Top of the 'wreck' parade
A staggering 830,000 secondhand vehicles were brought into the country last year following EU accession. Union membership saw an end to high VAT charges and a ban on imports of pre-1997 cars-sparking a flood of older motors being shipped across the borders.
Importers still have to pay excise tax of up to 65 percent of the car's value, but with old cars being imported and lower than actual values reported for tax purposes, this has not proved to be a significant obstacle. As a result, new car sales fell by 10 percent year on year and are almost 50 percent lower than in 1999.
The Finance Ministry figures show Poland's appetite for used cars far outpaced that of Iraq, which had been isolated from the world for 15 years and where 170,000 used cars were imported last year.
j.t.
Importers still have to pay excise tax of up to 65 percent of the car's value, but with old cars being imported and lower than actual values reported for tax purposes, this has not proved to be a significant obstacle. As a result, new car sales fell by 10 percent year on year and are almost 50 percent lower than in 1999.
The Finance Ministry figures show Poland's appetite for used cars far outpaced that of Iraq, which had been isolated from the world for 15 years and where 170,000 used cars were imported last year.
j.t.
