R565,000 Tesla you could import to South Africa — all taxes and shipping included

Some South African Tesla fans could import a used version of one of the electric vehicle giant’s models from overseas with a landing price of around R565,000, including all taxes.

However, doing so would only be possible under very specific circumstances, as the country generally bars the import of used cars.

If the government were to adjust a three-decade-old ad valorem tax rate on imported vehicles to account for inflation, that amount could drop to roughly R539,000.

Vehicle importers have been paying an ad valorem tax on all cars valued at R250,000 or more since 1994.

At that time, cars selling for R250,000 were most certainly luxury vehicles, justifying the additional tax.

However, car prices have risen substantially over the last 30 years.

In 2024, R250,000 can only buy a handful of new car models locally, primarily cheap models from Suzuki and Toyota.

Even the most affordable Volkswagen — the locally-produced Polo Vivo — starts at R266,600. Kia’s small Picanto hatchback also starts at around R260,000.

There are numerous other cars priced below R500,000 in South Africa that would require a stretch of the imagination to be considered luxury models.

If the tax were adjusted in line with inflation, the R250,000 minimum threshold for the luxury tax increases to more than R1.3 million.

Any car under that price would then be free from the tax.

The ad valorem tax on car imports varies based on the car’s value. The rate of taxation is currently calculated using the following formula:

• % = [(0.00003 × retail value less 20%) – 0.75]

Crunching the numbers

MyBroadband calculated how much it would cost to import the most affordable Tesla models — new and used — to South Africa under the existing ad valorem tax regime.

We also calculated hypothetical costs if the ad valorem tax were adjusted to account for inflation over the last 30 years.

We chose the United Kingdom (UK) as the origin of the import, as it is a right-hand-drive (RHD) market like South Africa.

While Tesla’s prices are cheaper in the United States and China, these countries are left-hand-drive (LHD) markets.

South Africa stopped issuing permits for LHD vehicles in the early 2000s.

Any newly registered LHD cars must now first be converted for RHD to be considered road-legal.

We first calculated how much it would cost to import a new 2024 Tesla Model 3 rear-wheel drive.

With a starting retail price of £39,990 (R929,557) in the UK, the ad valorem tax rate would be about 21.56%.

Therefore, the luxury tax adds about R200,407 to the car’s landing price in South Africa.

Adding the 25% duty, a 10% mark-up, and VAT puts the total landing price at R1,591,318, about 71% higher than the UK retail price.

It should be noted that this price includes the UK’s 20% VAT, which should not apply to exported goods.

That was necessary because Tesla does not support zero-rated car sales for individual exports from the UK.

The only way to get an exemption from this tax is to use a proxy registered for VAT in the UK, which can buy the car on your behalf and claim the 20% tax back.

That is likely to carry an additional fee, unless the proxy is someone you are familiar with.

If the ad valorem tax were scrapped or adjusted for inflation, a new entry-level Tesla Model 3 would be completely exempt from the tax because its price in the UK is below R1.3 million.

In such a scenario, the final landing price for a new Tesla Model 3 would be R1.39 million, including shipping and taxes.

Those willing to go for a used model can save a massive amount on their Tesla purchase.

MyBroadband found several second-hand Tesla 3 models on prominent UK car classifieds platform Carwow starting from £14,999 (R348,564).

However, South Africa does not permit the importing of used cars without a special permit from the International Trade Administrative Commission.

This ban is designed to protect the local manufacturing industry.

The only conditions for which a user car import is permitted are as follows:

• If you are a returning resident/national, you may import your used vehicle after a minimum uninterrupted period of absence of six months. The vehicle must be registered under your name for at least six months, and may not be sold for two years after importation.
• Physically disabled people may obtain a specially designed car, if they have a supporting doctor’s certificate.
• Vintage cars (older than 40 years) are allowed in but are subject to a check by the South African Veteran and Vintage Association
• Racing cars may be imported by a driver or racing drivers’ club with a valid racing driver license.
• Inherited vehicles may also qualify, as do specially design vehicles such as bullet proof cars, ambulances, fire trucks, mobile cranes and others which are not available locally.

Your best chance of getting a permit unless you are one of the above is to have a family member returning to South Africa buy it for themselves at least six months before leaving and bring it into the country.

Even so, it would need to remain in their name for at least two years before you could register it under your own.

The ad valorem tax rate for importing a £14,999 car worked out to roughly 7.62%. That adds R26,545 to the landing price.

When adding all the taxes, shipping, and other costs together, one of these models could have a final landing price of around R565,435 at the current ad valorem rate.

Bear in mind that the significantly cheaper price of the Model 3 is only possible if you are willing to buy a model with fairly high mileage.

For £14,999 price, the options we found were from the 2020 model year and had between 150,000km and 160,000km on their odometers.

However, they are likely to still have much of their original battery range left, as many Teslas in the real world have exceeded that range with little battery loss.

One of the highest-mileage Tesla Model S cars in the UK has clocked over 690,000km since 2016 and still had roughly 72% of its original battery capacity left in tests performed by Autotrader.

That was enough to cover about 300km at highway speeds and 320km in city driving.

It would still be advisable to get a family member or friend in the UK — preferably one with extensive vehicle knowledge — to test drive the car and ensure it has no issues before considering importing it.

The table below shows how much you could expect to pay to import a new or used Tesla Model 3 from the UK at current and hypothesised ad valorem rates.

	New	New without ad valorem	Used (2020 model with km)	Used without ad valorem
Retail price in UK	£39,990		£14,999
Converted price in rand	R929,557		R348,564
25% duty on imported car	R232,389		R87,141
15% VAT on price plus duty and 10% mark-up	R191,721.09		R71,891
Ad valorem tax	R200,407	n/a	R26,545	n/a
Shipping estimate (for sedan on Ship Cars Ltd.)	R27,724
Insurance estimate	R9,520		R3,570
Total cost	R1,591,318	R1,390,911	R565,435	R538,890