Imported ' big ' bikes and Customs and Excise

[finnomick]

I hope I don't upset admin., but I've just posted a lengthy report on what happened to me at the Prakhon Chai Customs and Excise office today. I've posted it on www.GT-Rider.com under the ' general discussion ' forum. It should be of great interest to anyone who is riding or thinking of buying an imported bike.

[Admin]

Wouldn't it be better to post it in HERE that people can read it instead of send them to dig in sub menu of another site?! Just a suggestment of course! 
Photos are welcome.

[finnomick]

Sorry Admin., I DID say I hoped I wouldn't upset you -- the reason I posted it elsewhere is because it was relevant to another region. Now, if you could tell me how to transfer the post I'd gladly do it because the information contained therein is VERY important -- it was a very lengthy post too.

[nico]

copy-paste

[Admin]

Sorry Admin., I DID say I hoped I wouldn't upset you -- the reason I posted it elsewhere is because it was relevant to another region. Now, if you could tell me how to transfer the post I'd gladly do it because the information contained therein is VERY important -- it was a very lengthy post too.

copy-paste

*** A word of Warning to ALL riders and buyers of ' BIG ' imported bikes ***
A follow-up tale about the HONDA GB400TT Special Edition I recently bought, and a word of WARNING too.....
Some people may know about a new law being used by the Thai Customs and Excise -- most of you probably won't......and it doesn't matter a jot if you are a foreigner or a Thai rider !!! The new law came into force last year. If you buy an imported " BIG " bike, DO NOT buy it ' on invoice ' without very close ( Thai literate ) scrutiny. Someone selling a bike with invoice may well have paid the import duty, but you need to check thoroughly if they have ALSO paid the EXCISE DUTY. I thought ( wrongly ) that they were one and the same -- THEY ARE NOT !!! So, being a law abiding retiree here, I got my wife to phone the Customs and Excise office to ask them how we could go about paying the excise duty. Within the hour, Customs and Excise ' swooped ' onto our house/shop/property and out jumped 5 Customs and Excise officials. They photographed my new pride and joy Honda GB400TT Special Edition, and used masking tape to take the frame and engine numbers. Because WE had phoned them, they said they would not impound the bike but would expect us to visit their office very soon. However, and here is the painful bit -- the NEW Customs and Excise law brought into force last year is to fine non - excise duty payers up to 5 times the excise duty ( especially Bangkok etc ). Once you have paid the fine, you must then pay the actual excise duty too. AND it doesn't matter if you are of Thai origin either, the new law applies to EVERYONE.
So, off we went to the local Customs and Excise office accompanied by the wife of the guy who sold us the bike ( you may remember from my previous report that the guy is my wife's sort-of-cousin who owns a garage and buys and sells mainly the Honda 50 type of bike ). Now, HE had bought a Yamaha 1300 XJR ' on invoice ' in Bangkok, so he was having to do the same as me because the excise duty had not been paid . Well, after 3 hours, my wife came out and gave me the thumbs-up, but what she had to go through on my behalf blew my mind. She had to be escorted by Customs and Excise officials to the main Police station where she had to pay the fine -- I didn't even know that she had been escorted from the building. They then brought her back to their office where she had to pay the actual Excise Duty. Luckily, in our area, we ONLY had to pay two times the excise duty by way of the fine. Note, my wife and her sort-of-cousin's wife were escorted to the main Police station to pay the fines seperately in two different vehicles. There's more...... The Customs and Excise officers base the excise duty on the price of a NEW BIKE, not the imported or sale price, so my Honda GB suddenly became a costly 168,600 baht. To this end, I was relieved of just under 17,000 baht. My wife's sort-of-cousin with the Yamaha XJR was not so lucky -- he had to empty 50,000 baht out of his wallet !!!
Whilst at the Customs and Excise office, my wife was informed that they already knew we had another bike, the Honda, and that we'd had it for a about a week. How ? Easy, they PAY INFORMANTS !!!!!
All this hasn't put me off the bike, but, considering the warning my wife ( and others like Franz ) gave me about buying imported bikes with no books etc., it has taught me a lesson -- no more ' on invoice ' bikes for me.
As I wrote earlier, the ' new ' law came into force last year.....and even my wife's sort-of-cousin who is a small - bike dealer didn't know of it.
Finally, a VERY BIG thankyou goes to my wife for sorting everything out -- I guess she really does love me.....

[finnomick]

thanks for that -- I tried but the ' copy ' ' paste ' on my page icon were not available....for whatever reason

[nico]

many imported bikes for sale in Thailand and i ques some people ride them too without plates, so whats the penalty if you get caught for it? Do they impound the bike or what? 

[finnomick]

If you get stopped by the Police, a fine is normal -- you should have a photocopy of ALL the import paperwork with you or they could get stroppy. However, if Customs and Excise get hold of you any you cannot show them the correct paperwork, you'll have the bike impounded until such time you pay all they ask for. Whilst in their office today, they told my wife about a policeman from Khon Kaen riding a very large bike with a value in excess of 1 million baht -- but NO excise duty paid. It cost him over 100,000 baht before he could get the bike released. It seems like they are clamping down real hard.

[Alan]

It sounds as though you did ok......17,000 is about 10% of there value on your bike. I was of the understanding that import duty ran close to 188%.

Thanks for the post and see you on the road Mate.

[finnomick]

Hello Alan,

although somewhat grieved that I actually had to pay the fine for the Excise Duty not being paid at the time of import ( instead of Customs and Excise going after the importer for the fine ) I don't feel too badly done by -- the misses will disagree with me on this point. However, one should not be confused. I had to pay the fine AND the Excise Duty but this IS NOT the Import Duty -- they are seperate items and both have to be paid which is the main reason I started the post. If you buy an imported bike ( large or small ) and the seller waives around the invoice with the Import Duty paid receipts, you may well be unaware that there is MORE to pay ! As most of us cannot read Thai, it's of the utmost importance that a Thai or a Thai literate person goes over the paperwork BEFORE you part with your money to ensure ALL taxes have been paid. If you don't, you may find that you will have to pay out a lot more for the bike than you realised, and this in itself may cost you dear if you want to sell it later on.....