Gas-guzzlers will come with an extra price tag after this week’s budget, making small cars a better investment than ever before.
A new green tax, which will target cars with a large carbon footprint, will be introduced in September. Motorists will also have to pay an additional 17,5c cents a litre with effect from April 7.
The CO2 emissions tax is aimed at all new passenger cars, while commercial cars are to be included at a later stage. The tax seeks to push South Africans towards greener car options, in the light of the carbon credit crunch towards which the world is heading.
The treasury said the tax would be implemented as a specific tax, instead of the ad valorem tax proposed last year. New passenger cars would be taxed based on their certified CO2 emissions at R75 per gram per kilometre (g/km) for every g/km above 120g/km. The tax is in addition to the luxury tax that pricey vehicles are subject to.
Although only cars emitting more than 120g/km will be taxed, most cars sold in South Africa do not qualify for an exemption.
A Mail & Guardian poll showed that only the Toyota Prius escaped the tax. The Toyota 1,6-litre’s carbon footprint is 193g/km, which will cost buyers an additional R5 475 in taxes. Buyers of the Range Rover Sport 5-litre petrol will have to fork out R22 275 thanks to its footprint of 417g/km. Sports car fanatics who invest in the Lamborghini Murcielago, with its footprint of 583g/km, will pay R34 725 in taxes.
The World Wide Fund for Nature’s Peet du Plooy welcomed the tax, saying: “When you buy a vehicle, you are committee to the emission of the greenhouse gases for the lifetime of that vehicle. Placing a tax earlier on — will definitely encourage people to look for a more green option.”