Today I received some tax saving wisdom from a taxi driver in Ukraine. He told me that people who import cars to Ukraine sometimes cut the car in two separate pieces and carry it through the customs this way. By doing this, they save a fortune on import tax. A car carried in two pieces is seen as spare parts and therefore is taxed at a much lower rate than a normal car.
When in Ukraine, the car is welded back into one piece. After that, it’s usually sold locally at a good price. I looked through forums and apparently this is a common practise in developing countries, particularly in post-Soviet states such as Ukraine.
Want more? Read how a Russian cross-border commuter makes a living on tax refunds.
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Lovely.
Ha! Clever.
No it’s not clever, it’s highly dangerous. There are severe stability concerns in case of a crash. Some guys even use the same technique to combine 2 halfs of accident cars in order to get a saleable one.
This sucks big time (pardon my French).
Do you really think people who grew up driving their Yugos through Chernobyl rush-hour traffic care THAT much about “stability concerns” when driving their patchwork Beemer?
Just sayin’…
There was no Yugos in Ukraine and they never did drive those cheap american alternatives damn ass
Quite stupid. Send the car without the engine and some other “vital” parts and then send the rest separately. Rebouild it later and that’s it.
that exactly the first thing I said, theres a reason these areas are so poor; they’re retarded.
The tax is levied on all full-body vehicles, irrespective of the existence of an engine. Either the car gets sawed in two, or the tax gets paid.
The only thing stupid- besides riding in one of those- is the construction of the tax involved.
Would you want to drive down the road in a car welded together by Ukrainians? I’ve lived there and I sure wouldn’t.
Not so clever!! It’s STUPIDITY!! sucker keeping people’s life in risk!!
Those cars are for russians, so who cares if they are not safety.
Ok, so the $64K question (or however much they save on tax in Rubles) is how much does it cost to re-weld the frame, re-attach wiring, hydraulics ect. if you cut it in half in the simplest way? I don’t understand how you could ever make the cars pictured drivable again. Is there a photo of a car rebuilt from this condition?
the rewedding process cost $300 , but you saving yourself $28,000 in import tax…
@Andrew, same guys told me that the rate for re-welding the car was $300 in most car repair shops in Ukraine.
This also happens in the US. Friend of mine unknowingly bought a used car built from two wrecks and welded together back in about ’83. The frame wasn’t straight and no front-end shop was able to keep it from destroying front tires. He finally sold it at a significant loss just to get rid of it. And unlike the car lot (“As-Is No Warranty”), he warned the buyer about it.
Thank you for your retarded comment @Guy !
COME ON GUYS, DOESN’T LOOK LIKE ANYONE HERE THINK LITTLE MORE THAN ITS NOT POSSIBLE TO GET IT ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND SAFE,I’D SAY IT IS POSSIBLE IF WHOEVERE IS WELDING IT TAKES IN CONSIDERATION THE SAFETY ASPECT BY ADDING AND BRACING THE CHASSIS. I AM AN AIRCRAFT MECHANICAL ENGINEER BY TRADE AND IF YOU SEE HOW AEROPLANE ARE PATCHED RIVETED AND WELDED , YOU WOULD NOT FLY IN ONE,SO WHOEVER THINKS THAT ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO WELD IT BACK AND BE DRIVEN SAFELY,DO YOUR HOMEOWORK WELL AND TALK TO A BRITISH BOILMAKERS AND THEY WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW ITS DONE.
Some of the commenters above don’t seem to know that Ukrainians are not Russians.
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