KRA Vehicle Auctions: The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced that it will auction 438 cars by May 15. The auction will done if their importers fail to clear them.
The cars that are slated for auctioning include high-end brands such as Range Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser V8, Land Cruiser VX and BMW X5.
According to a report that appeared in a local daily on Monday, KRA last month reviewed its valuation schedule — the Current Retail Selling Price (CRSP) formula — which saw the prices of many models of vehicles rise sharply, causing some dealers to abandon their cars at the port. The local daily quoted one of the retailers whose cars are stuck at the port of Kilindini saying:
“Most of us clear the cars as we sell and when the clearance bills just shoot up suddenly, it makes no business sense to even try marketing the car since no one will buy. It is only in Kenya where you buy a used car from Japan and then its clearance cost almost matches the buying price.”
The report further breaks down the fees that car importers are being asked to pay by KRA.
Calculation of import duty to be paid for every used car model is being based on the CRSP, which is then adjusted for depreciation at the rate of 10 per cent per year. “The CRSP captures the estimated price of a brand new version of a vehicle an importer purchases. The KRA then relies on the estimated price to calculate the various duties and levies charged on imported units. The levies include import duty, excise tax, Value Added Tax, import licence (IDF) and Railway Development Levy. Importers are also required to pay a registration fee, port charges and a Maritime Levy, all of which in most cases vary according to the vehicle configuration (left or right hand drive, the fuel it uses as well as its mode of transmission) (manual or automatic) or any other enhancements,” says the report.
Cars for auction in Japan available on http://www.carimports.co.ke