Motorcycles in Paraguay.

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.

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

Zollie wrote:

I also think that what are called Flex vehicles, that can burn gasoline or ethanol, are exempt from the 30% tax. I didn´t 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.

@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?

this is an eleven years old post....