Expiration of Grace Period provided from payment of the extra 25% Excise Tax on motor vehicles
April 16, 2021
The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade has announced that the application for grace extended to vehicle importers who have partially or fully made their payment for their transport between 17th November 2020 and 17th December 2020 to not pay the extra 25% Excise Tax has expired.
Importers had three weeks from the 23rd March 2021 to submit their applications. Thus since the 13th April, the Department of Trade is no longer accepting new applications.
To note, it was the Cabinet of Ministers that approved the grace period to exempt those vehicle importers from paying the 25% increase in Excise Tax, which came into effect as of the 1st January 2021.
The approval came about after the President announced in the National Assembly on 17th November 2020, that importers who have their own foreign exchange account can import their vehicles. The announcement was made at time when there was a moratorium on the importation of vehicles.
However, the moratorium was subsequently removed and replaced by the 25% increase in Excise Tax on imported vehicles, which was announced in December 2020.