DSI starts luxury vehicle inspections

DSI starts luxury vehicle inspections

Tarit says first four cars raise tax scam suspicions

The first inspections of luxury cars have confirmed suspicions about a tax evasion scam, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) says.

Officials check a Mercedes-Benz E240 to find out if it was illegally registered as a reassembled car for the owner to avoid paying expensive excise tax. APICHIT JINAKUL

The DSI began physical checks of luxury cars on Monday and five Mercedes-Benz cars were inspected at Thailand Post headquarters on Chaeng Watthana Road, DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said.

Four of the cars were probably part of a tax evasion scam, he said. They were among 548 luxury cars on the DSI's list of suspicious vehicles.

The cars were declared as imported automobile parts which were then assembled in Thailand. Assembled cars face a much lower tax charge than imported luxury cars.

The DSI has allowed the owners of the suspect cars to bring the vehicles in for inspection on a voluntary basis.

If those cars are found to have been improperly imported, the owners would not face charges, Mr Tarit said.

There were 31 car owners who volunteered to have their vehicles inspected.

The five cars inspected on Monday were the first lot to be checked.

Four of the cars were found to have the same serial number on the chassis, body and transmission system, indicating they were initially completely built, but disassembled before being imported and rebuilt here, he said.

The DSI will consult with Mercedes-Benz to verify whether the vehicles were built in its factories, Mr Tarit said.

He said the four cars did not appear to have been properly imported.

"The owners are initially regarded as innocent," Mr Tarit said.

For those who voluntarily bring their cars in for inspection and are found to have evaded tax, the DSI would not seize the cars, he said. Rather, police would work with the Customs Department to evaluate the car's value, based on the used car market, and allow the car owners to pay for the car at that price, he said.

Owners who fail to bring their cars in for inspection and are found guilty of tax evasion could face legal action.

Owners have until Friday to bring their cars in.

Those who fail to show up will face summonses, he said.

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