The Tax Authority reported on Tuesday that the importing of 21,854 private vehicles was recorded in May, compared with 37,209 vehicles in May 2016, a decrease of 41.3%. Import of commercial vehicles amounted to 919 vehicles, compared with 1,386 vehicles in May 2016, a decrease of 33.7%. Passenger vehicle imports for the first five months of 2017 amounted to 80,988, a decrease of 38.7% compared to the same period last year.
The authority says it should be noted that the high import of vehicles in May 2016 was exceptional.The high decline in imports of passenger vehicles, mainly in the first quarter of 2017, was expected in light of the changes in the green taxation formula, which went into effect in January 2017, which also led to very high imports in December 2016, mainly at the expense of the first quarter of 2017. It should be noted that usually the import of vehicles in January - March is relatively high due to the desire to register cars as a model of a new year.
Trend data for the last twelve months indicate stabilization in vehicle imports, in contrast to the trend that was observed until March 2017.