Thailand’s top court rules Toyota unit must pay $272 mln in import duties

BANGKOK, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Thailand Supreme Court docket on Thursday upheld a decrease courtroom ruling that the native unit of Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) owed the federal government 10 billion baht ($272.11 million) in additional taxes for importing elements not topic to a diminished tariff.

The courtroom was dealing with an attraction towards a 2019 ruling that the corporate should pay duties on some components imported from Japan, which have been for its Prius gas-electric hybrid mannequin assembled in Thailand between 2010 and 2012.

The courtroom agreed with the earlier resolution that the imported objects must be handled as full knock-down kits, with an 80% tariff fee, as an alternative of as auto components, that means they weren’t eligible for a diminished fee of 30% below a Japan-Thailand Financial Partnership Settlement (JTEPA).

Toyota’s Thailand unit in a written assertion mentioned it was paying the decrease tax fee for imported Prius components primarily based on JTEPA, nevertheless it revered the ruling and would comply.

The extra tax was owed on greater than 20,000 Prius autos assembled at Toyota’s Gateway manufacturing unit between 2010 – 2012, in response to earlier media studies.

Toyota additionally produces gasoline-engine and hybrid-engine Camry sedans in Thailand, which weren’t topic to further tariffs as a result of the vast majority of components are procured domestically.

($1 = 36.7500 baht)

Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Modifying by Martin Petty

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