Thailand: Cabinet Approves Raising Excise Tax on Fully Imported Electric Vehicles to 35 Percent From January 1 to Support Local Production
Thailand's cabinet on November 3 approved an increase in the excise tax on fully imported electric vehicles to 35 percent, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said: battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are currently taxed at 10 percent and range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) at 15 percent, and both will move to 35 percent from January 1, 2027. The change is part of a new tiered tax structure aimed at encouraging investment and local production. The decision was announced by Ekniti after a mobile cabinet meeting in Udon Thani and published by the Government Public Relations Department.
The higher rate targets EVs imported as finished vehicles that are not produced in Thailand and use no locally made parts; vehicles built or assembled in Thailand under the government's support schemes are not the target. The adjustment implements decisions of the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee taken on November 25, 2025 and September 10, 2026. The cabinet also instructed the Excise Department to discuss special tax rates with carmakers and investors planning new production in Thailand, so the final treatment of some brands may still change.
Thailand is a major regional production and export hub for car manufacturers such as BYD and Toyota. The government says the move is intended to equalise market conditions between imported models outside state incentive schemes and locally produced vehicles, to protect investors already committed to plants and supply chains in Thailand, and to push automakers reliant on fully built imports to speed up talks on local production.
Source: 泰国财政部
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：曼谷街头的电动巴士（资料图），Patiparn.Nice2002bkk 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权 / Photo: An electric bus in Bangkok, Thailand (file photo), by Patiparn.Nice2002bkk, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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