GOVT IMPOSES 6% LEVY ON ‘DUBAIS’

MBABANE – It is cul-de-sac for purchasing ‘Dubais’ at bargain prices.  ‘Dubais’, as they are commonly known locally, refers to motor vehicles imported from countries outside Africa, especially Asia.    

True to his pledge to introduce an import levy on non-Southern African Customs Union (SACU) used vehicles hardly a month ago, Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini has already imposed a three and six per cent levy, respectively.
The levy, which came into effect from the beginning of March, has been imposed strictly on all motor vehicles being imported into the kingdom from outside the region in terms of Legal Notice number 35 of 2018.
Dlamini, in exercise of powers conferred by Section Three of the Import and Control Order of 1976, explained that the three per cent of total value will be imposed on every motor vehicle that is six to 10 years old.
For a motor vehicle that is 11 to 15 years old, a levy of six per cent of free on board value will be charged.

In terms of the notice which may be cited as the Imported Motor Vehicle Levy of 2018, an imported motor vehicle means a motor vehicle imported outside SACU.
A ‘Dubai’ motor services dealer, based at the Matsapha Industrial Sites who preferred to be quoted only as Mohamed, said news of the import levy were not good for their business. He said they would be forced to hike prices to accommodate the newly imposed levy. He projected a drastic decline in ‘Dubai’ motor vehicle sales in the long term as buyers were likely to opt for vehicles produced within the SACU region.   

 
“The consumers will suffer at the end. Now that government has already imposed the levy, we have no choice but to increase prices,” said Mohamed.
The businessman also said they felt like the move was intended at boosting the shrinking SACU revenues considering that it was announced by Dlamini during the 2018/19 Budget Speech and gazetted within weeks after the budget was delivered.

It should be mentioned that SACU remains one of government’s major sources of revenue.
By his own admission when delivering the budget, Dlamini said revenue was expected to increase by two per cent in 2018/19 to E16.7 billion, excluding grants primarily due to the introduction of policies expected to be implemented in 2018/19, which were aimed at reducing reliance on SACU revenue, including the imported motor vehicles levy.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: