New Customs Duty for imported electric cars!

At the end of last June, a new tax regulation was announced that will directly affect the price of electric cars. With the new regulation published in the Official Gazette today, additional tax will be charged on imported electric car models.

Additional tax came to imported electric car models!

Prior to the regulation made in June, an SCT of 10 percent was levied on electric vehicles whose engine power did not exceed 85 kW, 25 percent on those with 85 kW to 120 kW, and 60 percent on those with 120 kW and above.

After the regulation, the new tax rate was determined as 10 percent for electric cars whose engine power does not exceed 160 kW and whose Special Consumption Tax base does not exceed 700 thousand TL, and 40 percent for others. In addition, it has been decided to take an SCT of 50 percent for vehicles with an engine power exceeding 160 kW, that is, targeting a slightly more performance and luxury class, if the Special Consumption Tax base does not exceed 750 thousand TL, and 60 percent for others.

This was announced as an incentive to lower the price of many electric cars. For vehicles below 160 kW, which are currently 10 percent SCT, 60 percent SCT was taken in the previous period. In addition, 18 percent VAT was added to this price. Therefore, the high SCT affects the price both directly and due to VAT.

With the President’s decision published in the Official Gazette today, an addition was made to the regulation in June. Accordingly, an additional 10 percent customs duty will be applied to imported electric cars. Since the cars produced in Turkey are domestic, they will not be affected by this additional customs tax.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered the questions put to him by the journalists in the program he attended on TRT on July 25. There was also a question here about the price of Togg or whether there would be an incentive for the tax to be applied.

In response, Erdogan said that incentives were offered for many electric cars, including Togg, by reducing the tax rate to 10 percent for electric cars whose engine power does not exceed 160 kW and whose excise tax base does not exceed 700 thousand TL.

However, after the regulation made today, domestically produced cars, including Togg, will have more advantageous prices compared to their imported competitors. The post in the Official Gazette is as follows:

It has been decided to enter into force of the Decision on Amending the Decision Regarding the Implementation of Additional Customs Duty on Imports, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 1567, Article 2 of Law No. 474, Articles 16, 22 and 55 of Law No. 4458, and Law No. 2976.

• Article 1- The following line has been added to the Annex-1 table attached to the decision on the Implementation of Additional Customs Duty on Imports, which was put into effect with the President’s Decision dated 31/12/2020 and numbered 3351.

• Article 2- This Decision enters into force on the fifteenth day following its publication.
• Article 3- The provisions of this Decision are executed by the Minister of Commerce.

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