Importers of 259 supercars have been found to have evaded customs tariffs, costing the state 4.31 billion baht in lost revenue, according to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The DSI on Friday released progress figures from its investigation of tax-dodging in the importation of luxury cars.
To date, three lots of vehicles have been checked. The first comprised 32 vehicles, with customs duty shortfalls totalling 673 million baht. The second, 91 cars with dodged taxes totalling 1.165 billion baht.
The latest lot involved 136 supercars and cost the state 2.473 billion baht in lost revenue.
DSI deputy director Korrawat Panprapakorn said 32 offenders had been identified for the first two lots of cars.
The department was still verifying the importers in the third lot of cars. Some might be already implicated in the first two lots.
The department would bring legal action against the importers of each of the vehicles, based on the bills of lading.
The DSI had worked with Italian authorities to get information about the prices of 685 vehicles exported to Thailand, he said. They included 16 Lamborghinis, 186 Maseratis and 390 Ferraris. The information would be passed to the Customs Department for use in the future evaluation of other imported vehicles.
Pol Lt Col Korrawat said the tax avoidance had involved declaring the cars as belonging to Thai students studying abroad, or falsifying documents from the army’s bidding for military vehicles.
“The DSI will bring charges against all importers who falsely declared import prices,” he said.
Pol Lt Col Korrawat said importers who have suffered from the confiscation of 160 luxury cars could get them back if they fully pay the shortfall in customs duties.
The people who bought the cars would be able to use them as normal. The DSI would take legal action only against the importers, he said.
