A large chunk of what you pay for a new car in South Africa is tax.
This is according to feedback from Naamsa, who spoke to TopAuto about taxes on new car sales in the country.
There are several taxes which are implemented when a new car is sold, and these can be split into five main sections:
- Value Added Tax (VAT) – 15%
- Ad Valorem Tax – Calculated on a per-vehicle basis
- CO2 emissions tax – 2.5%-6%
- Import duty on new vehicles – 25%
- Import duty on new components – 20%
Ad Valorem Tax is described as a luxury excise tax that exponentially increases with the price of the vehicle.
CO2 emissions tax was implemented in 2010, and increases with the amount of fuel a vehicle consumes.
New cars, including SUVs, have a threshold of 120g/km – and a tax rate of R120 per gram of carbon dioxide per kilometre above the threshold applies.
Double-cab bakkies then have a threshold of 175g/km, with a tax rate R160 per g/km above this.
“The tax burden on consumers in South Africa is very high and Naamsa’s calculations show that the tax payable on a premium vehicle could be as high as 42% of the price of the vehicle, and on entry-level vehicles around 18%.”
Tax paid on a Toyota Hilux Xtra Cab
To see how much tax South Africans pay on a car, we used the example of a Toyota Hilux 2.4 GD-6 Xtra Cab Raider that retails for R471,500.
Certain information on taxes payable is not available to the public, but Naamsa provided us with an estimation of what they calculated the taxes on this Hilux will be.
“The tax on the Toyota Hilux could be in the order of 30% considering VAT of 15%, Ad valorem duty based on a formula of 9%, and specific portion of the import duty of 25%,” replied Naamsa.
This means roughly R141,450 in tax makes up the sale price of R471,500.
While this is a big chunk of the price, buying a double-cab would see you pay even more tax.
“There are no requirement for emission tax on LCV vehicles that are not double-cab models, so this Xtra-Cab model does not have emission tax.”
This alludes to the fact that if we were to buy a double-cab Hilux for same price, taxes would have been between 2.5% and 6% higher.
“The taxes are cumulative, which means the one is on top of the others,” said Naamsa.
Keyword: How much tax you pay on a Toyota Hilux