Motorcycles in Paraguay.

Hi Bill,
In order to sell your bikes legally you'll have to officially import them through Aduanas (Customs). You can do this through a broker or go yourself. For cars I believe they charge 30% of the value and they require the original bill of sale and some other information as well. I don't know if a 750-800 cc bike would sell at a premium here because there aren't many of them, or at a discount because there isn't much smooth open road in paraguay - things are pretty close together and the roads aren't that smooth. How much are you looking to sell them for? The market here is flooded with cheap motorcycles assembled locally with Chinese parts.  Most are 100cc to 250cc. You could choose to sell your bike to someone without going through official channels. Less profits, but less hassle as well since you're putting the burden of paperwork on them.

Not sure what their value is. Will have to find trhat out. I am looking for a quick and easy sale, so if anyone was to make me a reasonable offer, IŽd be interested.  I could send pictures of the bikes as attachments - but would need an email address first.

Britt Again,

I wondered if you had come with a price for your bikes.  My brother in law lives in Asuncion and works for the department that controls the boarder crossings and he deals in illigal motorcycles on the side.  You have probably heard that kind of corruption is business as useual in Paraguay. He might be able to hook you up with a buyer in Asuncion.  I might be interested in the Honda.  I have a 125cc Chineese bike that is on its last legs.  In the states I have ridden a 500cc for years and am used to a bigger bike.  I think I could get parts for a Honda down there to keep it running.  [email protected]

IŽve been told itŽs worth at least $4000 under normal cercumstancesŽ-itŽs a big classic Honda in good condition and with only 30k miles on the clock, but for a quick no hassle transfer IŽd accept $2000.

Thanks for the note.  $2,000 is out of my price range.  But If you wind up in Asuncion I will connect you with my brother in law that might be able to help  Britt

hi there,
you can post your selling add for free on clasipar.com  pics, price range etc. so when you arrive you already have some potential buyers.

try to post your add in Spanish!

good luck

Thanks for the info. If nothing else it will give me a better idea of what my bikes are worth in Paraguay. I will definitely be travelling there soon, so I guess IŽll find out soon enough. Does anyone know how much the cost is to legally import USA motos into Paraguay?

Customs has a aforo valuation which estimates the price of any good coming into Paraguay according to its year of fabrication, brand, quality, etc  You need to pay 30% of that roughtly on taxes.

As comparison: I recently bought a Ford Explorer XLS 2004 from USA for 6,600 USD plus tranport etc came up to 8,750 USD.  Paraguayan customs valuated my car on 11,500 USD so I paied 30% over their valuation.

capelo wrote:

Customs has a aforo valuation which estimates the price of any good coming into Paraguay according to its year of fabrication, brand, quality, etc  You need to pay 30% of that roughtly on taxes.

As comparison: I recently bought a Ford Explorer XLS 2004 from USA for 6,600 USD plus tranport etc came up to 8,750 USD.  Paraguayan customs valuated my car on 11,500 USD so I paied 30% over their valuation.

Do you know if the rules are the same for importing a Canter truck from Chile?  I ask because Argentina's rules differ depending on the country.  For example, the import duties are much less from Brazil.

Importing from Brazil to Argentina or within Mercosur countries is free of taxes.

If you bring from Chile or so, you need to remember that the Canter car should be no older than 10 years.  There is currently a prohibition to import cars older than 10 years.

Another thing, if you confirm that it is capital good eg. for business or investment you should not pay customs only VAT.  Better to discuss this with a custom consultant.

I also think that what are called Flex vehicles, that can burn gasoline or ethanol, are exempt from the 30% tax. I didnŽt know ethanol was available here, but I guess it helps to make Paraguay look like it is concerned about the environment.

capelo wrote:

Customs has a aforo valuation which estimates the price of any good coming into Paraguay according to its year of fabrication, brand, quality, etc  You need to pay 30% of that roughtly on taxes.

As comparison: I recently bought a Ford Explorer XLS 2004 from USA for 6,600 USD plus tranport etc came up to 8,750 USD.  Paraguayan customs valuated my car on 11,500 USD so I paied 30% over their valuation.

To those who have imported cars from the US -- is it worth it? Or are comparable cars cheaper to buy in country?

Also, is it really ALL goods imported are taxed at 30%?

thanks

It would be nice if not every moto here that passes you blows your eardrums out because it is so loud!  I hate that.

Zollie wrote:

I also think that what are called Flex vehicles, that can burn gasoline or ethanol, are exempt from the 30% tax. I didnŽt know ethanol was available here, but I guess it helps to make Paraguay look like it is concerned about the environment.

Flex vehicles (you will need a certificate issued by the maker) are exempted from customs (30% tax).  You still need to pay VAT and port charges.  If you are independent professional paying VAT on your invoices (as architect for instance) you could redeem the tax paid as cash with the tax office.

If you dont have tax registration you could register and "sell" your VAT credit to anyone but at a discount normally (floor would be 50%).

Eg: for the Explorer I brought I paid in total 2,750 USD only VAT and port charges.  The 2,000 USD in VAT I was able to pass back to the tax office by not paying my independent professional VAT services but discounting what I had already paid for the import car. You can do so once every 5 years. Port charges are not refundable whatsoever.

A friend of mine brought in a flex fuel Mercedes and he told me that the custom exemption worked too.  Basically, you can bring any SUV or car which runs on flex fuel EXCEPT pick ups (like tacoma, hilux, etc).  I have no idea why this is like that, but it is the law.

Re. ethanol, in Paraguay we have sugar cane but not petrol.  We use cane for ethanol as a strategy to reduce the import of petrol into the country and promote the internal market chain for cane / ethanol with all the jobs and extra income for Paraguayan families.... it is not only a matter of trying to look "green".

sfdexter wrote:

capelo wrote:

Customs has a aforo valuation which estimates the price of any good coming into Paraguay according to its year of fabrication, brand, quality, etc  You need to pay 30% of that roughtly on taxes.

As comparison: I recently bought a Ford Explorer XLS 2004 from USA for 6,600 USD plus tranport etc came up to 8,750 USD.  Paraguayan customs valuated my car on 11,500 USD so I paied 30% over their valuation.

To those who have imported cars from the US -- is it worth it? Or are comparable cars cheaper to buy in country?

Also, is it really ALL goods imported are taxed at 30%?

thanks

Comparable cars are more expensive here.  If you could settle with a Toyota o Nissan Tiida for example, you would find them on 9,500 USD or so.  For other cars, people here import directly from Germany and the US.

regarding custom tax there are excepmtion for capital goods like machinery, etc better to look it with a custom broker.

One fact we discovered in buying a car in PY was that the year and mileage of a vehicle in PY do not reflect so much on the price you pay as it does in the US.  It's the overall condition that determines cost primarily.   

Reason for this is becuase cars are generally made to last much longer in PY than the US.  Mechnics are wizards at fixing things that normally would just be replaced in the US or cause the car to be junked.  So an older car with high mileage on it that is in great shape will be much more comparable to a newer car in value than it would ever be in the US.

This affects the "import or buy local" question in two ways.  First is that you don't need to be so concerned about age or mileage when buying local as you do in the US - but you need to be a fairly competent mechanic(or have someone with you who is) when checking cars out in PY.  This could lower your price as you can consider cars much older than you would consider back in the US.  The second thing is that an older used car with high mileage in the US, that is in prime shape, will be very cheap to purchase in the US and still have a high value in PY.  Of course you have to make sure it's not too old to import (I believe you can import a car 10 years old or newer?).

After considering all the above, we bought local and so far it's worked for us in terms of overall cost, especially when factoring in the hassle factor.

@Britt years later, but I am in Asuncion now and looking to buy a bike to ride to Brazil and Argentina. I'm from the US. Can I do this? Could you recommend a source?