The Excise Department will unblock transfers of ownership of 10,000 cars purchased under the Car Purchase Program for the first time and blocked by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) as they are awaiting reimbursement inspections from excise tax in the coming days.

The ministry had banned the 10,000 cars from changing hands after the OAG said they were not eligible for the excise tax refund because they had not fully submitted the required documents and applications. before July 2012, said Nutthakorn Utensute, a spokesperson for the excise department.

Although the cabinet decided to extend the deadline for tax refund claims to the end of 2012 from July 2012 due to the devastating floods in late 2011, the OAG felt that such a resolution only allowed those who had already requested the program in July 2012 to submit documents by the end of the year. The office decided that it did not cover those who applied between July 2012 and the end of 2012.

Mr Nutthakorn also dismissed media reports that 100,000 cars purchased under the car purchase program for the first time were being blocked for transfers of ownership. Under this program, owners were required to retain possession of the cars for five years.

The lock-up period for the last car sold under the first-car purchase program is due to expire in 2019, he said.

The program, initiated by the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, offered tax breaks of up to 100,000 baht to first-time homebuyers who purchased passenger cars up to 1,500cc or vans with an engine capacity. unlimited but priced at no more than 1 million baht.

They were eligible to receive the refund after owning the cars for one year provided they retained ownership for at least five years.

A total of 1.25 million cars were ordered under this program, which ran from September 16, 2011 to December 31, 2012, with a combined tax refund of around 90 billion baht.

Pornchai Jumroonpanichkul, acting director general of the OAG, referred to the agency’s 2015 random survey of 4,000 cars for which owners obtained tax refunds under the primo program. -accessing.

The investigation revealed that a quarter of the sample was not entitled to the tax refund and had to return the refunds to the excise department.

He said 150,000 cars did not receive the tax refund in 2015, as the excise department investigated whether they met all requirements.