Vintage cars’ imports get a duty-free ride

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed concessionary import of vintage as well as classic cars/jeeps meant for the transportation of passengers, a notification said on Tuesday. The FBR in its SRO 833(I)/2018 said the import of such vehicles has been exempted from customs duty, regulatory duty, additional customs duty, federal excise duty, sales tax, and withholding income tax.

The board however said this exemption would be restricted in cases where duties/taxes turn out to be in excess of the cumulative amount of $5,000/unit.

The FBR further explained that vintage or classic cars/jeeps should be old and used automotive vehicles falling under Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) Code 87.03 of the First Schedule to the Customs Act, 1969 and manufactured prior to January 01, 1968.

Vintage vehicle enthusiasts said they had been calling on the government for a long time to allow duty-free import of cars that were more than 50 years old because they did not pose any threat to the local automotive industry.

For an elite but passionate group of vintage car collectors in Pakistan, owning, restoring, and maintaining antique rides is like journeying back in time and for them money seems to be no problem when the trophy is a Lincoln convertible that was once an Afghan king's favourite personal ride or a Rolls-Royce that used to take India's last viceroy from place to place.