Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Member of Parliament Mujibur Rahuman has raised serious concerns in Parliament over an alleged tax evasion racket involving the importation of brand-new BYD electric vehicles to Sri Lanka.
Speaking in Parliament on the 24th, MP Rahuman claimed that there appears to be a suspicious discrepancy in the customs duties charged on brand-new versus used BYD vehicles, specifically the ATTO 3 model.
“These brand-new BYD ATTO 3 vehicles are being declared as having a 100 kW battery capacity, and a duty of only LKR 5.5 million is imposed. But when a used ATTO 3 vehicle is brought in, it is declared with a 150 kW battery and taxed at LKR 10 million,” Rahuman stated.
He pointed out that the official BYD website lists only a 150 kW version for the ATTO 3 model, and no 100 kW variant exists. “So how can a brand-new vehicle be declared as 100 kW and taxed less, while a used one is declared as 150 kW and taxed more? That’s a tax discrepancy of LKR 4.5 million per vehicle,” he added.
Rahuman further questioned whether the main company involved in importing these vehicles has any ties with the government. “Just like the recent scandal with container clearance, is this also being allowed to pass with reduced tax under some special connection?”
The MP urged authorities to investigate whether this was a deliberate misdeclaration aimed at reducing import taxes and whether there was any collusion involved.
