If you want to import a Tesla to South Africa, be prepared to pay a big tax bill.
This was the finding of an article by technology news website MyBroadband, which spoke to renewable energy company Rubicon about importing a Tesla Model X.
Rubicon recently announced that it was bringing the first Tesla Model X Performance Edition into South Africa as part of a promotional campaign for the arrival of the new Tesla Powerwall in the country.
Rubicon Energy and Electric Mobility Director Greg Blandford told MyBroadband that a combination of customs duties, sales tax, and Ad Valorem tax made importing the Model X very expensive.
He went on to recommend that South Africans do not look at importing these electric vehicles themselves, as the whole process is expensive and complex.
The taxes
The report stated that several taxes had to be taken into account when importing the Tesla Model X.
These included:
- Vehicle retail price + 10% to obtain “dutiable value for VAT purposes”.
- Customs VAT of 15%.
- 25% customs duties on electric cars.
- 30% Ad Valorem excise duty, as the car exceeded the R600,000 price threshold.
Blandford said this came to a total of 90% of the Model X’s price tag – which means they were going to pay almost double what the car sold for overseas.
Additionally, the vehicle had to be shipped to South Africa.
This cost Rubicon €1,500 (R27,000).
The price tag
With the tax matters calculated, Rubicon went about purchasing and importing its Tesla Model X.
The company selected the 2020 Tesla Model X Performance Edition and brought it in from the UK to ensure they received a right-hand-drive model.
The Tesla Model X Performance Edition sells for £96,900 in the UK, which converts to just over R2 million.
Using the tax breakdown described above, the total price tag to get the vehicle into South Africa came to R3.8 million.
The 2020 Performance Edition of the Model X generates 580kW of power and is able to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 2.7 seconds.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, it does the quarter mile sprint in 9.9 seconds, packs a range of 491km, has permanent all-wheel-drive, and weighs 2,509kg.
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