Vietnam will start imposing the import tariff of 90 percent on many kinds of automobiles designated for transporting people, in early 2006, instead of the current rate of 100 percent, a local finance agency said Tuesday.

Under the Finance Ministry's decision on Dec. 22, the 90- percent tariff, from January 2006, is applicable to imported automobiles, which either carry at least 10 people, including the driver, or have engines designated for mainly transporting people, said the ministry's Tax Policy Department.

The automobiles subject to the lower tax include racing cars, vehicles specially designated to run on snow, and golf cars used at golf courses. The lower tax is applicable to new automobiles. The rate for similar second-hand vehicles is 150 percent, the department noted.

Vietnam is estimated to import 17,000 automobiles of various kinds totaling 280 million US dollars this year, posting respective declines of 24.3 percent and 13.2 percent against last year, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

Now, every 145 local people have a car in Vietnam, which has a population of over 83 million, and 13 automobile joint ventures with total registered capital of nearly 700 million dollars and combined annual capacity of 173,000 units.

Source: Xinhua