The Novosti Pridnestrovya news agency has already reported that the so-called «customs amnesty» has been extended for the cars aged 10−14. It applies to the vehicles imported to Pridnestrovie before 31 December 2014 and declared in the temporary importation regime. At the same time, Pridnestrovie's State Customs Committee (SCC) notes the low activity of carriers in terms of full customs clearance of import cars.
According to customs officials, this is due to the fact that owners of the cars available for resale in Pridnestrovie try to save on customs formalities and pass expenses on to potential clients. And they, in turn, are cautious for good reason about making an expensive purchase. The urgent issues for both parties are transparent mechanisms and expenses necessary for 100% customs clearance of import cars.
According to the information provided by the SCC analytical department and complied with the present legislation, customs clearance of import cars with a 2,300 cc engine and aged under 3 (average price $22,000) will cost about $698. This amount includes customs processing fee ($39.9), import duty ($542), Maternity and Childhood Fund duty ($27.1) and customs convoy (about $88 for 30 km).
In Ukraine, for comparison, the sum of customs duties for a similar car amounts to over $9,100 (13 times as large as that in Pridnestrovie), and in Moldova it is over $3,578 (5 times as large). It should be noted that in the neighbouring states such vehicles fall in the category of excisable goods, they are subject to VAT, and import customs duties for them are at least 4 times as high as that in Pridnestrovie.
The same ratio is observed with respect to the cars aged 3−7 (with an average cost of $13,000): the amount of import duties is a bit over $831 in Pridnestrovie, about $12,000 in Ukraine, and more than $3,629 in Moldova.
Customs duties for the cars aged 7−10 (with an average cost of $8,000) amount to $1,094 in Pridnestrovie, over $18,300 in Ukraine and more than $3,910 in Moldova.
As for the cars aged over 10 years, customs clearance costs $1,658 in Pridnestrovie (with an average cost of $8,600). Importing such cars into Moldova and Ukraine is prohibited.
The SCC reminds citizens that, on all matters pertaining to customs clearance of the cars subject to customs amnesty, they may apply to local customs offices.
