Importers angry after scores of Toyota vans left in limbo with Customs

Oct 16, 2014 News

Scores of Toyota vans brought into the country over recent months were left in limbo at city wharves and with dealers after the owners were unable to have them registered to work as buses on the road.

Some of the Toyota Noah vans, brought in to be registered as buses, left in limbo at city wharves.

Yesterday, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) said it was working to ensure that a grace period is introduced so that the Toyota Noahs already in the country can be cleared.
The problem all started earlier this year when police started stopping some of the Toyota wagon-type cars, including the popular Spacio and Noah.
Several taxis, using the Spacio models, at especially the West Demerara area were pulled in, leading to protest actions by drivers.
Some of the cars have a third, smaller set of seats and taxi drivers have been converting these making the Spacio an eight-seater.
It was the same for the Noah. Owners were able to convert these to 10-seaters from the normal seven seats that it was shipped in with.
GRA had been allowing the vehicles to enter and be registered either as a bus (B series) or goods vans (G series). Both the ‘B’ and ‘G’ series only attract around $500,000 in taxes, while for the ‘P’ series (private cars), the duties can go more than $2M for the same vehicle.
But police, after a while, started clamping down on the Spacio and now the Noah, saying that leg-room space was too cramped and that they had received complaints from passengers. In addition, the regulations are clear about the amount of space required between the seats. The Spacio and Noah working as taxis and buses are in breach of these regulations.
Shipping officials said that around 80 Noah model vehicles were imported in recent months but cannot be registered in the ‘B’ series under which buses are allowed to operate as passenger vehicles.
According to the shipping officials, the importers, including dealers and individuals, would have been expecting to pay around $500,000 in taxes. Many of them would have borrowed from the banks. However, they are now being told to pay over $2M in taxes, before the vehicle can be registered. Many of the importers are now complaining that because of growing storage and bank fees, they will be unable to pay meet the $2M-plus in taxes.
Yesterday, the police public relations department, when asked for a clarification, referred the matter to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministry in turn asked the newspaper to make contact with GRA.
Yesterday, Senior Manager of GRA’s Tax Exemption and Processing Verification Unit, Gavin Lowe, admitted that indeed, the matter has been brought to his attention. He was unable to say how many vehicles were left in limbo.
GRA was considering a “phasing out” period where vehicles already in the country would be processed. However, the details will still have to be worked out.
According to Lowe, GRA has been accommodating the registration because police would have been allowing them to operate as buses.
However, with the police now insisting the vehicles were too cramped with their modified seats, GRA has no choice but to comply.
The GRA manager said that his officials had even conducted the measurements of the space between the seats of the vehicles in questions and found that indeed, they were not in compliance with the police requirements.
“We are addressing the issue and hopefully will be issuing a statement on it shortly,” Lowe said.
The official also noted owners have been abusing the vehicles’ usage.
The Noah model because of its extra seats and space is one becoming popular for families. While it carries a price tag of over $3M for one registered in the “P” series, persons have been circumventing this by registering the Noah in “B” or “G”, pay a fraction of the $2M-plus tax that it would normally attract.
However, GRA has been discovering cases where the owners would be utilizing the vehicles for family outings, and other personal usage.