‘No single hybrid vehicle customs-cleared since tax hike’

AMMAN — Not one hybrid car has been cleared by customs since the recent government decision to cancel a tax exemption on such vehicles, stakeholders said.

Hybrid car buyers used to pay a reduced special sales tax of 25 per cent of the price instead of 55 per cent for regular fuel cars. 

The government decided to cancel the exemptions in 2012, but the decision has been always postponed since then. This year, the government cancelled the exemptions and added another tax on weight of all cars ranging between JD500 to JD1,500.

The new tax hikes, which took effect February 1, raised the prices of hybrid cars between JD4,000 and JD8,000, the Jordan Free Zone Investor Commission (JFZIC) President Nabeel Rumman told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

“No hybrid car has been customs-cleared since the beginning of this month, and we expect zero turnout in the future,” said the president.

The president said the move is “not feasible” for the government, stakeholders or residents as the tax is “too high”, added Rumman.

Rumman called on the government to extend the tax exemption, as it would have positive impact on the national economy with direct revenues to the Treasury.

New taxes on hybrid cars increased by 150-200 per cent, he said.

According to statistics from JFZIC, the number of hybrid cars in 2017 reached 31,500

Mohammad Yousef, who works at a clearance company, said the company has not received any customer to clear a hybrid vehicle since the decision.

The weight tax ranges between JD300 to JD1,500, which also contributed to the drop in the sales of regular fuel vehicles, according to Yousef.

Nasser, a car dealer, called for cancelling the decision which, he described as “irrational”, as “the hike is too high and increased the some prices of popular hybrid cars by up to JD10,000.”

“Stakeholders were taken by surprise as they were not notified of the cancelation of tax exemption,” Nasser said.

“For me, I stopped importing hybrid cars all together and I will not as long as the decision is in place,” the dealer stressed. 

He said that he contacted senior officials and called for cancelling the decision, but they rejected the appeal and assured him that the turnout would “get back to normal” within six or seven months.

The Environment Ministry has no role in preventing the cancellation of eco-friendly vehicles, he added.