Customs valuation changes: used cars to cost more

Customs valuation rules for vehicles are changing. An instruction published in the Official Gazette brings significant increases in the reference prices for their customs clearance.

Under this instruction, anyone buying a vehicle abroad and bringing it to Albania will pay more for customs clearance. From 130,000 lekë so far, the declared customs value of a vehicle with an engine up to 1,400 cc cannot be less than 162,500 lekë.

For vehicles with engines from 1,900 to 2,500 cc, the floor value rises to 406,000 lekë from 325,000 lekë so far.

The sharpest increase is for vehicles with engines over 4,500 cc. From 800,000 lekë currently, such a car cannot be declared for less than 1 million lekë.

Significant increases will also apply to the reference prices for customs clearance of pickups, trucks and vans. For vehicles in one of these categories weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, the minimum declared customs value rises to 500,000 lekë from 400,000 lekë.

For pickups, vans or trucks weighing from 3.5 to 10 tonnes, the declaration floor rises to over 1 million lekë from 850,000 lekë.

The instruction, which particularly affects used vehicles, aims to prevent under-declaration of the values of vehicles imported from abroad.