This made it possible not only to create a more transparent car trade sector, but also to supplement the state budget – in 2023. car dealers paid almost 500 million euro taxes.
“Today, we can confidently say that the introduction of a unique code and accounting system worked and gave positive results. The car trade sector has become more transparent, the state budget receives more income, the number of persons who have registered car trade activities has increased”, says Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė.
A unique code is required both during sales and during registration in the Registry. This ensures that all vehicle owners are known, regardless of whether the vehicle is registered or not.
One of the main goals of the system is to protect the interests of car buyers, because before buying a car, they can check whether it has an SDK, whether it is valid and whether it really belongs to the owner from whom the vehicle is purchased.
“We provide almost 900 thousand per year. SDK and most of them online. Almost 70 percent vehicle owners save their time and receive this unique code electronically for free,” says Vaidas Dominauskas, CEO of Regitras.
Another, no less important, goal is to reduce the shadow that exists in the field of car sales, the number of fictitious transactions and to ensure the responsibility of vehicle sellers (resellers).
According to the company’s manager, although the results achieved in this area can best be evaluated by the controlling authorities, Regitra also sees changes from its data.
“Although the number of registered vehicles is growing every year, we can see a tendency that the number of transactions concluded from those countries from which the most vehicles are imported is decreasing. For example, imports from Germany decreased by 20 percent, France by 15 percent, and Italy by 19 percent.
Therefore, these statistics allow us to assume that, thanks to the SDK, the number of potentially fictitious transactions concluded with Lithuanian residents, otherwise known as swindlers, is decreasing. This is very important, because the interests of the final buyer are protected”, says V.Dominauskas.
According to the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI), the owner’s declaration code (SDK) has made it much more difficult for unscrupulous dealers to sell vehicles illegally, avoiding taxes, so positive trends in the car trade sector can be seen after the introduction of the SDK.
“More and more vehicle sellers are working legally – the number of residents who have registered car sales activity has increased by 41 percent in three years, companies by 11 percent.” The amount of taxes paid by customers also increased significantly: last year almost 500 million was paid in the car trade sector. EUR, which is twice as much as was paid before SDK”, says VMI manager Edita Janušienė, noting that positive changes are also visible in customer behavior – cases when cars without SDK are detected during inspections are becoming less and less common.
The authorities will continue to work closely together to make the vehicle trade sector more transparent and to protect the interests of buyers.
