What is the customs surcharge on Sri Lanka vehicle imports?
A 50% surcharge applied on top of Customs Import Duty (CID) — effectively 10% of CIF — added to Sri Lanka's vehicle import tax stack effective February 2025. The surcharge is the second line in the tax cascade after CID and before excise duty.
Also known as: surcharge on CID, 50% surcharge, CID surcharge
What is the customs surcharge?
The customs surcharge is a 50% surcharge applied on top of Customs Import Duty (CID), introduced as part of Sri Lanka’s February 2025 vehicle-import tax revision (Gazette 2421/41).
Mechanically:
- CID = 20% of CIF
- Surcharge = 50% of CID = 50% × 20% × CIF = 10% of CIF
So the combined CID + Surcharge effectively adds 30% to the CIF before the excise calculation kicks in. For a CIF of LKR 5,000,000:
- CID: LKR 1,000,000 (20% of CIF)
- Surcharge: LKR 500,000 (50% of CID)
- Combined: LKR 1,500,000 (30% of CIF)
The surcharge applies uniformly across all motor car imports — there’s no concession by fuel type, engine size or vehicle age. Like CID, it’s paid in LKR at customs clearance against the daily CBSL indicative rate.
The full Sri Lanka tax stack — including surcharge, excise (which varies dramatically by fuel and engine), VAT and luxury tax — is documented with worked examples in our pricing structure.
Related terms
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CID (Customs Import Duty)
Customs Import Duty — the first line in Sri Lanka's vehicle import tax stack, set at 20% of the declared CIF value. CID is followed by a 50% surcharge (effectively 10% of CIF), then excise duty, then VAT, then luxury tax where applicable.
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CIF
Cost, Insurance, Freight — the value of a vehicle when it arrives at the Sri Lankan port, before any local taxes are applied. CIF is the base on which all Sri Lanka import taxes (CID, surcharge, VAT, excise, luxury) are calculated.
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VAT
Value Added Tax — applied at 18% in Sri Lanka's vehicle import stack on the cumulative base of CIF×1.10 + CID + Surcharge + Excise + Luxury. VAT is the final tax line before business costs and is often the second-largest contributor to landed price after excise duty.
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Excise duty
A per-cubic-centimetre or per-kilowatt tax applied to motor vehicles imported into Sri Lanka, set by fuel type and engine band. Effective February 2025, excise rates range from LKR 1,000/cc for small petrol PHEVs to LKR 11,000/cc for large petrol engines, plus age surcharges for vehicles older than 3 years.
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