Importers of second hand cars have sued the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) over new CRSP values. The importers under the umbrella Car Importers Association of Kenya (CIAK) says that the KRA ignored public participation and acted unilaterally when publishing the new CRSP.
In a case that has been filed at the High Court in Mombasa, they say that the KRA also omitted a significant portion of vehicle models in the new CRSP values which will now leave taxation discretion in the hands of customs officers. They further allege that the new CRSP schedule will benefit new vehicle dealers and other assemblers while marginalizing independent importers of used units.
“Stakeholders were never given the opportunity to challenge or explain these regressive valuations due to lack of participation in the CRSP development,” CIAK told the court in its petition. “The implementation of the new CRSP values in its current form serves to entrench social and economic inequality by making essential tools of mobility and economic participation the exclusive preserve of the wealthy elite.”
KRA had earlier on announced that it will start using the new CRSP values for used motor vehicles on July 1. According to a notice that was issued by the Commissioner for Customs and Border Control, the new CRSP values will be used in determining the customs value for all imported used vehicles.
“The Kenya Revenue Authority wishes to inform the public that, effective 1st July, 2025, a new Current Retail Selling Price schedule will be applied in the computation of customs value for used motor vehicles imported into the country. This follows an extensive stakeholder engagement with stakeholders to ensure that the new CRSP factors in their feedback,” the taxman said in a notice.
“The updated CRSP list has been published on the taxman’s website. Importers and other stakeholders are therefore encouraged to visit the page and familiarize themselves with the new list and acquaint themselves with the changes.”
The current template has been in use since 2019. The CRSP is used by the taxman to set taxes on imported vehicles. It focuses on the value of a brand new when sold in Kenya, less the amount of depreciation, profit margin and taxes.
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Under the new template, duty on imported second hand vehicles will rise and fall depending on the market value. This means that instead of relying on a fixed price, the new template will rely on the actual price that was paid for the vehicle for accuracy and fairness, which will require production of the sale invoice. The impact of the new duty will see some vehicles sell at lower prices.
At the same time, vehicle models that were not captured in the 2019 schedule will now have their duty on the new schedule. The Mazda CX3 that has a petrol engine with 2,000cc has been widely cited as one of the models with inflated duty because it is not captured by the 2019 schedule.
The 2025 CRSP list includes over 5,200 unique vehicle models, a significant increase from the approximately 3,000 models listed in 2019. Unlike the previous list, which was mainly based on engine size and drive type, the new list reflects detailed model specifications, including trim levels and performance metrics.
However, said KRA, some newer models are still missing due to data unavailability in Japanese Yearbooks and Goo-net.
