Over 2,800 cars with foreign registration legalized in Ukraine under new rules – Fiscal Service

Customs of the State Fiscal Service (SFS) of Ukraine from November 25, 2018 to February 22 cleared over 218,000 motor vehicles with foreign registration plates under new preferential rules, that is a 50% discount on excise tax.

"The grace period for the reduced excise tax rate for customs clearance of vehicles ended on February 22. All declarations submitted by citizens before 24:00 on the last day of the grace period will be processed and registered by the SFS within the preferential regime... Since the beginning of the grace period for customs clearance of cars (November 25, 2018), more than 218,000 vehicles have been legalized by customs as of February 24, 2019," the SFS press service said.

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Over the said period, UAH 13.5 billion (US$ 500 million) in customs payments were channeled into the national budget, the report said.

In total, 700 vehicles with foreign registration plates have undergone customs clearance procedures on February 22 alone, it said.

Citizens were most active in terms of customs clearance of their vehicles in Kyiv region (24,103 cars), Volyn region (15,443 cars), Zakarpattia region (12,094 cars), Lviv region (11,163 cars), and Chernivtsi region (10,652 cars)," the SFS press service said on February 25.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the laws of Ukraine on introducing amendments to the Tax and Customs Codes regarding the reduction of excise tax on passenger cars and increased control over the movement and use of cars with foreign registration plates came into force on November 25.

The legislation introduced basic excise rates depending on the type of the engine and its displacement.

Used cars that had already been brought into Ukraine's customs territory without customs clearance before the introduction of the said laws were subject to a 0.5 coefficient to calculate the tax rate for customs clearance within 90 days after the laws became effective.

Owners of cars with foreign registration plates repeatedly held protests in Ukraine. They demanded that the government reduce the cost of customs clearance of their cars and stop putting pressure on them.