Sri Lanka Customs has reportedly detained nearly 1,000 Chinese-made BYD electric vehicles due to an issue with the motor capacity used for tax calculation.
Accordingly, Sri Lanka Customs has detained 6 consignments of BYD electric vehicles. All of them were imported into Sri Lanka this month.
Motor capacity issue: Although the motor capacity in the documents submitted to Customs is stated as 100 kilowatts (100kW), it is suspected that these vehicles generate an average of 150 kilowatts (150kW). This has become a problem as the motor capacity directly affects the tax calculation for vehicles in Sri Lanka.
The tax payable for a 100kW car is Rs. 2.4 million. For a 150kW car, this amount increases to Rs. 5.4 million. This issue was raised in Parliament by Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Mujibur Rahman last week.
Thus, if a 150kW vehicle is declared as 100kW, there could be a tax shortfall of about Rs. 3 million per vehicle. According to an official source, if the tax for a 150kW car is levied on a 100kW vehicle, a consumer will have to pay an additional Rs. 4 million.