Bus importer floats duty deal with govt
Bestlin Group, the firm contracted to procure 489 natural gas for vehicle (NGV) airconditioned buses to the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), yesterday proposed a deal with the Finance Ministry amid fears it might be ineligible for a 40% import duty exemption for the buses.
The firm said the government stands to pay 3.3 billion baht to buy the vehicles, with the sum still outstanding. Bestlin asked that in the event the vehicles are not eligible for the 40% import duty exemption and an additional duty is incurred, the government should deduct the extra duty from the hiring cost it has to pay the firm.
Bestlin Group president Kanist Srivachiraprapa said yesterday the company was preparing to submit a formal request for the proposed deal to both the BMTA and the ministry.
This would be the best possible solution to the problem as the company had invested more than one billion baht in supplying the buses to the BMTA but had not yet been paid for the job, Mr Kanist said.
The firm’s move came after the Customs Department impounded the first lot of 100 buses which arrived at Laem Chabang port on Dec 1.
According to the department, the vehicles were imported with a document asserting the vehicles originally came from an Asean country, or the so-called “Form D”, which means the buses would be exempt from import duty under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta).
However, customs officials believe the buses were not manufactured in Malaysia, as claimed, but came from China, and should not be subject to tax exemption.
If the vehicles were made in Malaysia as claimed, they would be eligible for a 40% import duty exemption, or 1.2 million baht each.
The vehicles have been impounded pending an investigation into the origin of the buses and the import duty.
“The government should first seek to get the seized buses out for use to serve passengers. And if it is proved later the company must pay extra import duty, the amount can be deducted [from the hiring cost],” he said.
The Customs Department is an organisation under the ministry, so the company thought the proposed arrangement would be possible, he said.
He said Bestlin was not in a position to verify the Form D document that was issued by the Malaysian authorities and has to trust them. Also, the company was not responsible for verifying the actual origin of the buses which came from R&A Commercial Vehicle Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian automaker.