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18 February 2016 Issue 3-2016
Tax changes to hit car sales in Japan M
arques in Japan have warned plans to replace – rather than abolish – a tax on people buying vehicles will undermine justifications to keep domestic production in place to serve a shrinking market. The government wants to phase out acquisition tax, which is currently paid on all new-vehicle purchases, when consumption tax jumps by two per cent to 10 per cent in April 2017. It will instead introduce a variable tax of up to three per cent on new cars depending
on their fuel-efficiency ratings. Fumihiko Ike, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (JAMA), describes the new levy as nothing more than replacing an existing tax. At the moment, car buyers pay two or three per cent of the purchase price in acquisition tax, which is separate from sales tax. “We have been asking the government to stop this dual taxation,” says Ike. “This is because consumers will still have to pay in addition to sales tax. The burden on car owners won’t be eased.” Revenue from acquisition
tax totals about 110 billion yen a year, while the new system is expected to raise around 89b yen annually. Since municipal governments pocket about 70 per cent of this revenue, local governments want an alternative revenue source when it’s abolished. People who buy environmentally friendly cars that do not emit greenhouse gases – such as electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles – will be exempt from the new tax. Rates for other cars will vary from one to three per cent based
In this issue p5 Toyota tops global ladder p7 Tribute to Michael Dossor p12 Spotlight on Wellington p14 Emissions recalls start p18 Dealer fobbed off buyer p25 Record sales for month
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Door to used imports stays shut
A
ustralia’s government has confirmed the country’s borders will remain closed to the importation of used vehicles on a similar scale to New Zealand. It will, however, allow people to personally import one new or almost new car or motorbike every two years subject to strict criteria. It has also unveiled revised procedures for specialist vehicles through changes to the Motor Vehicle
Standards Act (MVSA) and will scrap the special duty on used imports. The changes will come into effect in 2018 after Ford, Holden and Toyota have closed their production lines across the Tasman. “While the government is improving schemes under which used cars that meet criteria have long been able to be imported – and will continue to be able to be imported – it is not making any general changes
to rules for used cars,” says Paul Fletcher, Minister for Major Projects. “As it announced in late 2015 in its response to the Harper Review, the government has decided not to proceed with reducing parallelimport restrictions on secondhand cars.” More than one million new vehicles are sold in Australia annually with about 10 per cent being manufactured in the country.
Rivalling luxury competitors
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GLOBAL VEHICLE LOGISTICS NZ - JAPAN - AUSTRALIA - UK - EUROPE
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