Tax barriers and guidelines for promoting energy efficient passenger cars

Abstract

The objective of this paper was study guidelines for taxation to promote the use of energy efficient passenger cars. The passenger car taxation of 4 developed countries; namely Japan, Germany, United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) were analyzed and compared with Thai taxation. And studied barriers for promote the use of energy efficient passenger cars in Thailand. This survey conducted by using the close-ended questionnaires collecting data from 400 people who used passenger cars in Bangkok. The results found that tax on acquisition in the developed countries were only subjected to sales tax, while Thailand’s acquisition tax composed of customs duty, excise duty, municipal tax and value added tax. The ownership tax rates of passenger cars in Japan, Germany and UK were based on different fuel consumption parameters such as cylinder capacity, vehicle weight, and CO2 emissions which can promote energy efficient cars. On the contrary, the ownership tax rate of USA and Thailand reduces with the age of vehicle. Fuel tax was imposed to support the country energy policy. Opinion survey results of barriers for promoting energy efficient passenger cars in Thailand showed that the significant problems were the lack of incentives measures to promote the use of energy efficient cars.