import Duty - 100,000 x 10% = 10,000 (Value x Discounted Import Duty Rate)

Excise Tax - 110,000 x 44.78% = 49,254 (Value + Import Duty) x (Excise Tax Rate)

Interior Tax = 49,254 x 10% = 4,925 (Excise Tax x 10%)

Base VAT = 164,179 (Value + Import Duty + Excise Tax + Interior Tax)

VAT - 164,179 x 7% = 11,493

Total Taxes = 75,672 baht. (Import Duty, Excise Tax, Interior Tax and VAT)

Substantially less than the original figures, but still equal 75% of the declared value of the 10 year old bike !!

[PeaceBlondie]

Do all these calculations depend on the value of the bike, which is left to the whim of the Thai in a uniform?

[submaniac]

Do all these calculations depend on the value of the bike, which is left to the whim of the Thai in a uniform?

Well there is a basis of it. The value that they base their calculations, is the brand new cost of the bike from the books that they have listing the MSRP'S of all motorcycles. so even if it is used, they will go off the new price for taxes.

[Richard-BKK]

The problem on the discounts on the import duty is that if the motorcycle is older then 10 years, the human factor comes back into play. And a custom officer is going to judge the final discount.

For a 9-year old and not older then 10-year old motorcycle the discount is 70%. I was told that sometimes people with 10-year or older motorcycles get less discount on the import duty.

@Peaceblondie, I once saw a list of motorcycle which the customs used to tell the value of the motorcycles. I can remember that the values where in USD, and I assume that they where based on US prices (I was not able to take a good look).

[Richard-BKK]

Hi KerryD,

I agree that the total import duty and tax is still a bit high, but if it is correct and the fee for registering the bike is down from 60,000 Baht to just 1,000 Baht it would be not that bad.

[unforgiven]

Can anyone tell me how the Thai customs get their value of vehicles to base their import duty tax upon?

I am having to leave my Vmax behind in Singapore soon when we make a move back to Thailand.

I should have put it in the wifes name a year ago....but thats too late now.

Pricing the bike in Thailand will maybe cost about 200-300 K baht....

In Singapore where it almost worthless I can hope to get about 100 K baht.

It is 1998 and full power US model.145 hp.

Almost cried whilst cleaning it this morning.

Any idea?

You should not be crying. Since your bike is already registered in Singapore, you should have no problems. (As contrasted with bringing in a bike from USA or Europe.) The bike is legally registered to your name. Maintain some address in Singapore (like a post office box) that the yearly registration papers should be sent to. Take the bike and ride it across the border into Thailand as a temporary import. They will allow you about 3-6 months temporary import. When the temporary import on the bike expires, ride the bike back across the border. Then bring it back in again. You (unless you have a special visa) have to do a Thai visa run anyways, so might as well do it with your bike too.

If you try to do a permanent import to Thailand, you will have to pay taxes in the neighborhood of 300%, based on the NEW MSRP of the bike. If you do the temporary import you do not have to pay taxes but it must leave the country when the bike's visa expires. But then you can just bring it back again.

this man is 100% correct.My buddy did it with a malaysian reg. and it was hallf the price it would have been in sing.

[Pikey]

Hi KerryD,

I agree that the total import duty and tax is still a bit high, but if it is correct and the fee for registering the bike is down from 60,000 Baht to just 1,000 Baht it would be not that bad.

Isn't this 60 - 80K cost only applicable for invoice bikes that need to be introduced into the "system" via an emissions test e.t.c? For Kawa because their bikes have been homologated to Euro3 emissions spec and are built in Thailand (KLX, D-Tracker & ER6n) there is no import tax per se and the 1000 THB charge is purely the admin charge for producing the book and plate. I may be wrong though. T.I.T......

Cheers,

Pikey.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Pikey

[Richard-BKK]

First the Kawasaki motorcycles build in Thailand still need to be imported into Thailand. Some people suggested that Kawasaki is running a small line inside Thai borders and therefore not need to pay the import duty. But to make things clear the source of the motorcycle has nothing to do with the registration of the bike.

I agree with Pikey that if the Yamaha V-Max doesn't qualify for the EuroIII emission standard it would never get a license plate. If the Yamaha V-Max is EuroIII in stock form, it is likely that there is no need for a emission test. If emission test is needed then the registration fee jumped 30,000 Baht.

[BigBikeBKK]

First the Kawasaki motorcycles build in Thailand still need to be imported into Thailand. Some people suggested that Kawasaki is running a small line inside Thai borders and therefore not need to pay the import duty. But to make things clear the source of the motorcycle has nothing to do with the registration of the bike.

Anyone else find the above statements contradictory and nonsensical? Or is it just me?

[Thanh-BKK]

First the Kawasaki motorcycles build in Thailand still need to be imported into Thailand. Some people suggested that Kawasaki is running a small line inside Thai borders and therefore not need to pay the import duty. But to make things clear the source of the motorcycle has nothing to do with the registration of the bike.

Anyone else find the above statements contradictory and nonsensical? Or is it just me?

Hi

This is Thailand and it DOES make sense. A product could be "produced in Thailand but exclusively for export", meaning said product, although "Made in Thailand", is not available here at all. To get it, yes, you have to import it, as stupid as it sounds.

My example is the complete range of "Midland Alan" CB radios. All of them, every single one, is "Made in Thailand". But IN Thailand you can't get them regardless how much you are willing to pay. So - you need to import them. And, to top it off, USING them inside Thailand is - ILLEGAL.

Best regards.....

Thanh

PS what's the tally on a circa 30+ year old motorbike of a brand that likely does NOT show up on the custom's list, a brand that doesn't exit anymore since some 24 years?

[Richard-BKK]

Hi Thanh,

The problem with bikes older then 10-years is that it is up to the custom officer what discount you get, and a 24-year or 30-year old motorcycle can gain value as classic/oldtimer motorcycle.

Also you need to be aware that getting license plates for a 24 to 30-year old motorcycle is close to impossible (especially if it is the 2-stroke Zundap I expect you want to import).