Vietnam to collect back taxes on ‘diplomat’ cars
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The Ministry of Finance has ruled that cars bearing diplomatic plates owned by non-diplomats has to pay back overdue taxes in arrears, Nguoi Lao Dong reported.
According to the new regulation, a tax of 5%-90% will be imposed on around 1,200 bogus diplomatic cars that are in use throughout Vietnam.
The government can confiscate or ban such cars in some circumstances.
The bogus ‘diplomatic’ cars were once owned by authentic foreign diplomats who later sold them to non-diplomats after their tenure ended in Vietnam.
According to VietnamNet, customs agencies have found that from 1998 to the end of August 2009, 4,366 cars which belonged to diplomatic agencies were imported. Of these, 230 cars have been re-exported, and 1,758 cars have been transferred or ruined.
Of the other 2,378 cars, 1,158 cars have mysteriously disappeared, reported VietnamNet.
