Thai government to slap CO2 tax on ‘big bikes’

PHOTO: bigbiketours.com

The Thai Excise Department is poised to boost the tax on “big bikes” by 100,000 baht starting at the beginning of next year. The new tax will reflect motorcycle CO2 emissions.

The director of the department’s Bureau of Tax Planning, Nutthakorn Utensute, says the Cabinet will adjust the tax increase for high-powered motorcycles based on their CO2 emissions, rather than engine size, as originally proposed as a tax on higher-powered motorbikes.

The new tax rates can represent 3, 5, 9 or 18% of the purchase value, varying according to CO2 emissions.

The tax increases will apply to motorbikes manufactured or imported on and after January 1, 2020. Bikes with engines of 150 cc or less, probably 90% of all motorcycles in the country, will attract an additional tax around 1000 baht, representing an increase from 2.5 to 3% of the retail or import price.

But ‘big bikes’ with engines of 1,000cc or more will be taxed an extra 100,000 baht due to their higher fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Nutthakorn says… “The higher tax on big bikes will not affect most owners since they’re worth more than Bt1 million, which means the owners can afford it. The big bike has become more popular in Thailand, but still only represent 2-3% of the total number of motorcycles here.”

Nutthakorn said that if manufacturers do not reduce their CO2 emissions, the Excise Department will slap buyers with further increases of up to 700 million baht per annum.

SOURCE: The Nation