Car importer laments wrong tax calculation

Hyundai Thanh Cong Auto JSC is saying the Ba Ria-Vung Tau customs has calculated tariffs for its new imported cars based on prices higher than their actual import prices.

According to Sai Gon Tiep Thi Newspaper, Hyundai Thanh Cong, the official distributor of South Korea’s Hyundai Auto in Vietnam, said it had imported 240 new cars which arrived in Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Cai Mep Port between May and July.

The provincial customs agency then calculated the taxes for these cars based on values higher than the prices Hyundai Thanh Cong declared, the company said.

For instance, it declared the import price of a Veloster AT 1.6 car to be $6,020, but the customs used a new figure: $7,860.

Hyundai Thanh Cong said the price difference ranged from $500 to $1,800 per unit, which increased the tariffs it had to pay. But the Ba Ria – Vung Tau customs said the values it used were based on the prices of these cars in South Korea.

In response, Hyundai Thanh Cong said such reference was inaccurate. It said the imported cars had lower prices than those used in South Korea because they are of lower quality.

For instance, cars in South Korea have Euro4 standard engines while those exported to Vietnam only have Euro2 engines.

Hyundai Thanh Cong said another important reason explaining the lower prices of the imported cars was that Hyundai Korea had applied a 5 per cent discount to them as incentives for large contracts.

Earlier Hyundai Thanh Cong also imported another batch of cars and the customs had accepted its declared prices.