Toyota Thailand loses court case over import tax on parts for Prius
The Supreme Court’s Tax Litigation Division on Thursday ruled against Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) in its legal battle against Thailand’s Customs and Revenue Departments.
The verdict stated that TMT was not eligible for exemption or reduction of taxes and duties for its import of parts for the local production of its Prius hybrid model.
TMT’s import of parts for some 20,000 Prius cars was instead subjected to an 80 per cent import tax, estimated at 11 billion baht, the court ruled.
TMT testified that between 2010 and 2012, it had imported car parts into Thailand for the production of Prius sedans. TMT was convinced that the imports were eligible for reduction and exemption of import taxes under the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA).
The plaintiff asked the court to revoke the demand for full import taxes.
In June 2015, TMT filed its lawsuit with the Central Tax Court against the agencies. The court ruled in favour of TMT in September 2017, but the verdict was later overturned after an appeal from the agencies.
TMT’s subsequent appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeals, so the company took the case to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that TMT had imported all the parts for the reassembly of complete Prius cars, so it was not eligible for reduction or exemption of Customs tax and import tariff under the JTEPA.
