Guides
Plain-language explanations of how import tax on a vehicle works. Every rate in them is read from the published gazette rates, so they stay up to date.
Plain-language explanations of how import tax on a vehicle works. Every rate in them is read from the published gazette rates, so they stay up to date.
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Every charge in the order Sri Lanka Customs applies it, from the CIF value to the total landed cost, with a worked example from the published rates.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
CIF is the figure every import tax starts from. What it includes, how it differs from the price you paid, and how to work it out when you only have part of it.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
Excise duty is the biggest charge on most cars. How the band tables work, how to read one, and why an engine exactly on a limit belongs in the lower band.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
When luxury tax applies, how it is worked out on the part of the CIF value above a threshold, and why it is left out of the VAT and SSCL base.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
How to tell a hybrid from a plug-in hybrid and an electric car, which class each one is taxed in, and why an electric car is charged by motor power and age instead of engine size.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
Age sets the excise rate for some classes and not for others. Which ones, how age is counted, and what the calculator does not check.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
From choosing a car to registering it: the order of the steps, where the tax is worked out, and what to check at each stage.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
Which rate the calculator uses, how it can differ from the rate Customs uses, which charges move with it, and how to enter your own.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
Nine usual reasons an assessment differs from an estimate, and how to compare the two line by line.
Updated Oct 19, 2026
What each of the four levies is, who pays it, and the one value on which VAT and SSCL are both charged.
Updated Oct 19, 2026