‘Luxury cars declared at way below real value, costing state billions’

[rooster59]

‘Luxury cars declared at way below real value, costing state billions’

By The Nation

 

 

A LUXURY car importer allegedly cost |the country Bt2.4 billion due to tax evasion, authorities said yesterday.

 

Deputy permanent secretary at the Justice Ministry, Pol Colonel Dusadee Arawuit told a press conference there were grounds to suspect that Niche Car Group declared the price of a luxury car far below the actual price to avoid paying taxes. “We have already seized 122 vehicles from the firm,” he said. 

 

Department of Special Investigation (DSI) deputy chief Pol Lt Colonel Korrawat Panprapakorn said Niche Car Group had, for example, declared that it imported a Lamborghini from Italy at the price of just US$105,000 or about Bt3.4 million when the actual price was 286,000 euros or about Bt12 million. 

 

“It has declared the lower price so as to avoid paying 328 per-cent tax rate,” Korrawat said. He said the DSI would pursue legal actions against all involved in such tax-evasion schemes. “Records show some 10,000 luxury cars have been imported this way,” he said. 

 

Dusadee estimated such wrongdoing may cost the government more than Bt10 billion in lost revenue each year. 

 

DSI official Noppadon Rattanasathin said probes into 7,123 vehicles declared as assembled locally suggested grounds to believe more than half were related to some form of illegal activity. 

 

“Suspected offenders include local politicians, policemen, customs officials, former land transport officials and importers,” he said. 

 

Currently, the owners of 73 vehicles had ignored a DSI summons related to inquiries into whether their vehicles were illegal or linked to tax evasion. So, the DSI warned people to be careful about buying a luxury car, as they might end up getting a vehicle linked to tax evasion and have to pay huge taxes later.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30315746

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-05-20

[impulse]

Funny how they were featured in a BKK Post article earlier in the week, focusing on importing used supercars.

 

The guy stated that around 500 new supercars are sold each year, so 10,000 illegal cars would be a 20 year supply.

 

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson:  Doh.

[janclaes47]

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

Funny how they were featured in a BKK Post article earlier in the week, focusing on importing used supercars.

 

The guy stated that around 500 new supercars are sold each year, so 10,000 illegal cars would be a 20 year supply.

 

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson:  Doh.

He said 10.000 luxury cars, instead of super cars...........Doh

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

He said 10.000 luxury cars, instead of super cars...........Doh

 

Good point.  

 

Edit:  But I still stand by my characterization of this as a Homer Simpson moment for the authorities here.

Edited May 20, 2017 by impulse

[Don Mega]

If the import taxes were set at realistic level there would be no need to circumvent the system, its not as though these high end car imports would have any effect on the local auto industry.

[shady86]

Thai customs should be able to check the actual value during import especially for high value commodity like this. Definitely an inside job.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[impulse]

30 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

So, the DSI warned people to be careful about buying a luxury car, as they might end up getting a vehicle linked to tax evasion and have to pay huge taxes later.

 

This is one of those things that scares me about retiring to Thailand.  If I buy an imported car from a licensed dealer, thinking in good faith that the taxes have been paid, why would I get hit with tax evasion, huge taxes and potential confiscation if my side of the documentation is clear?

 

One more huge financial liability based on the vagaries of Thai laws and their enforcement.

 

[bristolgeoff]

the high import tax on these vehicles make they real value double.no wonder anyone will try to avoid the tax 

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, bristolgeoff said:

the high import tax on these vehicles make they real value double.no wonder anyone will try to avoid the tax 

 

True.  But it's one thing if you're sneaking in high value items that will never be scrutinized.  That just requires a crooked importer and a crooked or incompetent customs official.

 

But there are so many steps in the procedure where a car's paperwork (and serial numbers) are scrutinized that it requires a string of corruption (or incompetence) to get and keep a dodgy one on the road for year after year.

 

 

[Don Mega]

13 minutes ago, bristolgeoff said:

the high import tax on these vehicles make they real value double.no wonder anyone will try to avoid the tax 

I reckon the 328% tax more than doubles the vehicles value.

[Woodsie888]

The grey market dealers won't be selling too many cars this weekend!

[Don Mega]

36 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

This is one of those things that scares me about retiring to Thailand.  If I buy an imported car from a licensed dealer, thinking in good faith that the taxes have been paid, why would I get hit with tax evasion, huge taxes and potential confiscation if my side of the documentation is clear?

 

One more huge financial liability based on the vagaries of Thai laws and their enforcement.

 

Ive a friend who purchased a high end import, supposedly all the paperwork looked to be legit and in order. It was not and even after paying a big wedge to sort the import taxes and make  the vehicle legit it now sits hidden to avoid seizure whilst looking at options to export it back to his home country.

[janclaes47]

4 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Ive a friend who purchased a high end import, supposedly all the paperwork looked to be legit and in order. It was not and even after paying a big wedge to sort the import taxes and make  the vehicle legit it now sits hidden to avoid seizure whilst looking at options to export it back to his home country.

If he purchased a high end import, then how would he be able to export it BACK to his home country?

 

To me that reads as if he imported and not purchased.

[Don Mega]

7 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

If he purchased a high end import, then how would he be able to export it BACK to his home country?

 

To me that reads as if he imported and not purchased.

He bought it here and it turned out to be dodgy, he has spent a huge amount of money trying to make it legit, Customs now want to seize it so it has been hidden whilst he looks at ways to export it back out so as to not lose all the money outlayed.

 

Which part of that is causing you confusion ?

[IMA_FARANG]

This is Thailand.

If you have the money and the political clout  there  are always ways to cheat the law.

Such as taking parts of a luxury car, importing them as spare parts , and them then putting them back on the same luxury car in Thailand.

That avoids the tax on luxury cars, as there is a much lower rate on spare auto parts than fully assembled vehicles.

[clockman]

Customs department, second most corrupt, Never investigated, Must have powerful friends?

[Naam]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

This is one of those things that scares me about retiring to Thailand.  If I buy an imported car from a licensed dealer, thinking in good faith that the taxes have been paid, why would I get hit with tax evasion, huge taxes and potential confiscation if my side of the documentation is clear?

 

One more huge financial liability based on the vagaries of Thai laws and their enforcement.

 

when you buy a grey import from a licensed dealer you can get on demand comprehensive documents stating clearly the cif import value of the car and how much import duties and VAT were paid. both papers issued by Thai government authorities!

[Woodsie888]

8 minutes ago, Naam said:

when you buy a grey import from a licensed dealer you can get on demand comprehensive documents stating clearly the cif import value of the car and how much import duties and VAT were paid. both papers issued by Thai government authorities!

After looking at the documents, it will become very obvious that the vehicle was undervalued for customs purposes too.

[PremiumLane]

45 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

He bought it here and it turned out to be dodgy, he has spent a huge amount of money trying to make it legit, Customs now want to seize it so it has been hidden whilst he looks at ways to export it back out so as to not lose all the money outlayed.

 

Which part of that is causing you confusion ?

"...after paying a big wedge to sort the import taxes and make  the vehicle legit"

 

That part, if he has made it legit why would he be worried about them seizing it? It is either legit or it isn't. 

[Naam]

1 hour ago, bristolgeoff said:

the high import tax on these vehicles make they real value double.no wonder anyone will try to avoid the tax 

all importe vehicles are subject to a high import tax, not just "these" vehicles.

[worgeordie]

Anybody think that the Customs officers that cleared those cars,

are going to be investigated,just another "honest" mistake.

 

regards worgeordie

[Don Mega]

20 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

"...after paying a big wedge to sort the import taxes and make  the vehicle legit"

 

That part, if he has made it legit why would he be worried about them seizing it? It is either legit or it isn't. 

I do not know the finer details but it is my understanding the money went to the importer (dealer was not the importer) to make things legit and this did not come to fruition, making a dodgy import legit goes beyond a "Hi Customs. whoopsie, my bad, here's the money owed" and palms need to be greased to help the process.

 

To summarize, he paid well over the odds  and is left with a car that is dodgy..... hindsite he would have been better to buy something correctly imported but this vehicle was priced well and on face value all the paperwork looked legit, or so iam told.

[tomwct]

Sounds like a good scam for the rich and powerful including politicians, police, and military. This has probably been going on for

30-40 years. I wonder why it took so long to catch them, but at least there doing something now? Amazing Thailand.

[impulse]

3 hours ago, Naam said:

when you buy a grey import from a licensed dealer you can get on demand comprehensive documents stating clearly the cif import value of the car and how much import duties and VAT were paid. both papers issued by Thai government authorities!

 

I'm not doubting that's true.  But the case in the OP seems to indicate the import documents reflect an import price of $105,000 when the "actual price" (?) was 286,000 Euro.

 

Given that the importer and the dealer (may be one and the same, may not) are going to make a profit, and there may be significant local expense to restore the vehicle up to showroom standards, how would a purchaser know that $105,000 wasn't the actual import price?

 

Seems like someone's on the hook for 300+% of the difference between $105K USD and 286K Euro, plus any penalties and interest.  By my math, that's well over $500K USD, plus, plus.  Ouch.

 

Or have I slipped a decimal?

 

Edited May 20, 2017 by impulse

[hansnl]

5 hours ago, Don Mega said:

If the import taxes were set at realistic level there would be no need to circumvent the system, its not as though these high end car imports would have any effect on the local auto industry.

368 percent is a mite high, methinks.

In fact it is silly.

[Naam]

37 minutes ago, impulse said:

how would a purchaser know that $105,000 wasn't the actual import price?

within the last 10 years i have bought three imports, two vintage ones and a new one. having a small problem registering one of the vintage imports i made sure to get correct documentation for the new grey import. it did not take more than a few minutes to check wether the reported price on the customs document tallied with the dealer price in the country of origin ex VAT plus freight and insurance. i also think that somebody who buys a Lamborghini knows bloody well that $105k for the cheapest model is not kosher. 

[DrTuner]

328% tax. That's got to be criminal. Or at the very least insane.

[Naam]

36 minutes ago, hansnl said:

368 percent is a mite high, methinks.

In fact it is silly.

 

This Is Thailand if you think "only in Thailand" check car prices in Singapore!

 

[MaxLee]

Anybody think that the Customs officers that cleared those cars,

are going to be investigated,just another "honest" mistake.

 

regards worgeordie

Yep, just another international public relation stunt to show the world, "that Thailand is doing something about corruption...", until of course things are forgotten and secretly rugged under the carpet,... oh amazing Thailand.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Jonmarleesco]

Difficult to understand how a car declared at a value that far below its true worth should have managed to evade the 'sharp eyes' of customs' finest. Unless, heaven forbid, there were some under-the-table goings on.