Motorsport exempt from Clean Car tax

The Clean Car tax will not affect motorsport and the importation of racing cars.

Kiwis who want to import race cars from overseas will not incur the additional tax that will otherwise be imposed on vehicles deemed too polluting.

“The government has decided to exempt motorsport vehicles from the Clean Car programme regulation,” a Minister of Transport representative told NZ Autocar Magazine.

“Their importation should not be affected by the law change.”

By definition, a ‘motorsport’ vehicle is a class MA or MC motor vehicle that is:

• A) used in motorsport competition, and
• B) operated in accordance with the conditions of a valid motorsport authority card issued to that vehicle by an organisation.

It’s perhaps a sigh of relief for Kiwi race enthusiasts wanting to ship over a race car.

The country has recently been inundated with imported GT3 machinery, including those that have raced in Australia, America and Europe. Most of these have then found second homes competing in domestic endurance championships around the country.

In any case, MotorSport New Zealand encourages anyone wanting to import a race car to contact them beforehand. This is to limit processing delays and reduce costs.

The Clean Car Bill recently succeeded in its third and final parliament reading. It then moved onto Royal assent, where the Governor-General signed it into law on Tuesday.

Tax penalties and rebates will begin on imported vehicles from April 1.