Rates change by gazette and were revised steeply for EVs in 2026 (gazette 2434/04). Treat the figures below as the framework, not a live quote — verify the current schedule with Customs or a duty calculator before you buy.
The levy stack (applied roughly in this order)
- CIF value — the Cost, Insurance & Freight landed value of the car; everything else is calculated from this.
- Customs Import Duty (CID) — 20% of CIF, plus a 50% surcharge on the CID itself, i.e. an effective ~30% of CIF.
- Excise Duty — the big, variable one. For EVs it's charged per kilowatt (kW) of motor power, tiered by power band and vehicle age, rather than by engine cc. This is what the 2026 gazette revised upward substantially.
- Luxury Tax — applies when CIF exceeds the threshold for the fuel type; for electric vehicles the threshold is LKR 6 million (higher than petrol/diesel at LKR 5M and hybrids at LKR 5.5M).
- VAT — standard 18%, applied on the duty-inclusive value.
- SSCL — a 2.5% Social Security Contribution Levy added from April 2026.
What this means for EV buyers
Because EV excise is per-kW, a higher-powered EV is taxed more even at the same price — motor power, not just CIF, drives the bill. The higher LKR 6M luxury-tax threshold modestly favours EVs over comparable petrol cars, but the 2026 excise increases narrowed the EV advantage that drove the 2024–25 import surge.
If you're comparing a personal import against an authorised-distributor price, model the full landed cost (CIF + CID + surcharge + excise + luxury tax + VAT + SSCL) — the distributor price already bundles all of this plus warranty and service.