Customs rally: hijacked racing car and will face a million fine for import violations

Customs hijacked the car of rally driver Nicolás Zingoni because, as he condemned, he brought it from Chile to perform in a special tournament in Córdoba, under the regime of temporary importation, and it was discovered that it was used in another race.

The agency reported that the vehicle in question was seized after the competitor qualified for the South American Rally Race (2023), which started in Catamarca. The pilot had a good classification and won the fifth time in his category. Customs stated that "the mere fact that the vehicle participated in a competition other than the Cordobés Rally is a violation of the agreement under which it was authorized to enter the country tax-free."

The aforementioned offense is typified by Article 970 of the Customs Code, which establishes that importers must now pay taxes from which they were originally exempted.

The statement also stated that "the vehicle was declared to customs at a value of $15,000, but an investigation by AFIP specialist agents determined that its actual value was more than double" and that "therefore, it may face with a fine of more than 14 million dollars".

Customs noted that "the vehicle, the Polaris RZR Pro, could be imported directly into the country and pay the appropriate taxes, which would allow it to participate in SARR 2023 without any problems."

"However, customs often notices that many teams register their cars in Chile to later enter Argentina with temporary authorizations. This happens because, considering that the trans-Andean country does not have its own automobile industry, it has import duties that are extremely high for cars " , says the agency's press release.