Motor Vehicles (First Registration Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2011 has been passed by the Legislative Council today (June 15) and will be effective following the gazettal on Friday (June 17). The new rates of first registration tax (FRT) of private car are as follows :

        Taxable Value of Private Cars    Rate of Tax
        (a) on the first $150,000               40 %
        (b) on the next $150,000              75 %
        (c) on the next $200,000             100 %
        (d) on the remainder                   115 %

        The Government will also introduce the following exemption and tax concession measures starting from June 17:

        * private cars on order before 11 am on February 23, 2011 will be exempted from the new rates when paying FRT; it means that these private cars shall be subject to FRT rates before the adjustment is introduced; and

        * under the new FRT rates, the concession for first registered environment-friendly petrol private cars will increase from a 30% concession in FRT, subject to a cap of $50,000 per car, to a 45% concession in FRT, subject to a cap of $75,000 per car.

     “Except for the cases of private cars imported for personal use, the Transport Department (TD) will work with the concerned registered distributors for arranging the refund of the difference between the old and new rates. The registered owners are not required to make any application,” a department spokesman said.

      The TD has arranged to brief the frontline staff of registered distributors on the details of the application procedures.  At the same time, to ensure smooth processing, the TD has agreed with the trade associations of registered distributors that the refund cases will be processed in two batches according to the date of first registration of the private cars.  Applications for those private cars first registered between February 23 and March 31, 2011 will be processed first.  The registered distributors will submit the first batch of the applications and relevant documents to the TD within six weeks.  Under normal circumstances, upon receiving the applications, the TD will have to take six to eight weeks to verify the application eligibility and relevant documents, as well as to arrange the refund.

      The TD anticipates that the processing of the remaining cases of private cars first registered from April to June will commence in August.

      The spokesman said, “For private cars imported for personal use, the owners can apply with supporting documents to the TD direct for the exemption from new rates, if the car has been arranged for shipment to Hong Kong before February 23, 2011.  The TD will write to inform the concerned registered owners of the refund arrangement later.”

      As regards the tax concession for environment-friendly petrol private cars, the concerned registered owners are also not required to make any application for refund. The TD will arrange such refund.

      For enquiries, please call the 1823 Call Centre.

Ends/Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Issued at HKT 22:57

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