Excise duty on a car

In doing so, it is irrelevant whether the imported passenger car is new or used and whether it came to us from Germany or arrived from the USA.

However, whether a car is a truck or a passenger car is determined by its technical condition. According to the tax authorities, a lorry cannot have, for example, rear seats, seat belts and other attributes standard for a passenger vehicle. The presence of belts, windows, handles, handles, ventilation or holes in the floor for fixing seats determines the classification of a vehicle as a passenger car.

It should be added that the removal of the rear row of seats does not disqualify the car as a passenger car.

In accordance with the provision Article 100 of the Act of 6 December 2008 on Excise Duty, the subject of excise duty is:

And so: when importing a car from outside the EU, the obligation to pay excise duty arises on the same date on which the so-called customs debt is incurred in accordance with customs legislation.

The taxable base is then, in principle, the customs value of the car plus the duty payable.

However, in the case of an intra-Community acquisition, the tax base is the purchase price of the passenger car and the tax liability, in accordance with Article 101(2) of the Excise Duty Act arises on:

In the case of the sale of an unregistered passenger car in Poland, the tax obligation arises from the date of its release to the buyer, and in the case of operations such as conversion or donation, from the date of the execution of these operations.

The rate of excise duty on passenger cars is determined by Article 105 of the Excise Duty Act. It amounts to:

It is important to remember, that if the price of a car on a contract or invoice is underestimated, thus attracting the attention of a customs official, he or she may take the valuation of the vehicle made by programmes such as Eurotax or Audatex as the basis for calculating excise duty.

The competent authority for the settlement of excise duty is the head of the customs office as the first instance and the director of the customs chamber as the appeal authority. Their territorial jurisdiction is determined according to the place where the activity is performed or where the facts generating the tax liability occur.

Completion of formalities for payment of excise duties on cars can be complicated for people who do not deal with such issues on a daily basis. However, these are routine activities for solicitorsIt is therefore worth approaching them to avoid committing misconduct.