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Land Transport Act 1998

Clean vehicle standard - Clean vehicle standard - Category 2 light vehicle importers: obligations and ways of complying with targets

182: Charges payable by category 2 light vehicle importer if emissions targets exceeded

You could also call this:

“Fees for bringing in cars that make too much pollution”

If you import a vehicle as a category 2 light vehicle importer and its carbon dioxide emissions are higher than the target, you may have to pay charges. You won’t have to pay if you have enough credits in your carbon dioxide account to make up for the extra emissions. You can get these credits by doing better than the target in the past or by getting them from someone else.

From 1 January 2023, if your vehicle goes over the target, you’ll have to pay $18 for each gram of extra carbon dioxide for a used vehicle. For a new vehicle, it’s $36 for each gram over the target.

Starting 1 January 2025, the charges go up. For a used vehicle, you’ll pay $27 for each gram over the target. For a new vehicle, it’ll be $54 for each gram over.

The money from these charges goes to land transport revenue, which is used for transport projects in New Zealand.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS649433.

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Part 13 Clean vehicle standard
Clean vehicle standard: Category 2 light vehicle importers: obligations and ways of complying with targets

182Charges payable by category 2 light vehicle importer if emissions targets exceeded

  1. If the carbon dioxide emissions of a vehicle imported by a category 2 light vehicle importer exceed the category 2 light vehicle importer target, the charges set out in subsection (2) apply unless there are sufficient credits available in the importer’s carbon dioxide account (whether such credits may have resulted from banking overachievement under section 183 or from 1 or more transfers into the importer’s account under section 184) to offset the excess emissions.

  2. The charges are,—

  3. from 1 January 2023,—
    1. $18.00 per gram of carbon dioxide by which a used vehicle exceeds its target; and
      1. $36.00 per gram of carbon dioxide by which a new imported vehicle exceeds its target; and
      2. from 1 January 2025,—
        1. $27.00 per gram of carbon dioxide by which a used vehicle exceeds its target; and
          1. $54.00 per gram of carbon dioxide by which a new vehicle exceeds its target.

          2. The charges payable under this section are land transport revenue for the purposes of the Land Transport Management Act 2003.

          Notes
          • Section 182: inserted, on , by section 10 of the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Act 2022 (2022 No 2).